Russian army makes society ill

Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research - Russian army makes society ill: "Russian military prosecutors have opened 852 criminal cases, 748 of them involving crimes committed by servicemen since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Large numbers of Russian peacekeepers in the Balkans had to be sent back because of their involvement in criminal activities. Discipline problems are important not only because they undercut a high level of combat readiness, but they can also lead to a serious loss of life. I shall cite a few examples: In 1993, several Russian sailors starved to death in the Far East; in 1993, an army ammunition dump blew up in the Far East with the explosive power of a nuclear weapon; in 1997, 50 soldiers were shot by their fellow servicemen, and these were only the ones on guard duty; and in 1998, four soldiers shot and killed their commanding officers. The situation became so serious that Yeltsin had to order an inspection of strategic rocket force facilities because disciplinary infractions among those soldiers were so widespread. "