Tatarstan business resource "BUSINESS Online" published a material by Stanislav Shemelov and Maxim Kirillov "The word "battalion" is too exaggerated here": how nominal units replace mobilization in Russia. The "Timer" caught up with the "Alga", at the weekend it was already thrown into the fields of its own," which says that four months ago the Russian regions announced the creation of named battalions to participate in a special military operation in Ukraine. Each of them is formed exclusively according to the territorial, fraternal principle. At the moment, training camps have been held in about 40 republics and regions. Our sources report that Tatarstan has formed two large battalions and is already preparing them to be sent to perform tasks.
Training of servicemen of the volunteer battalion "Alga" (Tatarstan), July 2022 (c) Vladimir Vasiliev / "Tatar-inform" About how the rest of the regional military enlistment offices are coping and what secret weapons Tuvinians should use fighters "Alga" and "Timera" - in the material "BUSINESS Online".
Chechnya was one of the first in the country, even before the start of a special military operation, to form nominal military units according to the principle of the land. In the fighting on the territory of the LDPR, the "Kadyrovites" (as they were called by the people) participated almost from the first days. In particular, we are talking about the detachments of the SOBR and OMON "Akhmat", named after the father of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, the battalion "Yug" and the 141st motorized regiment named after him. Akhmat-Hadji Kadyrov. In terms of media, these military formations have probably become the most popular.
The main feature of the units is that at first they were formed only from residents of Chechnya. Soon this idea began to spread widely in other regions. Moreover, the initiative, as it is commonly believed, was born from below. Bashkortostan became the next in the campaign - the formation of the first battalion named after the legendary military commander of the Second World War Minigali Shaimuratov was announced in May by the chairman of the republican organization "Veterans of the Marine Corps and Special Forces of the Navy" Alik Kamaletdinov, who later became an adviser to Radiy Khabirov on interaction with military personnel. A little later, in June, "Veterans of the paratroopers and Special forces of Bashkortostan" announced the birth of the second battalion - already named after paratrooper Alexander Dostalov, a native of Ufa, who died during the second Chechen campaign.
The leadership of Bashkortostan as a whole should be given credit - Khabirov is one of the first (or rather, one of the few) who visited the DPR in the spring, and later the LPR. He also takes an active part in the life of the nominal battalions: he will personally send Bashkir volunteers to the training ground, then he will come there himself to ride and shoot from the IFV. In this sense, we can say that Khabirov actively adheres to his agenda, which cannot be said, for example, about officials of other regions who try to shine less in this topic.
After Bashkortostan, the Perm and Kirov authorities became the next creators of the nominal battalions. They announced the recruitment of volunteers to the Parma and Vyatka detachments, respectively. Just make a reservation: "Parma" is far from a battalion, but a motorized rifle company numbering about 90 people. But after her in the Perm Region began to form tankers in the battalion "Hammer" (about 160 people). Interestingly, in the Kama region, the names of the battalions bear the names of popular local basketball and hockey clubs.
Another 100 thousand on top and a preferential mortgage: what Tatarstan attracts volunteers to "Timer" and "Alga", Tatarstan announced on June 10 the creation of two of its nominal battalions at once - "Alga" and "Timer".
It was done as if by accident - the military casually said it at a press conference on the general contract. Subsequently, journalists have already caught on to the idea, giving it the final contours.
The strict number of Tatarstan battalions (as well as other formations in other regions) is not disclosed, but it is about 400-500 people. As the Chechen practice has shown, the recruitment of the local population allows the fighters to be more cohesive and start performing tasks faster. "Serving side by side with Tatarstan citizens is like being with relatives. Its own republic is its own republic. As they say, their walls help," the Alga serviceman said in an interview with our correspondent.
Meanwhile, as it became known to "BUSINESS Online", the "Timer" battalion was finally formed the day before, and by the end of this week, the fighters of both nominal formations will arrive at the "places of tasks". It is not known where exactly Tatarstan residents will go - the information is secret. On the day of selection, the battalions initially had 10-15 fighters. However, by the end of the campaign, the number of applicants had almost tripled. To date, the fighters have already passed combat coordination and training.
"Siyazhar", "Aralai", "Toyan" and other characters of this campaign If you delve into the history of the named battalions, you can say that they have existed for quite a long time.
