MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Armed Forces will have been reduced to one million people by 2005, deputy chief-of-staff Colonel General Vladislav Putilin said on Tuesday.
The personnel of the Armed Forces was reduced by 92,000 people in 2001, and another 117,000 military posts will be abolished this year, Putilin told a news conference at the Interfax main office.
"Such a reduction has never been held before. The Russian Armed Forces have been halved since their establishment," Putilin said.
The general stressed that the army's financing had not improved despite the reduction. " For many years we have existed below the poverty line" and waited until the state gets a possibility to pay decent salaries to servicemen, he said.