This year, the Military Commissariat of Ingushetia, Aram Akopyan, identified 239 people wishing to begin studying at military academies. Akopyan announced during a meeting of Ingushetia’s government that this is 72 more than last year.
‘We created a plan for the selection of 194 candidates for full military special training and 45 candidates for intermediate military special training. Last year, 167 places were allocated for the region’, Akopyan said.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of young people in the North Caucasus who wish to serve in the army or acquire a military profession. In Daghestan, many school graduates are forced to pay large bribes in order to enter the army. According to local observers, this phenomenon is connected to high levels of unemployment.
Ingush human rights activist Rashid, who did not wish to use his surname, told OC Media that the authorities purposefully created such conditions for young people so that their only chance to earn a living is by joining the military.
‘I think that this situation was created deliberately. There is a stereotype that Caucasians are only good at going to war and executing orders. This is what is being emphasised in all [North Caucasian] republics. Here in Ingushetia we have for the third time a general as president. When will they appoint an economist or a doctor as president?’ Rashid said.
The government of Ingushetia is satisfied with the growth in the number of people wishing to join the military. Deputy Prime Minister Zaudin Dourbekov noted during a governmental meeting that more effort was needed to promote careers in the military.
‘It’s necessary to intensify promotional work. Our boys should not miss the opportunity to prove themselves in the military. Perhaps, some of them will be added to the list of heroes and outstanding generals’, Dourbekov said.
Human rights activist Zaruhi Hovhannisyan has slammed the Deputy Chair of the Armenian Parliament’s Defence Committee, Armen Khachatryan, for attempting to downplay the responsibility of the authorities in the non-combat deaths of soldiers.
‘In our civilian life, we have many suicides, we have many accidents. I don’t know why you don’t talk about it, the reasons for those suicides’, Khachatryan said on Tuesday, in response to a question regarding the recent death of a soldier outside of comba
Georgia’s defence code is stamping out loopholes that young Georgians use to get out of military service, as rights activists in the country warn that new amendments to the code could lead to discrimination against religious minorities.
This week, we spoke to a Georgian student about why he chose to evade conscription, to Ioseb Edisherashvili from the Georgian Young Lawyers Association about the controversy surrounding the defence code, and to Giorgi Shaishmelashvili, the
Georgia’s parliamentary majority has amended the country’s defence code, closing loopholes allowing conscientious objectors and long-distance students to defer their military service.
Thursday’s amendments revoked exemption from military service for students enrolled in full-time distance study, as well as complicating a process used by conscientious objectors to immediately defer their service.
This follows the introduction of a new defence code in September, which removed exemptions for al
The Armenian Ministry of Defence has put forward proposals to allow conscripts to avoid most of their military service in exchange for ֏24 million ($61,000).
The bill, which was submitted for public debate on Wednesday, would allow wealthier Armenians to serve for just 4.5 months, instead of the usual two years.
The ministry explained that the ‘logic’ behind the move was that ֏24 million would be enough to pay a contract soldier ֏400,000 ($1,000) per month for five years.
The ministry sa
This year, the Military Commissariat of Ingushetia, Aram Akopyan, identified 239 people wishing to begin studying at military academies. Akopyan 
