Special volunteer operation – Newspaper Kommersant No. 142 (7343) dated 08.08.2022

At the end of last week, it became known about the formation in St. Petersburg of three “named” volunteer units to participate in a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine. The formation of such detachments has been going on in the regions for several months now: local authorities and veteran organizations are calling for them to join, volunteers are promised solid cash payments and provision with all the necessary equipment. Procedural issues are resolved through the military registration and enlistment offices, where those wishing to go to the NVO sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. As a rule, such units consist of fellow countrymen who are trained together and will also have to participate in hostilities together.

Information about the creation in St. Petersburg of volunteer detachments “Kronstadt”, “Neva” and “Pavlovsk” appeared on August 4 in the public “VKontakte” under the name “Point of selection for military service under the contract.” According to the announcement, these units are staffed “exclusively by residents of St. Petersburg.”

The formation of such units has been going on in the regions since spring: according to Kommersant’s estimates, more than 40 such units have already been created in at least two dozen subjects of the Russian Federation. Information about them is published in the media and social networks of the authorities, while they receive special names, one way or another indicating their territorial affiliation. As a rule, these units include residents of the very region where they are formed, who together undergo training and combat coordination, and then go together to the NWO.

So, in Yakutia, a volunteer detachment is called “Bootur” – according to local legends, Elley Bootur is considered the ancestor of the Yakuts. On July 28, the head of the republic, Aisen Nikolaev, wrote about his forthcoming dispatch to the NVO “to liberate the friendly republics, strengthen the borders and defend our country” in his Telegram channel. According to the commander of “Botur” Alexander Kolosov, it includes drivers, mechanics, air defense gunners and machine gunners.

“The main principle that we are forming here is fraternity… The battalion will come to its compatriots prepared and will be a good support for the military units that are participating in the special operation in Ukraine,” Governor Oleg Kozhemyako described the tasks of the Primorsky Tiger detachment. On July 9, the press service of the regional government announced the beginning of the formation of the battalion. Its fighters are being trained at the base of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet.

“The idea is that the battalions should be formed only from the natives of Tatarstan, so that they stand shoulder to shoulder, know each other, walk together and carry out the assigned tasks,” explained the principle of the formation of the Alga and Timer battalions (from Tatar – “Forward” and “Iron”), the head of the selection point for military service under a contract in Kazan, Major Evgeny Tokmakov. And the press secretary of the President of Tatarstan, Lilia Galimova, assured that this initiative was born “at the call of the soul”: “As far as I understand, people who are directly involved in this made an appeal. I have not heard that the leadership of the republic made any appeals.” The Tatar battalions have their own Telegram channel, where campaign videos are periodically published. “I am Alexey. Every day I work in the field in my native Volzhsk,” says a volunteer in one of them, getting into the BMP. “I am Bulat, an IT specialist from Nizhnekamsk. I develop programs for large companies in the city,” says another.

When enrolling in the Chuvash communications battalion “Atal” (from the Chuvash – “Volga”), which can also only be entered by residents of the republic, knowledge of the Chuvash language is considered a plus. To sign the contract, no experience of military service is required, but you need a signalman’s education or a driver’s license category B, C, D, E.

In the Perm Territory, a motorized rifle company “Parma” of 90 people and a tank battalion “Molot” (about 160 people) are being formed. Another tank battalion named after Kuzma Minin is being created in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Amur region, as reported in mid-July by local media, is gathering the Amursky motorized rifle battalion, which is expected to consist of 400-500 people. An announcement appeared on the website of the government of the Leningrad Region about recruiting for the Nevsky and Ladoga artillery battalions. And in the Tyumen region, they announced the formation of three units at once with different specializations: the Tobol sapper battalion, the Taiga sniper company, and the Siberia artillery battalion. According to the official version, Tobol was formed on the initiative of veterans of the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command School. The first groups of volunteers from these units went to the NWO at the end of July.

Bashkiria prepared two motorized rifle battalions for the NVO. The formation of the first, named after Minigali Shaimuratov (a Soviet Bashkir military leader during the Great Patriotic War), was announced back in May by the republican organization Veterans of the Marine Corps and Special Forces of the Navy. And in June, “Veterans of the airborne troops and special forces of Bashkortostan” announced the creation of a battalion named after Alexander Dostavlatov (an Ufa man who died in the second Chechen war). The head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, said that the total number of two battalions exceeded 800 people.

