Today, they stretch from the southern mountains to the northern seas.

In our time, representatives of some media outlets are still trying to vilify military service and discredit Russia's armed defenders. They are spreading fear about hazing and suicide statistics among military personnel, aiming to discourage teenagers from enlisting in the military. The situation is further exacerbated by the challenging economic conditions faced by the Armed Forces. As a result, conscription has become one of the most challenging tasks for military recruitment offices. Colonel Viktor NIKITIN, the Military Commissar of the Military Commissariat of the Southern District of Moscow, shares insights on how to address this issue.

- Viktor Alexandrovich, your district can rightfully be called one of the largest in the capital. It is home to perhaps the largest mobilization and conscription resources in the city. Your work is not easy. Based on this, I would like to know how you are doing with one of the most important tasks - conscription.

- For the past two years, we have been fulfilling the conscription task set by the Moscow government for the Southern District. This is largely due to the efforts of the district's prefect, Alexander Vasilyevich Belyaev. He keeps the issue of conscription under strict control. Every week, we report on the progress of conscription at our weekly operational meetings, and the district heads, who are also members of the conscription commissions, provide the prefecture with information about the number of conscripts who have arrived at the district military registration offices. If the conscription situation worsens, the district heads are held accountable. Representatives of the internal affairs bodies also help us during the call-up. Citywide raids are carried out to search for, to put it mildly, lost conscripts. District police officers control their districts.

The district's conscription quota is the largest in the city. For example, during the spring conscription of 1999, it accounted for over 16% of the city's total quota. A total of 771 young men were sent to the Armed Forces, Border Troops, Federal Penitentiary Service, Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other military formations by the combined military commissariats of the districts. The quota for sending citizens to the military was fulfilled by 102%.

As for mobilization resources, this is a particularly difficult problem today. As with conscription, we have the largest task in the city for mobilization resources. There are constant difficulties in delivering mobilization orders to citizens who have been discharged from the military. This is due to their failure to report to military registration offices. We have to set up warning stations and summon people to military registration offices to receive their mobilization orders. We have a task to conscript two-year lieutenants who have graduated from military departments at universities."There is also a difficult situation with military training. We plan to hold it every year, but unfortunately, the Ministry of Defense does not have enough funds to carry it out.

- What specific difficulties do you face during the recruitment campaign?

- The first difficulty is the health of today's conscripts. In recent years, the fitness of citizens for military service has decreased by more than 14 percent. In the spring of 1999, 1,231 conscripts were exempted from military service due to various illnesses, and 296 young men were granted deferments for medical treatment. This situation is primarily due to the unfavorable environmental and economic conditions in our country. Today, a significant number of conscripts suffer from weight loss. The number of children with cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases has increased.

Another problem is the evasion of military service by citizens. During the last draft, 330 people did not appear at the draft boards. There are about 1,355 young men who are wanted in the district. We are trying to solve this problem by searching for and sending citizens of military age to military registration offices. This is a rather time-consuming task. Before the start of the draft, a schedule for the search of conscripts by district is drawn up. It is approved by the prefect. Then we start working on it... The day of a military registration officer begins at 6 a.m. He goes to the head of the district, then goes to the apartments with the district police officer, the representative of the police department and the municipality. Often, parents do not open the doors, do not let them in, say that their children are not at home. Then we have to ask the neighbors for information. On the spot, we draw up acts of evasion of military service. Such work goes on every day until the end of the draft.

A few years ago, these raids were complicated by a lack of technical equipment. We didn't even have enough gasoline to refuel our vehicles. However, this issue has been resolved. The district heads are providing us with transportation. We have also addressed the issue of transporting conscripts to the city's assembly point. Three buses have been purchased for this purpose during the conscription campaign.

