The governor acted like a general – Newspaper Kommersant No. 22 (7467) dated 02/07/2023
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The governor of the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, Roman Starovoit, headed the local people’s squad, the formation of which has been going on since the beginning of the special military operation. So far, it is needed for patrolling border areas, but if necessary, it can become the backbone of territorial defense, Mr. Starovoit said. The heads of other front-line regions are in no hurry to follow his example, however, if the special operation drags on, the “militaryization” of civilian officials will become inevitable, the expert warns.
On Monday, at a weekly meeting, Roman Starovoit informed his subordinates about the decision to lead a voluntary people’s squad. People began to be recruited there immediately after the start of the special operation: combatants help patrol the border areas and important infrastructure. By the end of 2022, according to the governor, 2 thousand people have joined the voluntary formation, and in total the authorities expect to gather up to 6 thousand combatants in it.
Mr. Starovoit pays special attention to the “militaryization” of the region. For example, in early January, he himself spent almost a week at the training base for the Wagner private military company (PMC). The head of the region, in his own words, “surrounded by real men” practiced shooting from a machine gun, a grenade launcher, threw hand grenades and rode an armored personnel carrier. Businessman and founder of PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed that Roman Starovoit really “was trained along with all the fighters, slept in the same barracks.”
“We assume that, God forbid, but suddenly, in the event of an armed invasion, a voluntary people’s squad will be the backbone of our territorial defense. And in just a few hours, we will be able to assemble, form up and enter under the military command, which, in the event of a declaration of martial law, will lead the territorial defense, ”Mr. Starovoit explained. He noted that he is responsible for the defense in peacetime, which means that he should also lead a voluntary squad.
Each of the border regions of the region will have its own detachment of vigilantes. Mr. Starovoit instructed local officials to select detachment commanders: they could be either the head of the district, or his deputy, or an experienced combatant. The squad includes, for example, former military personnel and those who could not leave for the troops in the status of volunteers or as part of partial mobilization. They are entitled to small cash payments in the amount of 15 thousand rubles, some of the combatants live at home and perform their duties after work, and some live in special bases.
The training of combatants, according to Roman Starovoit, is carried out in a weekly format. In addition to the Wagner PMC site, local volunteers are trained at two training bases of the autonomous non-profit organization Patriot in the recreation camps named after Volodya Dubinin and Dubki near Kursk. The preparatory course includes training in shooting, counter-ambushes in the forest and the city, crossing open areas, marching order and reconnaissance and search activities, as well as military medical training. Short videos are often published on the social networks of the people’s squad, which show how men in military uniform and with weapons walk through the forest.
In other border regions, where, as in the Kursk region, there is a “medium level of response”, not everyone follows the example of Roman Starovoit. For example, in the government of the Voronezh region, Kommersant was told that there was no need to recruit vigilantes, and there are enough law enforcement forces to ensure security. The volunteer squad was created only in the Belgorod region, its members also undergo tactical and fire training. It was not possible to quickly find out the plans of the local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov regarding the personal leadership of the Kommersant squad. The press service of the head of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratiev, told Kommersant that there was no information or decisions on the creation of people’s squads in the region, but similar functions were performed by the Cossacks. The Crimean government told Kommersant that the “People’s Militia”, which is the successor to the self-defense units of the peninsula, which was organized in 2014 and is under the control of the head of the peninsula Sergey Aksyonov, has long served as an analogue of the people’s squad.
Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev believes that Roman Starovoit “wants to look like the most patriotic of governors, as well as the most belligerent.” “Does he take an example from Ramzan Kadyrov (the head of Chechnya.— “b”) or not, I can’t say, but Starovoit is passionate about the military theme,” the expert argues. “He probably perceives his “stop” in Kursk as temporary and wants to continue his federal career.” According to Mr. Kalachev, if the special operation drags on, the trend towards “militaryization” of officials may spread to other heads of regions.
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