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Conscripts’ share in Russian Army declines to 30%, says lawmaker

As the Russian defense chief said, all the sergeant’s and sergeant-major’s positions, the combat units of special operations forces, marine corps, battalion-level tactical groups and also positions related to the maintenance of complex hardware are fully manned with contract-enlisted personnel today

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. The share of conscripts in the Russian Army amounts to about a third of the total personnel, Head of the State Duma Defense Committee Vladimir Shamanov said on Monday.

"Today, about 30% of conscripts have remained [in the Russian Army] while the contract-enlisted personnel account for all the rest," the senior lawmaker said at a roundtable discussion in the lower house of Russia’s parliament.

As Russia’s Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said at a plenary session at the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s parliament) in March 2020, the number of conscripts in the Russian Army had declined to 225,000 while the share of contract-enlisted servicemen had risen to 405,000 in the past seven years.

As the Russian defense chief said, all the sergeant’s and sergeant-major’s positions, the combat units of special operations forces, marine corps, battalion-level tactical groups and also positions related to the maintenance of complex hardware are fully manned with contract-enlisted personnel today.

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