<!-- wp:html --><p>Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters</p>
<p>Tucked away in a new law aimed at raising the draft age for <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/serebryansky-forest-battle-threatens-russian-comeback-in-war-on-ukraine">Russia’s military</a> is a series of mysterious amendments that are aimed at creating new <a href="https://meduza.io/news/2023/07/25/glavam-rossiyskih-regionov-razreshili-sozdavat-voenizirovannye-kompanii">armed formations or paramilitary companies</a> throughout the country.</p>
<p>The military companies, also known as “special enterprises,” would be aimed at protecting public order, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-near-ukrainian-border-panic-over-kremlin-war-cover-up">protecting Russia’s borders, and countering sabotage efforts</a>, according to bill text.</p>
<p>As the proposal is written now, the new military companies would be armed and run by governors, but would obtain weapons from the Russian Ministry of Defense. They would ostensibly operate at the behest of <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/belarusian-red-cross-admits-to-taking-ukrainian-children">Russian President Vladimir Putin.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-putins-plan-after-wagner-mutiny-new-military-groups-across-russia">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->
As the proposal is written now, the new military companies would be armed and run by governors, but would obtain weapons from the Russian Ministry of Defense. They would ostensibly operate at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
