MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax-AVN) - During the spring draft the Moscow region's draft boards revealed 116 drug and alcohol addicts among the draftees, Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Marchenko, chairman of the regional medical commission, told reporters in Moscow.
"In spring 2003, the Moscow region draft commissions revealed 116 drug, toxin (in the Russian medical practice - hallucinogens contained in household goods - Interfax-AVN), and alcohol addicts among the draftees. In addition, one revealed HIV, and there were 380 others with hepatitis C," he said in comment on the results of the campaign. He also said that all these persons had been dismissed from service.
According to Yevgeny Fuzhenko, Moscow region military commissioner, the military commissioners' offices of the region have fulfilled the conscription plan by drafting about 4,500 persons. The Armed Forces have got more than 3,200 (73 percent) of them, the other 1,200 (27 percent) went to other services (Emergencies Ministry, Federal Border Guard Service, Interior Ministry Force, Special Construction Service, etc.).
He said that the conscription resources (the overall number of men of the relevant age - Interfax-AVN) in the Moscow region were growing year-on-year. At the same time, the share of persons liable to army service is declining, he said. While in 1998 7.3 percent of the conscription resources could be drafted, this year, in accordance with the current legislation, this number makes as little as 5.2 percent.