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Russian State Duma Defense Committee head proposes enlisting civilian volunteers to defend state borders

Source: Meduza

Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Russian State Duma’s Defense Committee, said Wednesday that civilian volunteers should be involved in defending Russia’s state borders.

“Unfortunately, it’s not possible for the perimeter of our entire country to be guarded by USSR border troops, as was done in the Soviet Union,” Kartapolov told the news site Ura.ru. “[...] But involving the local population on a volunteer basis is, in my view, fully feasible.”

The lawmaker said that while there are a range of questions that need to be answered before his idea is put into practice, it will ultimately be “necessary.”

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‘Fear your partisans’ A volunteer unit led by a Russian neo-Nazi raided a small town and crossed back into Ukraine. Meduza explains the bizarre incursion and what it could mean for the war.