"It is known that there are problems with the presence of young men prepared for military service," Interfax news agency quoted Medvedev as saying at a government meeting at Ryazan in central Russia.

"In the past 20 years their number has decreased by a third, and the health and the level of physical development of more than 40 percent of people of draft age do not meet the army service requirements," he said.

Medvedev suggested that Russia's oil-and gas-fuelled boom -- which came to an abrupt halt last autumn with the global economic crisis -- did little to improve the country's army, notorious for corruption and abuse of soldiers.

He also noted the widespread practice of bribing doctors to forge medical documents to avoid being conscripted.

"There is one more topic to which one cannot turn a blind eye," he said. "Doctors' notes get bought. We know this."

The government is hoping to turn its ailing army into a modern force by slashing a bloated officer corps and modernising its Soviet-style command structure, but the reforms have sparked resistance from the top brass.

Under the plan, three out of four servicemen would still be conscripts, Medvedev said.

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