The State Duma allowed to bury mercenaries in military cemeteries

The State Duma of Russia in the third reading approved the amendments to the legislation allowing to bury mercenaries in military cemeteries. According to Sota, the amendments were made in a secret - with the name of the bill "On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation".

In particular, the deputies allowed to bury in the military cemeteries "citizens who were in volunteer formations, persons who entered into a contract (had other legal relations) with organizations promoting the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation." The author of the amendments is deputy Irina Yarovaya.

In December 2022, the creator of the private military company Wagner Evgeny Prigozhin sent a request to the State Duma to allow the mercenary - prisoner Dmitry Menshikov, who died in the war against Ukraine, at the military cemetery. Then Prigozhin said that "these brave heroes earned military honors during burial."

The State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin in response emphasized that "everyone is equal at the front" and no one cannot be separated with the perpetuating of memory.

• The Russian army does not disclose losses in the war with Ukraine. In November, the Pentagon said that, according to his assessment, the losses killed and wounded in Russia and Ukraine amounted to approximately 100 thousand people for each.
• PMC "Wagner" is a Russian unofficial armed formation created by President Vladimir Putin Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. PMC mercenaries, among whom, prisoners recruited in the colonies, take an active part in the war with Ukraine, as well as in ground operations in Syria and Africa.
• The company’s fighters are accused of committing numerous war crimes, including extrajudicial executions. Prigozhin does not deny this, although he does not recognize in direct words. In a number of countries of PMC, Wagner is recognized as a criminal and terrorist organization.