FSB starts training of border guarding volunteers
The FSB is introducing special training programs for locals ready to engage in voluntary border guarding. A decree issued by the Service states that brigades will constitute a key component in protection of the Russian border.
The brigades (“druzhiny”) of volunteers will not wear uniforms and will not be allowed to carry guns, but they will be given special badges which show their status, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports. The members of the brigades will not be paid, but work on sheer enthusiasm, the newspaper writes.
The decree says that the courses will include practical training in the border guards’ code signals, as well as the use of equipment, reading of maps and more.
Voluntary border brigades are not new in Russia, but have existed for decades practically all along the country’s border. What is new however is the more structured organization of the volunteers. Over the last years, Russia has introduced new technology along its border, but in most places significantly cut the number of border guards. With the voluntary brigades, the Border Guard Service will compensate for the shrinking manpower.
Read also: Voluntary patrols protecting the border
The Russian Border Law of 1993 opens for the establishment of volunteer brigades. According to the website of the Border Guard Service, more than 1400 brigades now exist all over Russia with a total of about 15000 volunteers.
The Russian Border Guard Service was in 2003 included in the Federal Security Service, FSB.
Read the whole new decree here (www.rg.ru)
