Russian army in 'critical condition'

The Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, has said the country's army is in critical condition and in dire need of urgent reforms.

In a newspaper interview, Mr Ivanov said the government was planning to cut 600,000 positions from the army in the next three years, and the reduction would free up funds to update military equipment and introduce efficient training.

The minister said the proposed reforms would also uphold Russia's military factories, which currently work at a third of their capacity.

A decade of economic reform has left the Russian army with a smaller budget, outdated equipment, poor training and plummeting wages.

Earlier this month, President Putin proposed to bring wages in the military to the same level as civilians.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service