A Russian bluff?
Russia is approaching a crisis point in almost every area. This is because what the Kremlin calls modernization is nothing more than pumping petrodollars into ineffective and outdated institutions, without using those resources to improve or replace them, newspaper editor Aleksandr Golts claims.
According to Mr. Golts, the Russian crisis is evident in the Armed Forces, where there is «a severe problem of insufficient number of personnel». The editor of the newspaper Yezhendnevy Zhurnal writes that the situation can be well exemplified with the proposed extension of service for officers to five years. Although presented as a great opportunity for the military men, the situation is that the defence authorities are compelled to take the measure in order to cope with its lack of man power, Mr. Golts claims.
