DUBAI: A cross-border raid into Russia from Ukraine this week has fueled calls for Moscow to allow local self-defense units to be armed, with one influential lawmaker suggesting a new military border command structure be set up.
The raid on Belgorod region by Ukraine-based ethnic Russian fighters who oppose the Kremlin, apparently equipped with US-made military vehicles, spanned two days, forcing Moscow to call in air and artillery strikes to drive the raiders out.
The attack, in which Russia said at least one civilian was killed, has prompted debate about what Moscow, which invaded Ukraine 15 months ago in what it called a “special military operation” — can do to better protect its own border.
Ukraine-based fighters made a similar armed incursion into another border region — Bryansk — in March, and Ukraine, which has long promised a powerful counter-offensive to drive Russian forces from its own territory, appears to have been ramping up drone and sabotage attacks against targets inside Russia.
After this week’s attack, the governors of two regions which border Ukraine — Belgorod and Kursk — said they favored changing the law to allow local volunteer self-defense units to be armed when necessary.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said he and others were working to try to change the law.
“We have them (local self-defense units). We have nearly 3,000 people in seven battalions along the border,” said Gladkov.
But although he said they were combat-ready and had been in training since November last year, he said they remained unarmed because it was illegal to give them weapons under current Russian law.
“We’re now searching for a legal basis...(for them) to be able to push back the enemy if necessary for those who are trained, able and professional,” he said. “I think it would be the right decision.”
Arming such forces could save the defense ministry from being forced to divert some of the troops it needs on the front line to respond to similar raids in future.
Roman Starovoit, governor of the Kursk region which also borders Ukraine, said he favored the idea too which has a powerful backer in the form of Andrei Turchak, first deputy speaker of the upper house of parliament.
Turchak told President Vladimir Putin in a Kremlin meeting last month the issue had to be resolved.
“The legal status of these formations is now extremely restricted, and most importantly they do not have the right to carry and use weapons. We propose that this anomaly be eliminated at the legislative level,” Turchak told Putin, who took away a report with recommendations to study.
Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, an influential lawmaker who chairs the lower house of parliament’s defense committee, believes bigger structural changes are needed to secure the border too.
He told the RBK news outlet that a unified headquarters that could coordinate and was in charge of all the military and security forces in Russia’s border regions with Ukraine was now needed.
Cross-border raid fuels calls for Russia to arm its self-defense forces
https://arab.news/bpvbj
Cross-border raid fuels calls for Russia to arm its self-defense forces
- The raid on Belgorod region by Ukraine-based ethnic Russian fighters who oppose the Kremlin, apparently equipped with U.S.-made military vehicles, spanned two days
- Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said: “We have them (local self-defence units). We have nearly 3,000 people in seven battalions along the border”
Venezuela begins ‘large’ prisoner release amid US pressure
- The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump
- The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez
CARACAS: Venezuela on Thursday began releasing a “large number” of political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Maduro.
The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump, who says he is content to let her govern as long as she gives Washington access to oil.
The White House credited Trump with securing the prisoners’ freedom.
“This is one example of how the president is using maximum leverage to do right by the American and Venezuelan people,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.
The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, a key figure in “chavismo,” the anti-US socialist movement founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez.
He said “a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” were being immediately freed for the sake of “peaceful coexistence.”
He did not say which prisoners would be released, nor how many or from where.
Renowned Spanish-Venezuelan activist Rocio San Miguel, imprisoned since February 2024 over a purported plot to assassinate Maduro, was among five Spanish citizens freed, according to Spain’s foreign ministry.
Security was stepped up Thursday afternoon outside the notorious El Helicoide detention center in Caracas, used by the intelligence services to jail political and other prisoners.
Miguel was held in El Helicoide after her arrest.
Leading opposition figure Alfredo Diaz, who died in December in custody, was also held at the facility.
Families gathered outside on Thursday for news of their loved ones.
“I’m nervous. Please God may it be reality,” the mother of a detained activist from the party of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told AFP.
On Tuesday, Trump had told Republican lawmakers that Rodriguez’s administration was closing a torture chamber “in the middle of Caracas” but gave no further details.
His remarks had sparked speculation that Venezuelan authorities had agreed to close El Helicoide.
Venezuelan rights NGO Foro Penal estimates over 800 political prisoners are languishing in the country’s jails.
It welcomed the government’s plans to liberate some of them but was still verifying releases.
As tensions with Washington climaxed in the past month Venezuela had already released dozens of dissenters in two phases.
- Trump rebuked by Senate -
Thursday’s move by Caracas came as Trump suggested the United States could run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years.
Shortly after Maduro’s seizure in US airstrikes and a special forces raid that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas, Trump announced that the US would “run” the Caribbean country for a transitional period.
“Only time will tell” how long Washington will demand direct oversight of the country, he told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday.
When asked whether that meant three months, six months or a year, he replied: “I would say much longer.”
Meanwhile, the US Senate on Thursday took a major step toward passing a resolution to rein in military actions against Venezuela.
The Democratic-led legislation, expected to pass a vote next week, reflects widespread disquiet among lawmakers over Saturday’s secretive capture of Maduro, conducted without their express approval.
It is expected to face resistance in the Republican-dominated House, however.
- Millions of barrels of crude -
Oil has emerged as the key to US control over Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves.
Trump announced a plan earlier this week for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with Caracas then using the money to buy US-made products.
Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday called the US attack to depose Maduro, who was taken to New York with his wife to face trial on drugs charges, a “stain” on relations with the United States.
But she also defended the planned oil sales to Washington.
On the streets of Caracas, opinions remain mixed about the plan.
“I feel we’ll have more opportunities if the oil is in the hands of the United States than in the hands of the government,” said Jose Antonio Blanco, 26.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, who will meet oil executives on Friday, is also considering a plan for the US to exert control over Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.
Trump has warned Rodriguez she will pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with his agenda.
“Her power comes from Washington, not from the internal structure. If Trump decides she’s no longer useful, she’ll go like Maduro,” Venezuela’s former information minister Andres Izarra told AFP in an email.
