Military reform may force Medvedev and Putin to resign

Army service may soon become an obligatory line on CVs for anyone who wants to work for Russia’s government.

That’s according to a new proposal by the Defense Ministry that says that draft dodgers might be hunted and refused to leave country.

The idea goes against the direction taken by Russian authorities in recent years. It was widely popularized that the country should develop professional military forces instead of opting for further obligatory conscriptions.

Military analyst Sergey Lebedev told RT that such “forced conscriptions” can lead to serious problems.

“You have to be absolutely sure that if you are putting weapons into the hands of young people, you will be dealing with an absolutely loyal person, a real patriot and a responsible individual,” Lebedev said. “What kind of reaction could we expect, let’s say, if a young person is taken into the army by force and given a powerful weapon. It may lead to unprecedented consequences.”

However, analysts say, it might be interesting to see how far the new law could really get.

It is no secret that most of Russian high-ranking officials, including Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov, never served in the army. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as a former intelligence agent, served in Germany; President Dmitry Medvedev did only 1.5 months – as a university student; Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who studied at the Diplomatic School, did not have to serve.

Abroad, the situation is almost the same. US President Barack Obama, a lawyer by profession, never did military service. Neither did the majority of the members of the new UK cabinet, including Prime Minister David Cameron.