10 July 2009, 17:00
Krivenko: Russia still sends regular soldiers to "hot spots"
When Vladimir Putin, as President, promised not to send regular soldiers to "hot spots", he relied on incorrect data provided by militaries; therefore, the promise is still unfulfilled. This is the opinion of Sergey Krivenko, coordinator of the Public Initiative "Citizen and Army" and coordinator of the All-Russia Coalition of Public Associations "For Democratic Alternative Civil Service".
"President Putin, when on direct communication line with citizens in autumn 2007, said that regular (involuntary) soldiers would not be sent to 'hot spots'. It was clearly stated but was not put into respective regulatory documents," Mr Krivenko has noted and continued: "The Laws 'On Defence' and 'On Serviceman's Status' say that regular soldiers can be sent outside Russia to those countries, with which we have treaties on servicing our military bases. We have such in Dushanbe, Belarus and Armenia. Regular soldiers can be sent there, and they are."
However, according to his story, Russia sends regular soldiers to South Ossetia without any treaty and with no base there.
Author: Dmitry Florin Source: CK correspondent
