Prigozhin will finance ‘militia training centers’ in Kursk and Belgorod regions

Businessman Evgeny Prigozhin says he will finance the creation of “militia training centers” in the Kursk and Belogorod regions, both of which lie on Russia’s border with Ukraine, according to a post by the press office for his company, Concord.

Prigozhin didn’t name the regions in his announcement, however he did confirm the locations as Kursk and Belgorod when he answered a question for the website Nakanune.ru.

Prigozhin also said that the militias should be comprised of local residents “who know their territory like no one else,” and that businesses, not authorities, should provide “the material component.”

If you’re the owner of a small factory where 100 people work, and 50 of them are males of military age, then 25 percent of them should serve in the trenches, and 75 percent should continue their labor. And it should be circular — a week in the trenches, three weeks at home and in the factory. In this case, when the enemy invades Russian territory, everyone will defend their country 100 percent.

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• On November 5, on the VKontakte page for Vacancies at PMC Wagner, a post appeared about organizing “centers for training and managing people’s militias” in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, and about “recruiting men” for the militias.
• Prigozhin has already spoken about the formation of a “people’s militia” in the Belgorod region. The region has also seen the construction of defensive structures called the “Wagner Line” or the “Prigozhin line.”
• Russian regions on the Ukrainian border experience regular shelling from the Ukrainian side. Ukraine does not officially confirm shelling Russia, and emphasizes that they are waging a defensive war.
• Evgeny Prigozhin is the founder of PMC Wagner, which has been taking part in the war in Ukraine and recruiting fighters, including prisoners, to send to the front. In the past he did not confirm his ties to PMC Wagner and even sued journalists who published about it, but has changed his approach during the war in Ukraine, and now comments publicly on both the activities of his Private Military Company and events at the front.