The federal law provides that as of 1 January 2008 military service will be shortened to 12 months. A number of reasons for granting citizens exemptions from military service will be changed and cancelled. College graduates who have been trained at military departments of educational establishments of higher learning will be exempt from service.
It is provided that these changes will be carried out in two stages. As of 1 January 2007 military service will last one and a half years and as of 1 January 2008 it will last one year.
The length of special civil service, an alternative to military service, is connected to the length of military service. A similar reduction of the length of alternative service is provided.
To provide for the increasing need that in this connection the Armed Forces has for recruits, the law provides to reduce the number of exemptions from military service.