- The new rule will allow you to order the creation of volunteer battalions.

Announcement by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Putin enacts a law on war volunteers to support those fighting in Ukraine and equate them with the military

Russian President Vladimir Putin may order the Ministry of Defense to create volunteer battalions, such as those that have been fighting in Ukraine as part of the military campaign for several months, according to a new law approved this Wednesday by the Duma or chamber of deputies.

Any Russian citizen may be part of these volunteer units after signing the corresponding contract, says the legal initiative proposed by the president of the Duma, Viacheslav Volodin, and the deputies of the Kremlin party, United Russia.

The law specifies that these volunteers will carry out the missions entrusted to them by the Armed Forces in times of war or martial law, during the mobilization process, in the event of a military conflict, anti-terrorist operation, or sending troops abroad.

Equated with the military

In addition, it establishes the volunteer status, the entry and exclusion requirements in the battalions, and the conditions of payment and social coverage.

"Because of their status, the volunteers will be equated with professional soldiers. It is fair, they also defend our country," Volodin explained.

The Ministry of Defense is the one who must determine the mission, term, place of fulfillment, composition, and the number of members of each unit.

The clauses included in the new law will retroactively affect volunteers who have participated since February 24 in the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"They are true patriots of our country and deserve all our support"

"The bill is extremely important and timely. Today, a large number of men are voluntarily participating in special military operations. They are true patriots of our country and deserve all our support," Andrei Kartapolov, chief of the defense committee of the Duma.

Faced with the acute lack of men in the ranks of the Russian Army fighting in Ukraine, almost all regions formed volunteer units, according to the independent press, by order of the Kremlin.

However, their participation barely influenced the situation on the ground, as has happened so far with the mobilization of 300,000 reservists ordered by president, Vladimir Putin.

Both volunteers and mobilized have complained about the lack of equipment, the absence of military training, and poor living conditions.

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