Military commissariat
In France and Italy, the word "commissariat" can refer to factions of the police and law enforcement, some of whom are connected to the military.
[3] Soviet republics were divided into Krais and Oblasts and then into national districts and at each division a military commissariat was instated.
[3] Other duties included troop mobilisation, forced conscription and punishments for draft dodging, preparing local men for service, registering all relevant weaponry including all machinery and cars in the region, delivering pensions to retired army personnel, and selecting and promoting officers.
[3] Military commissariats organised the mobilisation of troops before the Soviet invasions of Finland, Poland and other countries in 1939 and in the subsequent outbreak of World War II.
[4] As part of recruitment processes and to encourage military service and participation in World War II military commissariats would organise dispatch centres in their individual districts that displayed various propaganda materials such as portraits of Soviet leaders and slogans that encouraged defence of the homeland.
[4] After 1945, military commissariats and their administrative processes were increasingly monitored closely by the United States through espionage to establish greater understanding of the Soviet Armed Forces.
[6] This is a result of the bookkeeping and accounting information held by individual military commissariats regarding population, recruitment and equipment numbers in their districts.
[5] The document was not signed by Yeltsin until 1997 and this is attributed to consecutive debates and discussions surrounding its content, and the various internal and external instability experienced by Russia during the 1990s.
[8] Military commissariats fulfil the same roles in Russia as they did in the Soviet Union and continue to operate in their individual districts.
[8] This reputation negatively connotes back to the role of military commissariats in conscription, and its effect of increased draft evasion.
[9] These concerns were illuminated by the creation and mainstream popularity of human rights organisations such as the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, which seeks to expose the abuses experienced by men in the Russian military.
[11] Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and activist, has provided anecdotal information regarding the concerns of many families in response to conscription and the ways men are drafted by military commissariats.
[12] Volunteers from the committee also make routine visits to military commissariats to ensure procedures are correct and to oversee developments.
Military commissariats continue to operate in fringe and de facto states around the Russian border such as in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
[14] They were created as a part of the Treasury and were responsible for transporting and rationing all food, fuel and provisions from Britain to dispatched troops in Crimea as well as organising and accounting for all relevant documentation regarding supply quantities and their destinations.
