Putin’s Russia seeks to project power with modern military

In this le photo taken on May 9, Russian soldiers march during the Victory Day military parade marking 71 years after the victory in WWII in Red Square in Moscow

With an aircraft carrier deployed off Syria’s shores and hundreds of new jets, missiles and tanks entering service each year, President Vladimir Putin can project Russian military power on a scale unseen since Soviet times.

A massive reform effort launched in the wake of Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia has transformed a crumbling, demoralized military into agile forces capable of swift action in Ukraine and Syria. Long gone are the days when Russia was forced through financial hardship to scrap dozens of warships and ground most of its air force. Whereas many young men long dodged their obligatory military service, recruits today speak of extending assignments in a better equipped, trained and paid army.

In this le photo taken on Sept. 9, Russian navy ships and military paratroopers take a part in a landing operation at the Black Sea coast, Crimea

“The military reform has given Russia, the Kremlin [and] Mr. Putin a usable instrument of foreign policy which Russia did not have for a quarter century,” said Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank.

Putin’s military power today stands in stark contrast to the dying days of the Soviet Union, when Russia inherited the bulk of the 4-million-strong Soviet army, conscript-heavy forces it could barely afford to feed.

During its five-day war with tiny Georgia, army units starved of new equipment for 15 years experienced chronic vehicle breakdowns, communications failures and friendly-fire casualties from inaccurate salvos. Incensed by those setbacks, Putin and military commanders committed to a program of radical restructuring and spending.

Perhaps the most important change today is in the caliber of the soldiers themselves. While all men aged 18 to 27 still face a mandatory year of military service, Russia increasingly is attracting volunteers for at least two years and building a culture emphasizing the military as a career.

Russia’s Defense Ministry says contract soldiers, most of them former conscripts who opt to stay, have outnumbered conscripts in the ranks since 2015.

Moreover, the prospect of future deployments is real. Russia since 2014 has stoked tensions with the West in ways unseen since the Cold War.

First came Russia’s lightning seizure of Crimea from neighboring Ukraine, followed by surreptitious aid to pro-Russian rebels in the country’s breakaway east. Next, Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar Assad and against American-backed rebel groups as well as their shared Islamic State foe.

In the past month Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has joined land-based aircraft in bombing targets in Syria — the first attacks mounted by carrier in Russia’s history. Russia is using the Syria campaign to test several new designs of cruise missiles, fighters, bombers and helicopter gunships in combat for the first time.

Analysts warn that Putin’s forces could be poised to act more freely in Syria, Ukraine or elsewhere in expectation that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will prefer to cut deals with Russian interests, not confront them. MDT/AP