The law on volunteers in the Russian Guard has stalled, despite popular support

The bill on the creation of volunteer formations in the Russian Guard, which was adopted in the first reading in the State Duma, does not go forward for further discussion, a URA.RU correspondent noted. According to the Duma database of bills, the date for the second reading of the draft has not yet been determined.

The conclusion of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, published in the bill database on November 10, states that there are no comments of a legal nature on the bill, while comments “of a legal-technical and linguistic nature were transferred to the Committee as a matter of routine.” “Date [рассмотрения] not determined,” the website reports.

The bill should give the Russian Guard the ability to fully recruit volunteers and create separate units for them within the structure. According to them, these formations will legally be no different from similar ones that are under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defense. One of the initiators of the corresponding bill was the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein. According to him, members of the National Guard conduct military operations, guard the state border, fight terrorism and more. “It is quite logical that the Russian Guard should also have the right to have its own volunteer units,” Khinshtein argued.

After the initiative became public, it was believed that the law would be applied to former members of private military companies. However, Khinshtein denied these rumors, and his message about this bill was supported by thousands of Telegram users. LDPR deputy (currently former) Vasily Vlasov noted that this law is long-awaited. According to him, many volunteers repaid their debt to the Motherland as part of private military companies. Now they are probably ready to return to the front if the legal issue with the volunteers is resolved.