The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced a large-scale conscription of recruits in the autumn of 2021 in military specialized units.
"As part of the ongoing autumn conscription, which started in October and involves recruitment into the Armed Forces, other troops, military formations of more than 127 thousand people, more than 400 conscripts left on December 9 from the assembly points of the subjects of Russia for military service in scientific and scientific production companies," the ministry said.
It is said that most of these young soldiers - more than 300 people - will serve in scientific companies. And more than half of them are in the military innovative technopolis "ERA" located in Anapa.
It is known that there are 17 scientific companies in the structure of the Armed Forces, eight of which are based in the army technopolis. Over 650 conscripts serve there. There are four more research and production companies, where the number of "conscripts" exceeds 200 people.
If the situation with the recruitment and service of "scientific" soldiers is clear for many Russians, then not everyone has probably heard about conscripts. Therefore, we recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the formation of military units in Russia, consisting of the most popular young specialists in the defense industry, at a meeting with military leaders in Sochi on May 16, 2015. The Head of State then said that he had signed a document "according to which some of the young people we need to work at defense enterprises will actually undergo alternative service at their place of work."
The Defense Ministry later clarified that it was not about civilian soldiers sent by military enlistment offices to the "defense industry" for alternative civilian service. The recruits of production companies were given the status of ordinary military personnel, but they mainly perform their military duties in defense industry organizations.
It should be borne in mind that the difference between the two categories of conscripts is very significant. The so-called alternative workers are distributed to their places of work not by the generals of the Ministry of Defense, but by officials of the Ministry of Labor. And these young people fulfill their constitutional duty not for a year, as in the army, but much longer. Working in military units - one and a half years. Those who are called up to civil organizations - 21 months.
Recruits of scientific and industrial companies are not in danger of such a fate. They serve exactly one year.
Yuri Gavrilov