Russia will no longer include free cigarettes in its food rations¹ for servicemen but will compensate² by providing them with candy, a top general said Thursday.

"We are no longer buying cigarettes for the armed forces and are replacing them with caramel and sugar," Lieutenant-General Dmitry Bulgakov was quoted by news agencies as saying.

He specified³ however that Russia was not banning smoking in the military.

"Naturally, if a soldier wants to smoke we can't forbid this. But now he'll have to buy cigarettes in stores," Bulgakov said. "If you want to smoke, then smoke. If you don't want to smoke, eat candy."

Bulgakov also announced defence ministry⁴ plans to provide military officers who work mainly indoors or in hot climates with new uniforms, including socks that let feet "breathe" and shoes "of high-quality leather."

However, after being issued a complete uniform kit⁵ at the start of service officers will afterwards have to purchase new uniform components⁶ themselves, albeit⁷ from special military stores open only to officers and their families.

The decision to introduce updated, higher-quality uniforms to Russian military personnel was made in 2007, which were scheduled to be issued this year.

However, while a few units have received new uniforms -- notably⁸ those that marched on the May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square -- the project has been delayed due to defence ministry budget cuts.

Defence chiefs now planned to phase in the new uniforms over the next two to three years, Bulgakov said.

俄罗斯一位高级将领周四称，今后俄军士兵的食品配给中将不再有免费香烟，但是会发放糖果作为补偿。

通讯社援引中将德米特里•布尔加科夫的话：“我们将不再为军队购买香烟，取而代之的将是焦糖和砂糖。”

不过，他明确说明俄罗斯并没有在军队中禁烟。

“当然了，如果一个士兵想抽烟的话我们不能禁止。不过现在他需要自己去商店买，” 布尔加科夫说。“如果你想抽的话，就抽。但是如果你不想抽，那就吃糖吧。”

布尔加科夫还宣布了国防部的计划，预备向那些主要在室内或在炎热气候里工作的军官提供新制服，其中包括透气性好的袜子和高质量皮鞋。

但是，在服役之初发到一整套制服之后，军官们仍须自己购买新的制服配件，不过他们可以到专门向军官和军属开放的特别军品店购买。

俄罗斯在2007年做出决定，将向军队人员提供先进、质量更高的制服，按计划今年将予以实施。

但是，目前只有几个部门发到了新制服——特别是那些在5月9日胜利日参加红场阅兵式的士兵，这个计划由于国防部财政预算削减而被推迟执行。

国防部的长官们现在计划在接下来的两到三年内逐步引入新制服，布尔加科夫说。

Vocabulary:

ration: 配给量，给养，口粮

kit: （士兵的）个人装备

albeit: 尽管，虽然

phase in: 逐步引入