29 May 2022
Congratulations to Mr. L. Attar-Bayrou with International Day of UN Peacekeepers
Kanshin: Shoigu and his team are creators!
17 September 2016
Deputy Chair of the Public Council of the Russian Defence Ministry Alexander Kanshin answered мedia monitoring agency "WPS" some acute questions related to activity of the Defense Ministry of the country
- You have been deputy chair of the Public Council of the Defense Ministry for a long time. In the Public Council you were during the office of former minister Anatoly Serdyukov and criticized him often. Why don't you do this towards incumbent Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu?
- There is a subjective factor at this point. A lot was done during the office of Serdyukov too but he was a foreign body in the army. He was very rough and unjust towards officers and this was unacceptable. Shoigu is an intelligent and literate person with good upbringing and very respectful and kind attitude to people. I foresee that a few years later Shoigu and his team will be criticized too but army is such an organization that cannot be without drawbacks. It is important that Shoigu and incumbent administration of the Defense Ministry are creators.
I could not understand for a long time why Shoigu took critique including critique on the part of mass media so harshly and emotionally. Now I understand that when a person cares about his cause sincerely and wishes to do it better, of course, he may feel an offense when he encounters lack of understanding.
- But there is an opinion that Shoigu only continues fulfillment of tasks of reforming of the army successfully started by Serdyukov. For instance, relatively recently authoritative magazine Kommersant-Vlast published an article that said that the former Defense Minister was a prominent state official, creator of the "new look of the Russian army."
- Let us turn to facts. Trying to reduce expenses on maintenance of military infrastructure, Serdyukov liquidated the armies of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces and united them into aviation bases. Such steps are considered mistaken from the standpoint of defense and security of Russia that has a big territory. When Shoigu became the minister he again restored armies of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces in the Armed Forces. Divisions are also being restored in the Armed Forces where it is necessary and there are also brigades. They are formed proceeding from necessity and expediency.
Shoigu restored posts of warrant officers in the army that had been abolished by Serdyukov due to incomprehensible reasons. During Serdyukov's office the quantity of all contract servicemen including warrant officers whom he put on sergeant posts was less than 180,000 people. Literally in three years during the office of Shoigu this quantity grew almost twofold and amounted to 352,000 servicemen at the beginning of 2016. There should be 384,000 of them this year. And these are all professionals. In the last two or three years, they are not just recruited to the army but are selected and their relevant preparation has been organized.
- Objectively speaking, the process of selection of candidates to contract service started during the office of Serdyukov. He decided that selection of professionals should be done by the Main Personnel Directorate and not the General Staff.
- I do not wish to say that Serdyukov has made mistakes in all his initiatives but his harm and incompetence in many issues is obvious. You ask me why I do not criticize Shoigu. At a contract with Serdyukov I wish to show creative and correct position of the incumbent Defense Minister and his team that helps him in this. I will continue saying that, for example, in organization of the process of military training Shoigu also had to correct a lot in the heritage of Serdyukov. If we recall, the Main Directorate for Combat Training of Troops was liquidated in 2010. Shoigu restored it. During his office intensity of combat training grew by hundreds of percent. Sudden alerting of troops and teaching them what is necessary during a war became a norm.
During the office of Shoigu we believed in the power of Russian weapons and restored humane role of the Russian army and Russian soldier. For example, our polite servicemen performed well during the Crimean events in spring of 2014. Success of their use in Syria demonstrates that Russia demonstrates that Russia remains one of the most powerful armament powers and its army is combat ready, is fed and clothed and is ready to fulfill its tasks. If we recall, it was Serdyukov who gave up purchase of some kinds of domestic armament in favor of foreign models. Thus Italian armored personnel carriers Iveco appeared in our army, we nearly bought helicopter-carriers of Mistral type from France etc. But practice showed that Italian armored personnel carriers were inferior to our combat vehicles and Mistrals were simply unnecessary.
During the office of Serdyukov there were regular delays in placing of the state defense order at enterprises of the military industrial complex. Now the state defense order is placed and fulfilled on time. Is not this a benefit of Shoigu and his team?
