Russian Army announces massive layoffs

Following the announcing of a massive rearmament of its military forces, the Russian Defense Ministry has said it will get rid of around 36,000 officers in 2009, a ministry source told reporters Tuesday.

"We believe that in the final account no more than 36,000 or 37,000 servicemen will be fired (in 2009), maybe more, maybe less," Reuters quoted Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov as telling reporters.

The Defense Ministry has announced plans to cut the armed forces from around 1.13 million to 1 million personnel in 2012 and reduce officer numbers by more than half to 150,000 in a bid to transform the largely demoralized Soviet-era structures.

Pankov's remarks signaled that the ministry will stick to its plans despite looming unemployment. About 8.7 million Russians, or over 10 percent of workforce, are already unemployed, on forced holidays or unpaid leave, the Economy Ministry has said.

Critics of the military reform launched by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov say the hasty reduction of the armed forces means tens of thousands of sacked military professionals may be forced to seek their fortunes in the criminal world.

"We have no inclination to leave in the ranks of the armed forces those officers who do not meet the requirements of their jobs and do not correspond to the noble title of officer," Pankov said.

"A significant number of senior officers have been found to be incompetent and will be fired."

Pankov said those to be fired included 50 generals who had failed to pass appraisals.

The military reform has angered many officers. Several generals opposing the reform have been fired or resigned.

In the most recent case, Valentin Korabelnikov, the chief of Russia's powerful GRU military intelligence, was sacked last week following media reports on his strong opposition to plans to disband or reorder special forces units under GRU command.