Nearly 50 Ukraine war veterans and active fighters took their seats in Russia’s Duma Wednesday, making up around one-tenth of the lower house of parliament as the conflict grinds through its fifth year.
Russia has significantly militarised its economy and society since launching its Ukraine offensive in 2022.
The current Duma is the most army-heavy parliament in Russia’s modern history, and some of the new deputies are wanted in Kyiv for alleged war crimes.
Addressing the State Duma as it held its first session after tightly controlled elections, President Vladimir Putin called the group “people who proved their unconditional loyalty to the motherland on the battlefield”.
“I am certain that, by upholding the traditions of frontline brotherhood, they will strengthen” the Russian parliament, he said.
Russia’s electoral chief said last week that 46 “participants and veterans” of the Ukraine offensive were now elected deputies.
Most of the veterans represent Putin’s United Russia party.
They had varying roles in the conflict — including commanders, an ex-admiral, fighters and medics.
One of them is Nursultan Mussagaleyev, a commander whom Ukraine says took part in atrocities in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in 2022.
The Kremlin, which has rejected Ukraine’s accusations, awarded the 29-year-old the “Hero of Russia” medal, and he has taken part in meetings with Putin.
It also includes the head of Russia’s Youth Army, Vladislav Golovin, who fought in Ukraine’s Mariupol, and ex-deputy naval admiral Vladimir Kasatonov.
Asked what the group will bring to the Duma, one of the elected veterans, Andrei Kozlov, told Russian media: “The main thing is the belief in our supreme commander-in-chief (Putin).”
“We are behind him and will continue to be until the very end, until victory,” he added.
Lyudmila Bolilaya, a nurse from the Moscow region who became a war medic and a rare woman to receive the “Hero of Russia” award, is also among the United Russia deputies.
Vyacheslav Volodin, a Kremlin loyalist who has served as Duma speaker since 2016, was re-elected to the role.
“The collective West is doing everything to stop the development of our country,” he told the session.
“We cannot lose the country like in 1917 and 1991,” he added, referring to Russia’s revolution and the fall of the USSR, respectively.
AFP
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