Russian Army receives new resources

Deputy Defence Minister of Russia Colonel-General Nikolay Pankov has suggested publicly that immigrants who have entered Russia from different countries and have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis could join the Russian Army.

Russian legislation has no special limitations or quotas concerning the nationality of its servicemen. If foreigners know the Russian language and are living in the Russian Federation under legal documents, hold a secondary education certificate and have good health, they are qualified to serve in the Russian Army.

The Russian media states that theoretically any foreigner can serve in the Russian Army, but unofficially the military authorities have been given verbal orders to hire only the citizens of CIS countries. There is also a verbal recommendation that foreigners should not serve inside Russia and should therefore be attached to units deployed outside the country. There are 36 such Russian units at present.

Today around 207,000 foreigners serve in the Russian Army, most of whom are from CIS countries.