Russia looks to end military draft

Underpaid, undertrained and demoralised, Russia's military needs major changes, generals and political leaders admit

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Desperation is etched on the faces of the parents at the Soldiers Mother's Committee office in Moscow.

They've come here to find out how the boys they love can avoid the draft.

"Of course it's scary," says Aleksey, one of the young men who've come with their parents. "There's hazing, there's not enough to eat ... and there's Chechnya."

Underpaid, demoralised and unable to even train properly, the Russian military is in crisis.

In 1991, the Soviet military had 4 million men in uniform. It's now down to about a third of that. But even that level is unsustainable.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Underpaid and demoralized, the Russian military is in crisis, causing many to seek ways to avoid the state-mandated draft. CNN's Jill Dougherty reports (May 9) Play video

One of the worst problems: a vicious system of hazing called "dedovshchina." A third of the men in one military prison were convicted of hazing, but the practice continues.

Many young Russians will do anything to avoid the draft -- including bribing their way out of it for thousands of dollars. As a result, the military now is able to call up only 11 percent of eligible men.

The draft simply is not working, says Gen. Vladislav Putilin.

"Our system of recruitment is obsolete," he says. "It doesn't suit us in the military. Our lawmakers don't want it and have devised ways to avoid serving, and society doesn't want it."

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the military to devise a plan to phase out the draft and move toward a volunteer army -- one that is well paid, well educated and well trained.

The military says any real reform needs big money. And any plan would take at least another eight years to implement.

That's too slow, say critics, who've organized rallies against the draft. They say the generals are digging in their heels.

"President Putin listens, unfortunately, only to the generals but not to the people, and not to the parliamentary parties, and I think this is a huge mistake," says Boris Nemtsov of the Union of Right Forces.

So as politicians and the military debate how to end the draft, parents at the Soldiers Mother's Committee listen and take notes -- hoping they'll find some way to keep their sons out of the army.