The local government of Russia’s western region of Kursk says it will create units of armed volunteers to ensure security in the region.
The acting governor of Kursk announced the creation of the volunteer detachments on social media on Thursday.
The move comes as next week will mark one month since Ukraine began a massive cross-border offensive in Kursk.
The acting governor said members of the detachments will receive training and weapons and will cooperate with the Russian military in the defense of infrastructure and other duties to ensure security in the region.
The US think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said the creation of the units highlights “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to counter the incursion more seriously with a mobilization due to the risks of societal discontent or with large-scale redeployments due to possible disruptions to Russia’s ongoing offensive operations in eastern Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, an independent research organization in Russia, the Levada-Center, published the results of its latest opinion poll on Thursday.
The poll shows Putin’s approval rating at 85 percent, remaining almost unchanged, and much higher than the disapproval rate of 12 percent.