Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced today that Russia has experienced a sharp increase in the number of people wishing to enroll in military colleges. According to Shoigu, the Ministry of Defense’s colleges received applications from twice as many students for the 2015 school year than it did a year before for the 2014 school year.
“This will allow us to select for military service the very best prepared and motivated young people,” Shoigu said.
According to Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov, officials might even increase the number of vacancies at military academies in 2015, to accommodate a larger freshman class, with a special effort to make room for more women.
According to the defense minister, competition is especially tough at command schools. “It’s gotten to be that there are six people competing for one spot. Among women, it’s even tougher, where there are 30 competing for a single space,” Shoigu said.