The third problem is the issue of alternative civilian service. Article 59, paragraph 3, of the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that a citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to replace military service with alternative civilian service if their beliefs or religion contradict military service. However, the implementation of this provision is a pressing issue. During the spring conscription, nine letters were sent to the prefect from conscripts requesting the opportunity to serve in alternative service. Of course, we are trying to meet the needs of the young men, and we offer them the opportunity to serve in units where they will not be required to carry weapons. However, due to the lack of a law on alternative civilian service, there are still issues. The conscripts argue that they will still need to hold a weapon when taking the oath, and as a result, they refuse to take the oath, forcing us to take drastic measures. During the spring conscription, five criminal cases were initiated for evading military service. We have won four court cases. According to data as of July 10, 1999, 74 cases were transferred to the district prosecutor's office, but only 5 of them have been initiated.

- Viktor Alexandrovich, what activities are being carried out in your district for pre-conscription training, and how do you cooperate with the Russian Defense Sports and Technical Society?

- Since 1995, the year of the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, our city has been working on pre-conscription training for military service. Every year, the pace of this work increases. Above all, it is carried out through military-patriotic education of young people. Our first priority is to take care of two ships of the Russian Navy: the patrol ship "Sderzhanny" of the Black Sea Fleet and the nuclear submarine "Daniil Moskovsky".quot; Northern Fleet. The issue of staffing these combat units with conscripts from our district has been resolved. We invite senior school students to visit the Daniil Moskovsky submarine, introduce them to the life and service of submariners. To date, 5 calls have already been sent to the submarine. There are 34 sailors from our district serving here. We accompany the guys to the service on the submarine " Daniil Moskovsky&"In a solemn atmosphere in the prefecture, in the presence of district administration officials, representatives of the Navy, and the Veterans Council. Each of the students was presented with a valuable gift and instructed to serve their country with honor.

The service of our guys on the boat is widely covered by the district media. For example, cable TV employees are sent to the navy, and on February 23, parents of sailors can receive voiced letters from their sons on TV. The first-call sailors who served on the submarine were welcomed in the prefecture by media representatives, and each sailor received assistance in finding employment, enrolling in higher education, and receiving financial aid if needed. This work has yielded positive results. While we had difficulty recruiting for the first boat, there is now a competition of two people per spot.

We also have high hopes for the revival of military sports events in the city. These include the city military sports spartakiad held in the spring, as well as the multi-stage military game "Zarnitsa - Orlenok," which concluded in late August...

In addition, the so-called "lessons of courage" and meetings with veterans of the Great Patriotic War were resumed in schools. Together, all these measures give a positive result. The number of young men who want to enter higher military educational institutions has increased. 234 graduates of the district's schools wished to continue their studies at the universities of the Ministry of Defense, 48 young men-in Suvorov and Nakhimov schools.

About 30 percent of the district's conscripts are trained in Rostov-on-Don. They are trained in the specialties of "aircraft modeling", "fox hunting", "auto-division", "radio-division". We are trying to meet the guys halfway and direct them to serve in the specialty they received at ROSTO.

- Where do you send conscripts to serve, and is there any control over their service by the military registration and enlistment office?

- First of all, I would like to remind you that we only send physically and mentally fit young men to serve in the army. As for the verification of their professional suitability... Unfortunately, we still use traditional methods, such as questionnaires. However, we hope to eventually computerize this process.

Now I will answer the first part of your question. Most of our conscripts serve in the Ground Forces, the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Border Service, the Navy, and the Strategic Missile Forces.

We have good relations with the command of the Ministry of Defense's security brigade, the Interior Ministry's internal troops units located in the district, and the Northern and Black Sea Fleets. Unfortunately, due to the poor funding of the Russian Army, it is not always possible to personally monitor the service of our conscripts due to the geographical location. We have to rely on reports from the commanders of the military units where our conscripts serve and on the assistance of the district administration. Over the past three years, with the assistance of the district prefect, I have made seven trips to the Northern Fleet, and my deputies regularly monitor the service of our wards in the Northern and Black Sea Fleets. This collaboration between the military enlistment office and local authorities has yielded positive results. The flag of the Southern District of Moscow, figuratively speaking, flies from the southern mountains to the northern seas.

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