Russia's Painful Downsizing.

• Position: Brief Article

Russian plans to reduce the size of the nation's armed forces by 300,000-from a current authorized strength of 1.2 million to 900,000 troops--are turning out to be "quite a problem," a senior Russian defense official told a luncheon sponsored recently in Washington, D.C., by the National Defense Industrial Association.

Absorbing former military personnel into the civilian economy has been a major headache for cash-strapped Moscow since the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago, the official acknowledged. At that time, the...