Posted on 04/20/2020 5:48:43 PM PDT by marshmallow
Moscow, April 16, Interfax - The main church of the Russian Armed Forces can become a place where new conscripts will undergo alternative civil service, Alexander Kanshin, deputy chairman of the Russian Defense Ministry's Public Council, said.
"Yes, such a possibility is considered. It is understood that people will be able to undergo alternative civil service in a Defense Ministry structure, in the spiritual-educational center of the main church of the Armed Forces. This initiative is undoubtedly supported by members of the Russian Defense Ministry's Public Council," Kanshin told Interfax on Thursday, commenting on the media reports stating that Russian citizens who do not want to serve in the military because of their convictions will be able to get a profession in the main church of the Russian Armed Forces starting from 2021.
In this situation, the alternative civil service that young people select due to their convictions gains a totally different spiritual and moral meaning, Kanshin said.
"Such service does not belittle a person, but elevates him, bringing the best human qualities in him," Kanshin said.
One of the main areas of the work of the spiritual-educational center of the Main Church of the Russian Armed Forces, along with the training of military priests and the organization of events with commanders and officers of military-political bodies, will be the training of junior medical personnel, nurses, he said.
"Besides medical training, they will receive knowledge and education in the Orthodox tradition of care and assistance to needy people," Kanshin, who is also general director of the charity foundation Voskreseniye, which was created to resolve organizational issues and raise funding for the construction of the church, said. It is being built for the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War in Park Patriot in Kubinka, Moscow Region.
Education programs and curricula have already been prepared for the operation of the spiritual-educational center, Kanshin said.
"Textbooks are now being made. Specialists form the Military-Medical Academy are working on their medical part and the Military University of the Defense Ministry is working on the spiritual-educational part. The center will have the most modern medical equipment, he said.
"Brothers and sisters of mercy will have an opportunity to serve in the main church and help their neighbors there," Kanshin said.
The newspaper Izvestia reported on Thursday, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, that conscripts who select alternative civil service can undergo it in a Defense Ministry structure, the main church of the Russian Armed Forces, in 2021. "After that, the guys will be sent to work in medical establishments. The duration of their service, unlike those who undergo alternative civil service in civil structures, will be reduced from 21 to 18 months," the paper reported.
Alternative civil service lasts 21 months.
"People in alternative service receive wages and social packages envisaged by the staff schedule. However, such service is not very popular. Some 130,000-135,000 conscripts go to the troops every six months, whereas only several hundreds of people chose alternative civil service in the same period," the report said.
The list of professions in which alternative service is possible comprises dozens of professions. Among them are woodworker, driver, electric and gas welder, postman, elevator operator, decorator, tractor driver, paramedic, guard, gardener, reindeer breeder, baker, and firefighter.
Fascinating.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.