Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research

Introduction
The suicide rate in Russia has shown a steady and stable increase since …. Suicide is
nevertheless the most common cause of death in Russia in the age range of ….

The Crisis of Russian Military Reform
For almost a dozen years civilian and military leaders in Moscow have spoken of military reform as
a process under way. In that same period the Soviet Union and its armed forces have collapsed.  Russia
emerged as its chief successor state and nationalized those armed forces that remained under its sovereignty. Subsequently, those armed forces were defeated in the course of a civil war with the breakaway Chechen Republic. Since then, the Russian military has made sporadic attempts to reform and reduce forces. The armed forces became victims of what one author called "a time of troubles." Reduced in numbers and underfunded, the Russian armed forces are a hollow shell of the Soviet armed forces. With an official strength of 1.2 million men, this current force goes unpaid and has become the step-child of a government in crisis….
Potential for harm to troops
Peacekeeping can be extremely stressful. There are higher rates of mental health problems, suicide, and
substance abuse among former peacekeepers than among the general population. A good example of this is Russian lieutenant ..., who attempted suicide several times following the release of his command………
Russian peacekeepers in the field have also suffered from ... As a result; peacekeeping has been viewed by critics as potentially harmful to individual military participants. Those critics have expressed their concerns that participation in peacekeeping operations will erode the combat ability of troops, and thus make it more difficult for military personnel to fight effectively in an all-out war….