In the same LDPR, since the events of 2014, Vostok, Somalia and other nominal bats have been actively participating in hostilities, including on the side of the AFU. But there, as they say, God himself ordered to unite according to the territorial principle. In Russia, this practice has not been used before.
The volunteer detachment created in Yakutia was named in honor of the first founder of the Yakuts, Elley Bootur. In the near future, the battalion will be sent to its own. Primorsky Krai is sending a Tiger detachment to Ukraine. Chuvash battalion "Atal" (translated as "Volga") also collects fighters. A tank battalion, in addition to Perm, is being formed in the Nizhny Novgorod region - it is named after Kuzma Minin, Nizhny Novgorod residents will fight with Polish T-72 tanks, which were pumped into the Ukrainian army.
In mid-July, the Amur Region announced the Amur battalion of 400-500 people. In the Tyumen region, three divisions are being formed at once: "Taiga" (snipers), "Siberia" (artillery) and "Tobol" (sappers). The fighters of the latter have already gone to Ukraine about 2-3 weeks ago. Artillery divisions "Nevsky" and "Ladoga" are being assembled in the Leningrad region. Their numbers are also not disclosed. Moreover, the St. Petersburg fighters are among the last to join the ranks. The region announced the recruitment of volunteers only on August 4. Although rumors about such recruitment in the Northern capital have been circulating since the end of July, local military enlistment offices were in no hurry to confirm them. It is noteworthy that back in mid-July, a number of publications reported on the formation of a certain "Sobyanin regiment" from among non-natives of Moscow. But the Kremlin said they did not know anything about such a unit, after which the topic somehow died down by itself.
Right now, support units "Irtysh", "Avangard" and "Om" are being formed in the Omsk region. In particular, truck drivers are being recruited there. About 150 volunteers have already been sent from Omsk to Donbass. In Mordovia, the nominal battalions "Siyazhar" (one of the heroes of the heroes of the Mordovian epic), "Aralai" (translated from Moksha "defender") and "Kaval" (translated from Erzya "kite") continue to be formed. About 200 volunteers joined them. In Mari El, the formed bats were named after the heroes: "Eden", "Poltysh" and "Akpatr". In the Irkutsk region, the Angara division is being created, in Chelyabinsk - "Yuzhnouralets" and "Southern Urals", in Tomsk - "Toyan" (this is the name of one of the leaders of the Eushta Tatars).
The Cossack communities of Russia did not stay away from their own. For example, in the south, the Urals and the Volga region, the first detachments of Cossacks appeared. As a rule, they were formed by local atamans, but the Cossacks, like other soldiers, concluded contracts with the Ministry of Defense. The regions partially support the Cossacks, but, for example, equipment and clothing, judging by the messages in social networks, they are collected by the same people who send humanitarian aid to the LDPR. The largest formation consisting of Cossacks appeared in Orenburg region. From there, three battalions of Cossacks have already gone to the SVO, now a fourth is being formed in the region.
Basically, the battalions being created are motorized infantry, but there are many narrow-profile ones among them. For example, the Perm "Hammer" and Nizhny Novgorod named after Minin, as already mentioned, are tank. "Vyatka" and "Simbirsk" (Ulyanovsk), "Nevsky" will be part of the art divisions. "Sviyaga" is an engineering and sapper battalion, "Atal" is signalmen, "Siyazhar" is logistical support, "Kaval" and "Aralai" are a kind of military police units to maintain control in the new Russian territories.
Is campaigning not working?The federal press reports that about 40 Russian regions have indicated their intention to assemble nominal battalions of volunteers.
To find out whether this is true or not is problematic. For the most part, all these messages about recruitment to nominal battalions are broadcast on social networks, in rare cases reaching the official level and the press. As if talking about it is not something that is not supposed to be, and none of the responsible persons sees any sense in such a thing until the journalists call the local military enlistment office under the guise of a volunteer and find out everything themselves.
The recruitment campaign for such specific units also takes place rather behind the scenes, mainly in social networks, hiding under leaflets and huge posters on public transport about the general recruitment of contract workers. It is impossible to say that this is news, there have always been such posters, it's just that in the last few months, according to our correspondent's feelings, there have been a little more of them. In Kazan, in almost every bus you can find an ad about "work for real men", and opposite the Korston shopping mall on a single billboard - the depicted soldier calls to "Alga" and "Timer".
