Russia will not send conscripts to serve...

This spring, more than 270,000 men aged 18 to 27 will be enlisted in compulsory 12-month military service in Russia. Conscription began on Thursday.

"The Defense Ministry does not plan to send conscripts to military service in the Chechen Republic ... This is not necessary," Col. Alexei Kuznetsov, said.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily quoted on Friday a military source as saying that the Defense Ministry was planning to reverse the practice of deploying only volunteers serving on contracts to Chechnya and would send conscripts to serve there.

The statement created fears among the parents of conscripts as militant attacks in Russia"s southern volatile republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia are common. The recent terrorist attacks in Moscow and Kizlyar (Dagestan) have contributed to concerns of the conscripts" parents to keep their children out predominantly dangerous zones.

"The military units within the territory of Chechnya are staffed by soldiers serving

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