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#12
Versiya
No. 47
December 11-17, 2001
CRISIS
Something needs to be done about Russia's diverse security structures
Author: Vadim Saranov
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

THE DEFENSE MINISTRY AND GENERAL STAFF HAVE LOST CONTROL OVER THE SECURITY STRUCTURES. THE WAR IN CHECHNYA HAS DISPLAYED ALL THE CLUMSINESS AND INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM OF MILITARY COMMAND. THE SECURITY STRUCTURES HAVE PROVED UNABLE TO COORDINATE THEIR ACTIVITIES.

When the split of the Soviet Union was just beginning, there were only three security structures in the country - the Defense Ministry, KGB, and Interior Ministry. The existing security structures - all 14 of them - split from the three progenitors. It was not even a split, it was a breakout. Those who wanted to earn the money and abhorred the idea of sharing it with others broke out. The Railroads Troops were the first to get out of the Defense Ministry structure. Serious money have always been filtered through the Railroads Troops, and military financiers' control grated on too many nerves.

A year later the Railroads Troops' centrifugal experience was repeated by the Civilian Defense Troops. They found themselves in the jurisdiction of the newly-established Emergencies Ministry. The initiative of the new Russian leadership perplexed upper echelons of uniformed power. The Civilian Defense Troops are one of the major links of the mobilizational mechanism of the state which is still controlled by the Defense Ministry.

Processes in state security were analogous. The Federal Border Guards Service, Federal Agency for Governmental Communications and Information, Federal Service of Protection, Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President, and Foreign Intelligence Service were split from state security to form independent structures.

All these branches of services were withdrawn from the Defense Ministry in line with the noble principle, "Money of the army should be spent on combat readiness only." The Defense Ministry was supposed to be rid of the necessity to maintain these formations financially. It never happened. It still transacts colossal sums to the Emergencies Ministry, Railroads Troops, and governmental communications.

These expenses defy imagination, and all this is financed by the Defense Ministry. The army is forced to share more than money alone. More than 50% draftees end up in the armed formations that have nothing to do with the Armed Forces.

In short, the Defense Ministry and General Staff have lost the last remnants of control over security structures. Is it good or bad. It is certainly bad for army generals. All security structures fiercely independent and this state of affairs may bring to naught defense capacity of the state.

Some structural units of the Defense Ministry are labelled MO (Russian for Defense Ministry) and some VS (Armed Forces). The Personnel Main Directorate is an MO, but the Main Directorate of Educational Work is a VS. What is the difference? The activities and clout of the former are restricted to the Armed Forces only, but those of the latter are broader and encompass all other armed formations as well. This is what the laws and guiding documents dictate. This is theory. In practice, however, the mechanism is not working.

The war in Chechnya has displayed all the clumsiness and ineffectiveness of the existing system of military command. The security structures have proved unable to coordinate their activities.

The excessive independence and isolation of the security structures doesn't annoy the upper echelons alone. Ordinary army officers are irritated with it too. First and foremost, they are annoyed by the appalling inequality of social standing differing from ministry to ministry. The average salary of an army officer is the lowest among salaries in other security structures, even though the law on social guarantees applies to all security personnel in the Russian Federation. The army is further angered by the inexplicable system of promotions in some ministries and departments. There was a time when border guards where commanded by lieutenant generals. No more. They are commanded by no less than colonel generals nowadays. There are lots of mysterious positions in the Emergencies Ministry. We found five (!) colonels in a rescue special assignment detachment which is nothing but a glorified battalion. At the same time, ordinary officers of the Defense Ministry cannot find a colonel's position in the army, because of the troop strength cuts.

The Defense Ministry is still trying to regain its lost influence with the security structures. Establishing a single system of rear services may be the first step in this direction. There are plans to do just that. Restoration of the common system of armaments is the next step. Time will tell how successful all these attempts are. The stakes are too high.

(Translated by A. Ignatkin)

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