MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax-AVN) - If lawmakers make alternative civil service more attractive than military service, Russia may face problems with manning its armed forces and other military formations in Russia, Colonel General Vladislav Putilin, chief of the General Staff main mobilization department and deputy chief-of-staff, told a news conference in the Interfax main office on Tuesday.
"As a result the troops will not be able to accomplish assigned missions," Putilin said.
According to him, the problem can be solved if lawmakers approve the bill elaborated with the help of the Defense Ministry and coordinated with the government. "The bill has been submitted will not stimulate intentions to dodge the draft," Putilin stressed.
The Defense Ministry believes that the law on alternative civil service is necessary, but the document must meet several conditions. Alternative civil service, which is a special type of labor, must be regulated by the Russian Labor Code taking into account several peculiarities. A person opting for alternative civil service must not be able to choose a service site, and some of his rights must be limited, as it happens with active-duty servicemen who serve where they are ordered and have their rights limited, too.
The term of alternative civil service will be twice as long as the term of military service. The experience of European countries such as Germany, Bulgaria, Greece and Ukraine evidences that such terms is preferable at the initial stage of alternative service's existence in a nation. According to military specialists, a servicemen staying at a military unit or on a vessel accomplishes his duties 24 hours a day while a person in alternative civil service is working only eight hours a day, has weekends and holidays.
In addition, the Defense Ministry believes that a citizen can only have the right to opt for alternative civil service in case military service runs contrary to his convictions or religious beliefs or in other cases written into a federal law. The citizen must prove that his military service should be replaced with alternative civil service, as it is indicated in documents of the 35th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights which say that persons that refuse to serve in the armed forces must produce certain proof of their convictions.
According to Putilin, the research carried out in six Russian regions showed that less than 2,000 people wanted to undergo alternative civil service.