Unlike Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, which have quite live telegram channels where information about the training of volunteers is published, other battalions that are being formed do not have any channels for broadcasting their own information. As a rule, all the news about the life of these battalions are published in thematic veteran publications in social networks or on the pages of official authorities. Even less often - in the media, but only as a "working off" of the official agenda. For example, as part of the visit by the Governor of the Penza Region Oleg Melnichenko to the training ground in the Orenburg region, where most of the Volga named battalions are being coordinated; or as part of the decree of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov on additional payments.
Volunteers were initially attracted by high salaries, from 170 thousand rubles a month. Then the regions began to issue "lifting" - one-time payments. Moreover, in each region, the terms of payments and the price tag are different - from 200 thousand to 300 thousand rubles. Often the entire amount is not paid immediately. Tatarstan was the very first to declare high "lifting" - 260 thousand rubles. In August, when the rate of recruitment of volunteers decreased, the President of the Republic of Minnikhanov issued a decree on increasing the one-time payment to 360 thousand rubles - no region will give higher yet. The Republic also undertook the purchase of the latest equipment and equipment for the fighters.
But it is not only with money that the regions support their volunteers. Different subjects have their own additional "buns". For example, the State Housing Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan has come up with a new housing program to improve housing conditions for volunteers "Alga" and "Timer": a mortgage of 7% to 28.5 years at a cost per square meter of 60 thousand rubles with the possibility of writing off part of the debt for the birth of children. The governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Gleb Nikitin allocates scholarships to children of volunteers. The same initiative was taken by the head of Chuvashia. "Vyatka" promised to pay for the education of their children in regional universities, if they suddenly do not enroll in a special quota, which was fixed at the federal level. Volunteers generally rely on various benefits of combat veterans. In case of death, in addition to federal, regional surcharges are also promised to families. In Bashkortostan, for example, they guarantee to pay 12.3 million rubles for the death of a volunteer.
FSB veteran: "There is a sense of national battalions, there will be fewer disagreements" Since spring, the country has been talking about general mobilization, but it seems that there was a better alternative in the nominal regional battalions.
In the summer, the pace of recruitment into volunteers has somewhat faded. A number of thematic telegram channels even expressed the opinion that the Ministry of Defense was allegedly dissatisfied with the number of recruits. "At the same time, the word "battalion" here is too powerful an exaggeration. For example, the entire Chelyabinsk Region managed to scrape together about 500 people, the Ulyanovsk region gained about 400, and the Perm Region - about 250. There is less and complete sadness in the regions," the New Sincerity channel reported. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense allegedly criticizes the quality of the supplied force. Due to the lack of restrictions (they include only the age up to 59 years, no criminal record and debts), everyone is taken into the battalions, including unreliable people who served in the army more than 30 years ago.
"Each commander himself has the right to select members of his company. The formation of volunteer detachments can go according to different criteria. The professional level depends on it. It's good when a volunteer has combat experience, but you have to understand that his service was over some time ago. Recently, both weapons and tactics of warfare have changed. In any case, a volunteer must go through training camps," Alexey Filatov, retired FSB Lieutenant Colonel, Vice president of the International anti-terrorist association Alfa, told us.
The success of combat missions, according to him, depends not on individual soldiers, but on the ability to work in a team. Therefore, the formation of battalions from the residents of one region can help in this. "This is part of the combat coordination. There are common acquaintances - it is easier to negotiate and go through such a coordination. It makes sense here, because there will be fewer disagreements. Mutual understanding will be better and the effect of combat coordination will be higher," the expert said.
In general, nominal battalions, according to him, could have been invented simply for additional motivation of military personnel. "The result of a particular operation depends on the motivation, spirit, and tradition of the unit. Many divisions are awarded nominal awards. We didn't see anything new. It's very cool from the outside - motivation works with the help of the spirit. But in the first place it should be coordination," Filatov added.P. S.
And another non-obvious point of the national battalions.
It is known that Ukrainians, thanks to Western technology, actively intercept radio communications of our troops. So the battalion from Tuva found a way of its own encryption. The soldiers communicated strictly in the Tuvan language, which made the Ukrainian wiretapping pointless. It is known that the same trick was often used by the Red Army Tatars against the Germans on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War. "Timers" and "Algans" should take the experience of older comrades and Tuvinians into their arsenal ... (c) "BUSINESS Online"</span>
