US EditionRussian Regions Launch Drive to Recruit Reservists for Critical Infrastructure Defense
At least 20 regions are recruiting reservists under a new law to protect critical infrastructure from drone threats, marking the first peacetime deployment of such forces since 2022.
- On Monday, at least 20 Russian regions began recruiting BARS reservists to guard critical and other life-support facilities, Kommersant reported after President Vladimir Putin authorised their special training last Tuesday.
- A law recently passed allows members of the reserve to be called up for special training camps up to six months per year with full military status, pay and benefits.
- Authorities in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan are forming specialised units to counter drone attacks at oil refineries and petrochemical sites, while recruitment occurs in Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, and regions bordering Ukraine, with BARS units created in 2024 in Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk.
- The recruitment marks the first large-scale peacetime use of reservists since the special military operation began, and the General Staff said reservists will not be sent to fight in Ukraine, experts told The Moscow Times the Kremlin aims to grow manpower quietly.
- The law allows use of reservists against saboteurs and for evacuations, and Kommersant reported contracts would specify territorial restrictions despite no explicit legal limits.
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12 Articles
A campaign to mass recruit reservists into units to protect critical facilities has begun in Russian regions, the Russian daily Kommersant reports. The new law allows for their deployment even in peacetime, which experts see as a way to recruit people for military service without official mobilization.
Russian Regions Launch Drive to Recruit Reservists for Critical Infrastructure Defense
At least 20 Russian regions have begun recruiting military reservists to guard strategic infrastructure under a new law that allows the military to deploy them during peacetime, the Kommersant business newspaper reported on Monday.
The recruits will be able to knock down drones that threaten key infrastructure for both the population and the army.
The second large-scale mobilization of reservists has begun across Russia to guard critical infrastructure, Nexta reports. The first took place in the fall of 2022, when Russia mobilized over 300,000 reservists to continue its war of aggression in Ukraine.
Volunteers will receive the status of military personnel, with all appropriate benefits, for as long as "important facilities" are protected.
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