Russian Army Reform

According to an article from the Belgrade daily “Politika”:

RUSSIAN ARMY REFORM
RETIREMENT OF 100,000 TROOPS
Russian armed forces will number 1.2 million troops from 2005.
The largest cutbacks are expected in the Air Force.
Moscow – The Russian Army has received a directive to reduce the strength of all its elements by a total of 100,000 troops by the end of 2004, by approximately 8% of current strength, thereby reducing the size of the armed forces to 1.1 to 1.2 million members, as reported by the Komepcaнт news agency.
The largest cutbacks are expected in the Air Force and the smallest in the Cosmic Forces, Railway Troops, PVO and Strategic Rocket units.
Structural changes are also anticipated.
The Air Force will be reduced by 36,000 members, the Army by 20,000 and the Navy by 16,000.
The reduction will also hit Strategic Aviation with the retirement of two reserve regiments of the long-range Tu-22M3 bomber. The clipping of Strategic Aviation wings will also impact on fighter, bomber and fighter-bomber strengths.
On the other hand, the PVO will remain practically untouched; furthermore it is expected to become one of the elementary components of the Air/Space Defence Force that is being formed in the Russian armed forces.
The news from the Navy is that the responsibility for the decommissioning of nuclear submarines will pass to the Federal Nuclear Energy Agency.
As regards military equipment, the cutbacks will include two submarine types from the Northern Fleet and all type 667BD submarines from the Northern and Pacific Fleets.
The Strategic Rocket Forces will be left without even one division equipped with the 15A18 “Satan” ICBM.
One of the three Rocket Armies, the one stationed near Orenburg, will be retired; thereby reducing the costs of maintaining these units, according to the logic of the Ministry of Defence.
Reductions in the Land Army include the retirement of the Head Quarters for Battle Preparation of the Armed Forces, a reduction in the number of members of the ABH units and the closing or integration of a number of military academies.

Translated by Ivan Kovanovic

Any more detailed information would be much appreciated – as would a general discussion of the impact of these reforms and whether they are far-reaching enough (which to me they don’t seem to be).