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Majority of Russian army officers live in poverty: official

MOSCOW, Feb 27 (AFP) - More than half of all officers in Russia's underfunded military live in poverty, a member of the upper house of parliament said Thursday."Last year's wage increase for soldiers unfortunately did not raise their standard of living, because of a large increase in costs," said Valery Manilov, adding that 56 percent of officers lived in poverty.

Last year, 43 percent of officers lived under the poverty line, defined by a monthly wage of at 59 dollars (55 euros), Manilov said, quoted by Russia's Interfax-AVN news agency.

Nearly 370,000 Russian soldiers live without assigned housing, said Manilov, a former first deputy chief of general staff.

Russia's armed forces, some 1.1 million strong, have been plagued by financial problems since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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