Support units are being created in a number of regions. For example, the Seim logistics battalion from the Kursk region will transport fuel, food, ammunition, etc. The Omsk region announced the formation of a repair company, a logistics company and a medical unit under the names Irtysh, Avangard and ” Om.” Auto mechanics, logisticians, freight forwarders, supply managers and paramedical personnel are most in demand there. According to the Omsk authorities at the beginning of last week, 150 applications for service were received, 50 people have already passed the selection and are included in the order, and another 400 people called the contact number and declared their readiness to join nominal battalions.

Among other “nominal” units – “Angara” (Irkutsk region), Chelyabinsk battalions “South Ural” (261 people) and “Southern Ural” (253 people), Tomsk “Toyan” (after the prince of the tribe of Eushta Tatars who lived on the banks of the Tom in the 17th century). The Ulyanovsk battalions “Sviyaga” (a river that flows through Ulyanovsk) and “Simbirsk” are expected to have 200 fighters each. According to Maxim Korzhov, deputy head of the central recruiting center in Ulyanovsk, the interest in concluding contracts is “very high”: more than 100 calls are received per day.

In the Krasnodar Territory, volunteer detachments are formed on the basis of the Kuban Cossack army. Back in April, a detachment named after the ataman of the Black Sea Cossack army Zakhary Chepiga was created there, and in May – the Kuban detachment. In total, about 1.2 thousand Cossacks participate in the SVO, and a special training center for Cossack volunteers operates in the region. In addition, on July 22, information appeared on the website of the Union of Cossack Warriors of Russia and Abroad about the reorganization of the Don Cossack detachment into a brigade and the addition of the Terek battalion to it. The new brigade should also include the Kuban and the Yenisei unit. Earlier, the media wrote about the participation of the Cossack divisions “Ermak” and “Tavrida” in the NWO.

The Ministry of Defense is responsible for procedural formalities in all regions: volunteers sign contracts with it for a period of several months with the possibility of extension and receive the official status of contract soldiers. A typical for many subjects of the Russian Federation, the scheme of distribution of duties in the formation of regbats was previously described in an interview by the Primorye Governor Kozhemyako: in the case of the Tiger, the Pacific Fleet supplies ammunition (body armor and helmets), the region takes care of clothes and special equipment (“various sights, walkie-talkies, quadrocopters” ), and the Ministry of Defense provides weapons.

The promised benefits to volunteers vary from region to region. So, in the Omsk region they say that after arriving on the territory of the North Military District, the salary of contractors will be at least 130 thousand rubles. In other regions, higher figures are given, exceeding 200 thousand rubles. And in the Perm Territory, volunteers are promised at all that they will receive at least 300 thousand rubles. per month. Regional authorities, in turn, are ready for one-time payments (from 100 thousand rubles), but they are not always available immediately. For example, in Tatarstan, volunteers are promised to be paid only 60,000 at once, and they will receive another 200,000 after crossing the border. In addition, contract soldiers are entitled to various payments for the successful conduct of hostilities and daily allowances of 8 thousand rubles. “for each day of the offensive.” Regional surcharges are also provided in the event of the death of volunteers: for example, in Bashkiria, their families are promised 12.3 million rubles each.

Recall that Chechnya began to form nominal military units from local residents long before the events in Ukraine, and they participated in the NMD from the first days. In particular, these are the Akhmat OMON and SOBR detachments (named after the President of Chechnya in 2003-2004 Akhmat Kadyrov), the Yug battalion and the 141st motorized regiment named after Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov. At the end of June, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced the formation of four new battalions to participate in the Northern Military District: North-Akhmat, South-Akhmat, West-Akhmat and East-Akhmat.

As a well-informed federal official explained to Kommersant on condition of anonymity, contract units are formed on a territorial basis, since it is more convenient to work with volunteers. The regional authorities, according to him, were asked to provide, first of all, informational support, they also help with finances and raise funds for additional logistics. To the question of Kommersant whether after the NWO there could be problems with such units at the place of their formation, the interlocutor of Kommersant replied: “This is the principle of the lesser evil. Yes, and fight for a long time and in different directions.

Andrey Vinokurov, corset “Kommersant”