While Russian peacekeeping formations in Bosnia and Kosovo are made up of professional soldiers and officers in their 20s and 30s, Russia's armed forces overall are composed mainly of conscripts. That includes troops fighting - and dying - in the country's flaring battles in the Dagestan region.

Some critics, including soldiers' mothers, charge that the Defense Ministry is sending raw recruits as canon-fodder to fight Islamic rebels coming out of Chechnya, a charge denied by a top military official.

"This is not true," said Maj. Gen. Valery Astanin, the spokesman for the Russian General Headquarters. "I admit there have been several occasions [of this happening], but the blame for them lies entirely with medium-rank commanders, not the high command."

Astanin insisted that the General Headquarters chief issued a directive ordering that only trained soldiers and officers be sent into action - "those who have served at least six months and have taken a special course of advanced training."

"And the same system is established by Presidential Decree No. 1237, dated Sept. 16, 1999. And I want to stress that all 'raw recruits' who took part in the military actions in Dagestan did so of their free will, i.e. volunteered," he added.

Many critics are not convinced, however. According to Tatarstan Parliament Speaker Farid Mukhametshin, two of the six soldiers drafted from Tatarstan and killed in Dagestan had been drafted only 42 days before their deaths.

Critics say there is no way they could have received the required training in that period of time. Experts say that keeping a professional army is 300 percent more expensive than a conscript army. Most agree that Russia cannot afford to give up the conscript system.

Astanin told The Russia Journal that the presidential decree of 1996, which ordered a transition to a professional army by year 2000, has been delayed "and will be implemented when possible."

That has not satisfied a group of mothers worried about the fate of their soldier sons.

"We do not want our children to be sent to the war in Dagestan, and our protest is supported throughout all of Russia," said Valentina Melnikova, secretary of Russia's Association of Soldiers' Mothers Committees.

She added that in many cities of Russia, including on the Baltic Sea coast, in Yekaterinburg and in Nizhni Tagil, soldiers' mothers have been picketing at military compounds where units were formed for dispatching to Dagestan.

The situation also has aroused the concern of regional authorities. Infuriated by the deaths of the Tatar conscripts, the State Council of Tatarstan adopted a resolution suspending the draft in the republic until 43 conscripts who are citizens of Tatarstan are withdrawn from the action zone.

Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of General Headquarters, complained to Russia's prosecutor general that the Tatarstan parliament's resolution was unlawful and violated the Russian Constitution.

Eventually, a compromise was reached between the federal government and Tatarstan authorities in which the military promised it no longer would send first-year soldiers from the republic into Dagestani battle and would pull those already in combat out.

Astanin said that units in the North Caucasus are examining their personnel in order to prevent inexperienced soldiers from going into battle.

He also said that all drafted soldiers and NCOs deployed for combat in the area are volunteers who indicate their willingness to fight in their personal reports.

That provision is abided by even though the warfare in Dagestan does not require asking combat-ready soldiers to volunteer, the General Staff officer added.

"A specific member of the federation is suffering an aggression from extremists and international terrorists," Astanin said. "And in such cases, the voluntary participation principle is invalid."

Despite the controversy, officials insist morale is high with troops fighting in the region. They say volunteerism is high, especially among soldiers with links to Dagestan.

Ensign Alexei Onatsky, who volunteered to fight in Dagestan, said: "I volunteered because I want to earn some money. Several ensigns and privates from my unit volunteered with me. They are directing us for special training, and then we'll move to our new units."