CNN - Whose Russian army is it, anyway?

Whose Russian army is it, anyway?

Some observers fear unrest could follow runoff

June 30, 1996
Web posted at: 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russia will hold its runoff election Wednesday, pitting President Boris Yeltsin against the Communist contender, Gennady Zyuganov. Some political analysts fear that if there isn't a clear mandate for either candidate, fighting could break out between armed factions.

These days, it isn't just the military that has weapons. Lt. Col. Alexander Zhilin, a military expert for the Moscow News, says that different ministries and organizations have done their best to get their own armed forces.

Zhilin says every government department has its own force, "beginning with the emergency ministry that has its own small army, and continuing with the railroad ministry that has its own troops." As a result, "even the Kremlin doesn't know how many armed people are in the country," he said.

The police force is larger than the regular army. Add to those forces the corps of security guards retained by big business to protect their interests. All told, experts believe, there are about 3.5 million armed people in Russia.

With so many guns, hired and otherwise, political analysts fear that an uncertain political environment could turn into a breeding ground for violence. They say that a less-than- clear mandate for either presidential candidate in the runoff could lead to clashes between armed groups.

If there isn't a strong winner, civil war, in effect, could break out between official and unofficial militias.

In such a civil war, nobody's loyalty could be taken for granted, least of all the Russian army's. The army played a decisive role twice in moving Russia's politics away from Communism -- in 1991, aborting an attempted coup by Communist hard-liners -- and in 1993, in the fight over the embattled Parliament building. But a long civil war in Chechnya has demoralized and embittered the troops.

Now, the loyalty of the army troops to any commander-in-chief is in question. They could themselves fighting their own battle against the authorities they blame for their situation.

Lt. Gen. Alexander Vladimirov, a former presidential adviser. said if they do so and win, the army could become a political force in its own right. "If, God forbid, this will happen, Russia's further development will repeat the situation in many Latin American countries," he said.

In other words, a situation in which the president's continued leadership depends upon the military's support.

Correspondent Eileen O'Connor contributed to this report.

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Whose Russian army is it, anyway?

Some observers fear unrest could follow runoff

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