Moscow newspaper "Trud" has reported that Col. Gen. Nikolay Pankov, the deputy defense minister, had recently pointed out that under Russian law, "the citizens of foreign states have the right to serve in the Russian military."

The paper added that its sources in the ministry have indicated that "there will not be any propaganda campaign" to recruit them, "but if their numbers increase" - and the number of foreigners serving in the Russian army now is only 308 - "this will only be welcomed"

Foreigners were given the chance to serve in the Russian military by a series of amendments in 2004 to the country's basic law on military service. That law does not specify just which foreign citizens could do so - "theoretically," the paper said, "an Australian aborigine" could serve. But "Trud" suggested that "unofficially" military offices have been given "an order to take for service only citizens of the CIS and the Baltic countries."

Those now serving include citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, plus two from Latvia, two from Germany, and one from Israel. Despite this diversity in citizenship, two-thirds of the total are ethnic Russians, military officials told the paper.