- But this is not only a benefit of Shoigu. Now the Duma passed a bill on correct fulfillment of the state defense order. It coincided objectively that when Shoigu came to the post of the minister the government started spending more money on defense, that is almost 4% of the country's GDP. This is a huge amount of money. Hence there are the results: the quantity of exercises has grown, social problems of servicemen are being solved, big-scale construction is underway etc.
- ?
- The new bill on state defense order was developed by the Defense Ministry. Its author is Shoigu. His senior deputy Ruslan Tsalikov was curator of its detailed development. I will tell you that he is a very authoritative person who knows his profession. It is due to his ability to make non-standard decisions the army has practically solved the problems of temporary housing supply to servicemen. Big-scale construction of military objects is currently underway in the Arctic, on the Kuril Islands and in other remote regions under supervision of Tsalikov and another very literate and knowing Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov. I will say that it is going on successfully because there is skillful management.
We remember the problems that were during the office of Serdyukov in settlement of medical issues. Dozens of military medical institutions were closed. Shoigu came and invalidated these resolutions and he ordered Tsalikov to be curator of the healthcare.
- It is possible to agree with this but sometimes we hear a critique saying that instead of intensive combat training the Russian army has grown excessively keen on contests. Significant funds are allegedly spent on this. For example, what for was it necessary to organize and to conduct the recent international military games ArMy-2016 so broadly?
- ?
- With regard to money, I will say directly. Lieutenant General Ivan Bukhvaltsev, head of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Armed Forces reported to me that no increase of the military budget was necessary for organization of ArMy-2016.
Money for the contest was allocated in the framework of the articles allocated for combat training. For example, money was allocated for preparation of training ranges in the framework of a program for reconstruction of training ranges. With regard to ammunition and hardware, all this is organized in the framework of financing of combat training of troops. There was a certain sponsor aid too but it was not big.
Military training that takes place in the form of a game and a contest is very good. The coverage is very big in the troops. Actually every unit of our army struggled for the right to participate in ArMy-2016. International military games are also necessary for broadening of the measures of confidence between the countries. Just agree that it is preferable to compete on a battlefield than in a real battle. This moves peoples and their armies closer, first of all. Second, combat skills are polished in the course of the contest and there is exchange of experience. Third, countries really demonstrate their military hardware and personnel. And it is also interesting to see which of them have better hardware and how the personnel masters it. Evidently because of this I will not be wrong if I say that now the Army International Games are quite authoritative international contests of active servicemen who demonstrate their combat skills.
- Critique also sounds now saying that the Defense Ministry is doing a business that is not its own. Instead of capital construction of military objects the ministry spent almost 20 billion rubles on construction of military patriotic park of culture and leisure of the Armed Forces Patriot in Kubinka in Moscow Region.
- In my opinion, this critique is not constructive. Such objects are also necessary and there are such parks in the US. Well, in London such park is standing in the center of the city. And it was right that decision to build Patriot park was supported by President Vladimir Putin. Under supervision of Timur Ivanov Patriot park was built in 2015 in the shortest possible time. And I know that the project will pay back soon. Already the second international military technological forum army-2016 already took place in Patriot park between September 6 and 11.
Representatives of more than 100 countries arrived there. In 2015, 73 of the 100 invited countries participated in the forum including 38 countries that participated in it within official delegations. This speaks about authority of the park and the forum.
Army-2016 became the biggest optical congress and exhibition event of the year. Static exhibition section of the forum was divided into special zones. For example, products for use in the Extreme North were presented at Arctic show and more than a hundred of companies prevented their developments allowing creation of modern armament and military hardware at Intellectual Industrial Technologies show.
With regard to foreign participation in Army-2016 forum, four national exhibition sections were arranged there, namely those of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. In total, they were represented by 29 companies.
All this was done not only for information and communication purposes but also for development of certain business projects, which meant that the process of payback of the event was going on.
I as the President of the International Consultation Committee of officers of the reserve that united veterans from 27 countries addressed m embers of the committee calling on them to participate in the next army games and Army-2017 forum. I hope that many of them will respond to such proposal.
- Thank you for the conversation.
