Russian conscripts desert

The Russian army used to be regarded with something approaching awe. Nowadays it is clearly in crisis.

Each year up to 50,000 conscripts run away from their units - complaining of bullying, malnutrition and even being hired out as labourers for cash by their commanders.

A Russian newspaper says that a quarter of the officers in one unit were found to be suffering from psychiatric illnesses.

As our Moscow Correspondent Caroline Wyatt reported, you don't have to be mad to join the Russian army, but it might turn you that way.

CAROLINE WYATT:
The full might of the Russian Army on parade in Red Square. Yet, there's a feeling in Russia that it's no longer in step with today's society.

The Red Army inspired fear during the Cold War. But now it's in deep crisis. 90% of young men, called up as conscripts, are refusing to serve. This is why. A video smuggled out of one barracks shocked the nation. It shows the savage brutality of some older recruits towards the younger conscripts. It's a Lord Of The Flies world in which the weakest go to the wall.

More Russian recruits die in peacetime within their units than are killed on active service in Chechnya. That is why most try to dodge the draft.

Russian mothers have come to this meeting in Moscow to seek advice on how to exempt their sons from military service. Tatiana explains the legal ways to avoid it. Best of all, is a doctor's certificate proving asthma or poor eyesight - a medical exemption. Svetlana's son Nikolai will be called up in a few months. He's hoping the Soldiers' Mothers Committee can help him. It was formed to look after Russian conscripts in the first Chechen war. These days it spends more of its time protecting youngsters from the army itself.

TATYANA KUZNETSOVA:
TRANSLATION:
There is no such thing as normal conditions in the Russian Army. No-one cares about how many new recruits die or whether these young men will come back as physical and mental wrecks. As long as this continues there will be no-one willing to serve in the army.

CAROLINE WYATT:
After the meeting, Nikolai and his mother are a little more hopeful. His dreams for the future, certainly don't include the army. Once he graduates, Nikolai will have to respond to the letters from the recruiters, unless he can prove he's too sick to serve.

NIKOLAI:
TRANSLATION:
I'm not against the army in principle, but it shouldn't be so bad that the recruiters have to radio home at night to drag people off. I'd like an army that respects our rights. Instead, you're called up only to find you've just been stripped of your rights and you've become an animal they can humiliate.

SVETLANA:
TRANSLATION:
I'm not convinced that my son would come back in one piece. Abuse is rife in our army. Older soldiers teach young recruits by trying to break their dignity. I only have one son. I'm afraid that if he goes to the army, he may not come back at all.

WYATT:
One recruit who did join up, now fears for his life. Maxim was bullied so badly he felt his only option was to run away from his army base in southern Russia. His mother was so worried she even helped smuggle him out. She's hiding him at home.

Now, suddenly, the call they'd been dreading. The base commander is searching for Maxim. His mother says she hasn't seen him. On TV they hear that 54 conscripts in all have fled the same base. Risking a court martial and a prison sentence - or just as bad, being sent back to their unit.

MAXIM:
TRANSLATION:
The beatings started the minute the camp gates closed behind me. Instead of being taught how to be a soldier, I was kicked, punched and abused. It happened to all the new recruits. The older soldiers smiled as they beat us up.

WYATT:
The soldiers' mothers have taken their protest to the street. They accuse the army of failing in its duty to care for their sons - whether in the barracks or on active service in Chechnya. The mothers want the war there ended, as well as a stop put to the forcible recruitment of Russia's young men. 200 people have turned out for this protest on Pushkin Square. But at the Kremlin, President Putin and his cabinet have done nothing to reform the army. Perhaps, because it could prove too expensive, or because it involves asking the question the generals don't want answered. In this day and age, after the Cold War, what exactly is Russia's massive army for?

The man in charge of conscription, General Smirnov, says that isn't the issue. For him the problem lies not with the army but with its recruits. He insists those who desert or avoid service must be punished.

GENERAL VASSILY SMIRNOV:
TRANSLATION:
Strip them of their citizenship, that would do the trick. If a citizen doesn't want to perform his sacred duty to defend his motherland and his home, how else should we treat such people? They talk of human rights. But what about their duties?

WYATT:
There are no winners, even among those who do their duty. Aged 19, Nikolai was sent to fight in Chechnya. A year later he's lucky to be alive and recuperating from a rebel land mine which nearly paralysed him. He's being treated at Moscow's only home for wounded soldiers, financed by a British charity, Leonard Cheshire Homes. Despite his injuries, Nikolai insists he has no regrets about joining up.

NIKOLAI PYANIKH:
TRANSLATION:
It's the duty of every man in Russia to serve his country. I can't judge those who won't sign up. But I felt I had to serve my country even though that meant giving it the best two years of my life.

WYATT:
Too long for many. In December, 16 soldiers ran away from Moscow's elite division, complaining of severe bullying. According to one military analyst, the problem is that the Russian Army lacks professional sergeants, non-commissioned officers, who'd be able to keep control in the barracks. Instead, the older conscripts are put in charge of the new boys.

VITALY SHLYKOV:
The second year soldiers use the first year soldiers as their slaves. That's why there are stories about officers beating up soldiers. Well, it's out of desperation mostly. Not that they are so cruel.

WYATT:
This is the military's answer - its first recruitment video. Aimed at painting a prettier picture of life in Russia's armed forces, it's also been made to encourage more men to join up as professionals.

One paratroop regiment has become Russia's first all-volunteer unit. Some believe this could be the future for the army if it can afford it.

That doesn't solve the problem for those who simply don't want to serve in Russia's ramshackle army. For them, though, there could soon be another option. Alternative service for conscientious objectors who work in hospitals and old peoples homes. The pilot project is going well. It may involve emptying bed pans for a pittance for four years, but already some say it's better than two years of being bullied.

Many of the old symbols of Soviet military might have been consigned to the museum. Not so conscription, the army's structure still seems frozen in a Cold War past. Today's conflicts require a smaller, highly-motivated force, not ill-trained conscripts, however cheap they may be. Yet as long as the military here employs more than a million men, the top brass will be reluctant to lose the power that brings.

So far, no-one in Russia has dared take anything but the smallest steps towards reforming what looks increasingly like a spent force.

This transcript was produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.