Military commissariat

Military commissariats fulfil the same roles in Russia as they did in the Soviet Union and continue to operate in their individual districts. They recruit servicemen to the Russian army and choose who is eligible and ineligible for service.[9] Konstantin Preobrazhensky, a former KGB colonel and intelligence expert, has suggested that military commissariats in Russia enlist and report individuals to the FSB and the police as well as to the military.[10] Political and social debate regarding a transition to an all-volunteer professional military service model exists in Russia and in this context the purpose of the military commissariat is questioned.[9]

Since the decrease in military expenditure and regulation that occurred during the 1990s military service programs and institutions such as military commissariats have faced accusations of corruption.[9][8][2] The quality of military service and training is also believed to have decreased.[7] Military commissars allegedly accept bribes in order to exempt individuals from compulsory military service and this method of avoiding conscription along with others such as attaining false medical certificates contribute to the common concern of draft evasion.[9] Another contentious issue regarding military commissariats and military commissars in modern Russia is the continued use of Soviet portmanteaus and phraseology in the words 'voyenkom' (military commissar) and 'voyenkomat' (military commissariat). This has been regarded as a form of Soviet nostalgia.[8]

The military in Russia has become increasingly unpopular amongst Russian citizens, with a 2011 Levada Centre study finding that 54% of Russian parents would not want their son to join the army.[9] Additionally, the military has a legacy of hazing and brutality in the form of dedovshchina.[8] This reputation negatively connotes back to the role of military commissariats in conscription, and its effect of increased draft evasion.[9] These concerns were illuminated by the creation and mainstream popularity of human rights organisations such as the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, which seeks to expose the abuses experienced by men in the Russian military.[11] In 1998 human losses in the Russian army were over 15 000, with every fourth death being a suicide.[11] Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and activist, has provided anecdotal information regarding the concerns of many families in response to conscription and the ways men are drafted by military commissariats.[12] Volunteers from the committee also make routine visits to military commissariats to ensure procedures are correct and to oversee developments. This is accepted in military commissariats in the interests of continuing military reform and minimising corruption.[11]

Military commissariat, Shyshaky, Ukraine

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all former members organised and developed their own defence, security and military programs.[5] A result of remaining Soviet military infrastructure such as military commissariats existing in post-Soviet states is the threat of Russian military intervention or reclamation.[13] Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 Russian foreign policy has focused on geopolitical competition similar to the foreign policy ideas of the Soviet Union. Military commissariats continue to operate in fringe and de facto states around the Russian border such as in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.[10] As a result of the information collected by individual military commissariats regarding the population in each district, their practice in disputed post-Soviet territories has been scrutinised by critics of the Russian government and their policies where it is seen as an example of continued Russian intervention in post-Soviet states.[10]

The word commissariat, within the Military of France and the Military of Italy (and formerly in the British Army) designates services providing supplies, as well as financial and legal support to units, roughly equivalent to the Quartermasters in the US military. Officers from these services are called commissaires (in French), commissari (in Italian) and commissaries in English. Additionally the word 'commissariat' in France and French speaking countries and territories can be used as an equivalent to 'police station'.[14]

In Britain, military commissariats were used first in the Crimean War between 1853 and 1856.[15] They were created as a part of the Treasury and were responsible for transporting and rationing all food, fuel and provisions from Britain to dispatched troops in Crimea as well as organising and accounting for all relevant documentation regarding supply quantities and their destinations.[15] This system and its procedures were criticised by members of the British Army at the time of the Crimean War and has been criticised by military historians since for being inefficient as there were food shortages experienced by British soldiers during the Crimean War.[15] The food shortages are attributed to the military commissariat structures that required documentation to be provided by military commanders and their soldiers that in most cases was not properly administered in time.[15] This British system is portrayed as inefficient when compared with the equivalent French intendance militaire.[16] The chain of command was also criticised at the time as it was thought that the commissariats should respond to the War Department and not to the Treasury.[15] Commissariats were transferred to the authority of the War Department in December 1854.[16] This process can be seen as a militarisation of the initially uniquely administrative commissariat system.[16] However, the guidelines and bureaucracy used by military commissariats during the Crimean War has been praised for providing consistency and uniformity to the procedures during the war which Britain ultimately contributed to winning.[15]