The Ministry of Defense took over the provision of volunteers

The Ministry of Defense will take over the provision of volunteers with weapons, equipment and medical care, follows from the draft order of the military department, published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts. The Ministry will also provide medical assistance to volunteers and their evacuation if necessary.

“This procedure regulates the provision of volunteer units with weapons, military equipment, material and technical means,” the document says. Volunteers will be provided in the manner established for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In case of causing material damage to the state during the performance of their duties, they will be held liable. Volunteers can receive new equipment as the previously issued equipment wears out.

Volunteers will be able to receive medical assistance in military medical units, units and organizations to which the formations will be attached. It also provides for evacuation by aircraft and helicopters of the Aerospace Forces. If, through the fault of a volunteer, damage is caused to the state, then material liability will follow in the same manner that is established by law for military personnel.

In November 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law equating volunteers with military personnel. Corresponding changes were made to the federal law “On Defense”. The head of state instructed the Ministry of Defense to create volunteer formations. According to the document, volunteers must contribute to the fulfillment of the tasks of the Armed Forces. The number of volunteer formations, their organization, their areas of operation and the tasks facing them are also determined by the military department. In the event of the death of volunteers, family members will receive 3 million rubles.

In the same month, a law was signed on awarding the status of combat veterans to volunteers who took part in a special operation in Ukraine. The document also establishes the status of a combat invalid for persons who joined volunteer formations and contribute to the fulfillment of the tasks of a military special operation on the territory of Ukraine, the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics starting from February 24, 2022, as well as in the territories of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions – from September 30 2022

“In total there are five categories of persons taking part in a military special operation,” said State Duma deputy Alexander Borodai (“United Russia”). – These are military personnel under contract or conscription, they have all the required benefits. The second category, equated to military personnel under the benefits system, includes volunteers – civilians from various organizations performing humanitarian functions. Two more categories are fighting volunteers. These are, in particular, Wagner PMC, BARS (Combat Army Reserve) and DRO (Department of Resource Support) of the country under the supervision of one of the Directorates of the General Staff.”

Political scientist Alexander Nemtsev points out that volunteers used to provide volunteers. “On the one hand, this indicates an increase in the role of the Ministry of Defense in supplying the front. On the other hand, modern volunteers receive good monetary rewards due to their involvement in private military companies, ”the expert notes. Thus, he believes, the state acknowledged shortcomings in matters of security: “A form was found to declare this through volunteers. This is a mild form of admitting shortcomings for subsequent work on them.