Voluntary deputy squad – Picture of the day – Kommersant

The Governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoit called on the deputies of the regional Duma to join the voluntary people’s squad. Parliamentarians have already signed up for combat training courses. The head of the region also demanded that government officials at all levels give up long vacations and holidays abroad, recommending them to be “more restrained.”

As Roman Starovoit said at a meeting in the regional government, within a week after he personally headed the voluntary people’s squad of the region, there were a lot of people who wanted to join it. Volunteers help patrol border areas and critical infrastructure.

The authorities expected to recruit 6 thousand people into the squad, who, in the event of an attack, could become the backbone of the territorial defense.

According to Mr. Starovoit, the increase in combat readiness can follow several scenarios. Firstly, two-day weekend courses were organized in two special training camps, where combatants are trained by the National Guard and medical workers. Secondly, here you can take a week-long course with an eight-hour shooting training. In addition, those who wish can study at the site of the private military company (PMC) “Wagner”: a group of 35-40 residents of the Kursk region visits it weekly.

Despite the large number of applicants, the governor suggested that the heads of enterprises in the region send their employees for training according to a convenient schedule. “Government employees, deputies of the regional duma and the city assembly do not stand aside. I know that some have been trained and are ready to defend the region at any moment,” Starovoit said. He also offered local deputies assistance in organizing a centralized visit to the site for the training of combatants. “One of the deputies was eager to study after the New Year, but never took advantage of the opportunity,” the governor complained. Regional Duma Speaker Yuri Amerev said in response that the deputies had already agreed with the instructors and would be trained this week.

At the beginning of the year, Roman Starovoit himself underwent a week-long training at the Wagner PMC site, where he learned to shoot from a machine gun and a grenade launcher, threw hand grenades and rode an armored personnel carrier.

Last weekend he visited the training ground for combatants is already in the status of a commander. Commenting on the new status, the governor’s press secretary, Anastasia Gurina, explained to Kommersant that from the very beginning of work on the formation of voluntary people’s squads, the head of the region personally delves into the whole process. During trips around the region, Mr. Starovoit communicates with the heads of districts responsible for creating detachments on the ground, commanders and combatants themselves and keeps all issues under control.

Also this weekend, the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov visited the site for the preparation of territorial defense in his region. In his Telegram channel, he posted video footage of company exercises in which thousands of volunteers participate every day.

At the planning meeting, Roman Starovoit also touched upon another topical issue, urging his subordinates to self-discipline: “It is clear that without holidays it is quite difficult, because we work without days off. But I see vacation requests for two and three weeks. This, in my opinion, is too much. A week at most,” the governor said. “And when I see applications for a vacation to spend it abroad … This is generally unacceptable.”

Mr. Starovoit noted that the employees of the regional government have already heard him, but there are still applications for vacations abroad from the leaders of the district and municipal levels. “Let’s be gentle about it. In the end, conscience must be. What holidays are now, especially abroad? In my opinion, these conversations should not be. We all live in one country, one region, it cannot be like this: one person has one approach, another has another,” Roman Starovoit summed up.

Sergei Tolmachev, Voronezh