The governors of Russia’s bordering Kursk and Belgorod regions have announced the arming of “people’s militias” to defend against possible attacks from Ukraine.
The governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoyt, has said via the online service Telegram that this measure was taken because his region has been repeatedly affected by “terrorist attacks from Ukraine” for months. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the arming of the militias “lawful” and “necessary” due to the “attacks” coming from the Ukrainian territory.
Starovoyt announced that after “several months” of work on the “arming issue of the volunteer people’s militia,” a mechanism has now been found and the first “shipment has arrived at the base.” The governor added that the number of weapons for the militia will be increased to 300 in the “near future” as the German news website n-tv.de reported.
Image: Оксана Іванець / АрміяInform, Dolyna (Kramatorsk Raion) after Russian invasion (2022-12-05) 02, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, (no changes made)