Disturbing peace and quiet in Pechenga
The reform of the Russian Armed Forces that included transition from a conscription-based army to an army based on contract personnel has led to problems keeping law and order in Pechenga municipality.
- Recruitment to contract service of more than 15 000 people from all over Russia over such a short time has aggravated the crime rate in Pechenga municipality, said Chief of Police in Murmansk Oblast, Vitaliy Fedotov, B-port reports.
Fedotov claims that people who enters military service contracts are a social group of their own and usually lack other sources of subsistence. When they come to the North, they don’t always behave in a civilized manner. Pechenga also lack the right specter of leisure activities to keep all this people preoccupied in their off-duty hours.
- At some time the situation became explosive, and if we had not reacted, the public could have experienced even more unpleasantness, Fedotov said.
Pechenga municipality, close to the Norwegian border, has for many years hosted military units. It is expected that the number of contract personnel in the area will rise even more in 2009.
