July 21, 1997

MOSCOW (AP) -- To keep the Russian military from getting too top-heavy as it reduces its ranks, President Boris Yeltsin today ordered defense officials to cut the number of generals by more than 500.

Yeltsin, meeting with Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev, said the number of generals would be reduced gradually from the current 2,865 to "an upper limit" of 2,300, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.

Yeltsin and Sergeyev met at a resort in central Russia where the president is vacationing.

According to ITAR-Tass, Yeltsin has not approved any promotions to general for a month and a half. Of the current staff of generals, 1,928 are in the armed forces, 122 at the Interior Ministry and the remainder in various other government departments.

Yeltsin did not say how the cuts would be accomplished, although the moratorium on promotions suggested that it might be by attrition.

The president has ordered the Defense Ministry to reduce the size of Russia's armed forces by 500,000, from 1.7 million to 1.2 million. Today's meeting dealt largely with issues related to the military restructuring.

"Everything possible will be done to make the process painless for those discharged from the military service," Yeltsin told reporters after the meeting.

He said 100,000 apartments would be built for the departing soldiers -- 50,000 at the expense of the Defense Ministry and 50,000 to be paid for by regional authorities.

Yeltsin insisted that the reduction would not affect the country's defense capabilities.

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Johnson's Russia List

#1071

22 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org