Over 40 special volunteer units, each with its own unique name, for fighting in the war with Ukraine have been formed in at least 20 Russian regions, reports Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing its calculations.
According to the newspaper, the forming of such units has been going on since spring, information about them is being published in local media and social media of the regional authorities. The names of the units are connected to their territorial affiliation; most members of such volunteer units are locals from the places where the units are being formed, writes Kommersant.
In particular, volunteer units Kronstadt, Neva, and Pavlovsk have been formed in Saint Petersburg, Bootur in Yakutia (according to the legend, Elley Bootur was the first ancestor of the Yakut people — translator’s note), Tiger in the Primorsky region, Alga and Timer (Onwards and Iron in Tatar) in Kazan, Tatarstan, Atal (Volga in Chuvash) in Chuvashia, Parma and Molot in the Perm region, Amursky in the Amur region, Nevsky and Ladozhsky in the Saint Petersburg region.
Formally, the volunteers sign a contract for a term from several months to more with the Russian Defence Ministry and get the official status of contract servicemen. The payouts differ from region to region — from 130,000 rubles (€2,070) per month to 300,000 rubles (€4,770), reports Kommersant. According to the newspaper, they will also get payments for successful conduct of combat and daily payments of 8,000 rubles (€127) for “every day of the offensive”.