The troops are mostly young draftees who were quietly serving their tour of duty in Sofrino, a small town near Moscow, when the fighting erupted in Chechnya.

Another young draftee from Cape Town, who asked not to be identified because he planned to evade further call-ups, had a similar revelation on township patrol.

The day before the massacre, a group of young Russian draftees, srochniki, had treated the villagers politely.

This is where Private Kuzin, a young draftee from the town of Angarsk in Siberia, was wounded by a sniper about 4 p.m. today.

The young draftees have been picked up by parents or brothers at a center established by the Red Cross.

Many longtime fans will remember a selfish young draftee who virtually extorted his trade to Denver from the hapless Baltimore Colts.

Other discriminating factors regarding conscription include age, with a preference for younger draftees, and residency, since only those in the U.S. may be drafted.

We shift the cost of military service from the well-to-do taxpayer who benefits by lower taxes to the impecunious young draftee.

Endemic to this issue has been the years of complaints over vicious physical harassment and hazing of young draftees by senior recruits.

The captain, a rural Afrikaner who hated the young draftee for being wealthy and well-educated, saw this.