Russia’s military draft takes place in Russia twice every year, in the spring and fall. According to some observers, this fall’s draft campaign has been by far “the strangest in the history of the country.” While the army is evidently undermanned and there are many runaways among the conscripts, young men from the North Caucasus are kept from serving in the Russian military. The new policy introduced across the region in the fall of 2011 is not even officially recognized. To hide the exclusionary policies, the military still drafts people from each republic, but only those of “Slavic origin.” Out of 3,320 conscripts who were to be drafted from Dagestan in fall 2011, only 121 Slavs were drafted, while the rest were put “on reserve”—as if there were too many conscripts available and no shortages of personnel in the Russian army (http://kavpolit.com/armiya-vymiraet-a-kavkazcy-smotryat-v-les).
According to some sources, the Russian military did not want to draft North Caucasians because they feared they would learn martial skills and use them against the Russian military forces fighting the insurgency in the North Caucasus. Others alleged that drafting North Caucasians resulted in the spread of radical Islamist ideas among Russian military personnel, including some officers, and Moscow decided to resolve this issue by cutting off all of the North Caucasus from the draft (http://kavpolit.com/gde-vsya-dagestanskaya-rat/).
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I guess they don’t want their own Nidal Hassanski.
The first two posts on the thread sum up the situation well. Common here.
I would also add that part of the reason people don’t like to serve is the reputation the Russian (Red) Army has for brutalizing recruits / lower ranks.
Here’s a good article on the overall issue which touches on your point, Amberdawn, and the hazing issue.
The Baby Bust Buries The Russian Army
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/The-Baby-Bust-Buries-The-Russian-Army-10-30-2011.asp
Excerpt covering my point:
The military is so unpopular for conscripts because of the brutal treatment they receive. This has not been getting better, and earlier this year it was revealed that “hazing” incidents were up 16 percent last year. This is serious stuff. There are a lot of reasons for not wanting to be in the Russian Army, but the worst of them is the hazing (of new men by guys who have been in a few years, or months longer). It was thought that this sort of thing would speed the demise of conscription in Russia, once the Cold War ended in 1991. Didn’t work out that away. The government has found that, even among the “contract soldiers” (carefully selected volunteers who are paid much more than conscripts) the old abuses lived on, and that most of the best contract soldiers left when their contract was up. It was because of the brutality and lack of discipline in the barracks. The hazing is most frequently committed by troops who have been in six months or so, against the new recruits. But this extends to a pattern of abuse and brutality by all senior enlisted troops, against junior ones. It’s out of control. What made it worse last year was the growing animosity against troops who are not ethnic Russians.
This hazing originally developed after World War II, when Russia deliberately avoided developing a professional NCO corps. They preferred to have officers take care of nearly all troop supervision. The NCOs that did exist were treated as slightly more reliable enlisted men, but given little real authority. Since officers did not live with the men, slack discipline in the barracks gave rise to the vicious hazing and exploitation of junior conscripts by the senior ones. This led to very low morale, and a lot of suicides, theft, sabotage and desertions. The hazing has been one of the basic causes of crimes in the Russian armed forces, accounting for 20 to 30 per cent of all soldier crimes. This has caused a suicide rate that is among the highest in the world. Poor working conditions in general also mean that Russian soldiers are nearly twice as likely to die from accidents, or suicide, than American soldiers. Long recognized as a problem, no solution to the hazing ever worked.
With hazing, and the resulting poor morale and discipline, the military is also unable to keep many of its experienced and capable NCOs. Many of the best ones have been leaving the military, despite better pay and living conditions. All noted the problems, caused by hazing, as a major reason for getting out.