MOSCOW. Sept 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Land Forces started a large-scale Operation Desertir.
"The operation to find servicemen absent without official leave and return them to their units is underway in all military districts in cooperation with local police," Colonel Yakov Firsov, Land Forces press service chief, told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
"Despite the fact that quite a lot of assets and personnel are planned to be involved in the operation, which is scheduled to last till late September, the Land Forces command thinks it is justified as AWOLs affect combat readiness badly, as well as the morale and the psychological climate of military collectives," the spokesman said.
He added that the expertise of earlier operations showed that AWOL servicemen often commit grave offences when on the run and primarily against civilians and policemen.
Meanwhile, two runaway servicemen with weapons on them are currently searched for in the Primorye territory and the Novgorod region.
The Novgorod regional Interior Ministry Directorate told Interfax-AVN, that private Alexei Danilov ran away from the Krechevitsy garrison at 5:30 a.m. Moscow time (0130 GMT) Monday. He left the sentry post with a Kalashnikov and 60 rounds on him.
Another AWOL Valery Nadyrsgin left the military unit in the village of Kamen-Rybolov September 1. He was discovered by traffic police at 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (1200 GMT) September 2. When they tried to apprehend him, he opened fire, killing three policemen and wounding one.