Diverse readiness mode – Newspaper Kommersant No. 205 (7406) dated 11/07/2022

The governors, endowed with new powers, continue to introduce targeted restrictions due to the increased military activity of Ukraine. In Sevastopol, after the attack on ships of the Black Sea Fleet, all public broadcasts from surveillance cameras were turned off, and in the Belgorod region, which is regularly shelled, school classes were transferred to a remote format. At the same time, the nature of the measures taken does not always depend on the proximity to the line of contact. For example, in the Saratov and Nizhny Novgorod regions far from the special operation zone, a ban on the use of drones has been introduced, and in the Sverdlovsk region, rallies and demonstrations have been banned.

The authorities of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), as well as the Zaporozhye region, where martial law has been in effect since October 20, have not reported any serious restrictions for residents lately, limiting themselves to minor adjustments to already introduced measures. In particular, in some areas of the LPR, the curfew has been extended, and the sale of alcohol has been limited in Zaporozhye. In addition, law enforcement officers have begun “selective preventive screening of citizens’ mobile phones” for subscriptions to “propaganda resources of the terrorist Kyiv regime,” Volodymyr Rogov, a member of the main council of the Zaporozhye regional administration, said on October 27. Mr. Rogov threatened those caught in dissent, first with a warning and then with a fine.

The Kherson authorities, unlike their counterparts from neighboring regions, were forced to resort to drastic measures. On October 31, due to the threat of a “massive missile attack” on the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, the acting governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo, announced the expansion of the evacuation zone, which previously affected only the right-bank part of the region. Now the left bank of the Dnieper within 15 km from the riverbed also falls into it, that is, the settlements of Golaya Pristan, Alyoshki, Kakhovka and Novaya Kakhovka, Velikaya Lepetikha and Malaya Lepetikha and others. According to Mr. Saldo, in total, about 70 thousand people need to be taken out of there.

Recall that President Vladimir Putin introduced martial law in only four new subjects of the federation. In the old regions, three special legal regimes have been established, due to the distance from the war zone (see “Kommersant” dated October 20). The front-line territories fell into the “medium response” zone, which, like martial law, gives governors the right to introduce fairly tough measures, up to the forced evacuation of residents and a ban on movement. Other regions of the Central and Southern Federal Districts were placed on a “high alert” zone, which allows restricting the movement of vehicles, while “basic readiness” was introduced in all other regions, which provides for increased protection of critical facilities.

The governors of the “front-line” regions have different approaches.

For example, if in the Voronezh, Bryansk and Rostov regions officials have so far reported only on strengthening the protection of public order and key infrastructure facilities, in the Belgorod region the set of measures turned out to be much wider: an emergency regime was introduced in 12 settlements there, and business owners were recommended to switch to ” flexible work schedule”, schoolchildren were transferred to “remote control” until December 1, and anti-tank barriers were installed in the border areas. In Sevastopol, after the attack by Ukrainian drones on ships of the Black Sea Fleet, all broadcasts from CCTV cameras available to civilians were turned off, and it was also forbidden to film and publish air defense work on social networks. Earlier, a ban on photography and video filming of infrastructure facilities, including the railway, was introduced on the peninsula.

But the differences between the modes of “increased” and “basic” readiness are practically not visible. Basically, officials report on strengthening the protection of various objects, placing local accents.

For example, in the Altai Territory, special attention is paid to crowded places, in the Amur Region – to state institutions, in the Chelyabinsk Region – to social facilities. In some regions, screening of heavy vehicles has been strengthened.

“The work that we are doing as part of the basic readiness regime will be hardly noticeable to the naked eye,” Anton Alikhanov, Governor of the Kaliningrad Region, explained to reporters.

However, there are more original measures. Thus, in the Saratov and Nizhny Novgorod regions, a complete ban on the use of drones, including private quadrocopters, has been introduced. And in the Sverdlovsk region, it was decided to limit the holding of rallies, demonstrations, processions, pickets and any other mass events. As the Ministry of Public Security of the region explained to Kommersant, “the lion’s share of law enforcement forces is aimed at protecting vital facilities,” therefore, “distracting security forces from important work to rallies and festivities is not the best solution in the current conditions.” Local party cells have already begun to receive refusals to coordinate traditional events. Thus, the Liberal Democratic Party was not allowed to hold a motor rally in Yekaterinburg in honor of National Unity Day, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was not allowed to hold a demonstration and rally in honor of the 105th anniversary of the October Revolution.

Andrey Prakh, corset “Kommersant”