Russian army to have more than 350,000 contract servicemen by year end

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. More than 350,000 contract servicemen will serve in the Russian army by the end of the current year, but the Defense Ministry is not going to abandon the conscription, head of the General Staff’s main mobilization organization department Lieutenant General Vasily Tonkoshkurov told reporters on Tuesday.

"It is planned that by the end of 2015 more than 350,000 contract soldiers will serve in the Armed Forces, above all, on positions of non-commissioned officers and related to the operation of modern armaments and equipment. That is, these positions will be occupied by the servicemen not for one year, but for three to five years as a minimum," Tonkoshkurov said.

According to him, the Defense Ministry does not intend to abandon conscription into the armed forces, and the army will be manned on a mixed basis.