Territorial defence units of Russia's Kursk region have also received weapons, regional governor Roman Starovoyt reported.
Volunteer fighters of Russian territorial defence units in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, have received weapons, RIA Novosti wrote on Wednesday.
These forces consist of eight battalions totaling 2,092 troops.
“At the training ground, each [fighter] was given digital radios, quadcopters, anti-drone rifles, and keys to new UAZ pickup vehicles,” the state-run news agency reported.
RIA Novosti claims that Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov handed small arms to fighters who had undergone firearms and psychological training. They will also have to participate in future training exercises together with the troops of the Russian Guard Service and the Ministry of Defence.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the weapons were being issued “in strict accordance with the law and in connection with the situation in this border region”. He added that the Kremlin does not worry about these weapons “falling into the wrong hands”.
On 25 July, the Russian State Duma voted to give regional governors the right to establish their own military organisations during wartime, martial law, or mobilisation. These companies will aid the security services, law enforcement, and military governance bodies to “maintain law and order”, “ensure border security”, and “combat sabotage groups”.
Governors will be able to receive small arms from the Russian Defence Ministry and hand them over to the organisations’ personnel. They will be allowed to use arms to repel attacks, detain people on the territory of protected facilities, stop and check vehicles, and destroy drones.
