The Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of the awards ceremony for volunteers of the BARS detachment, part of the Dnepr group of troops. Military orders and medals were presented to the servicemen by Colonel Sergei Drozdov, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
“During numerous battles, military personnel more than once disrupted enemy attacks and rotations, destroyed command posts, places where personnel and armored vehicles were concentrated, and important supply centers for enemy troops,” the Russian Ministry of Defense reported in its Telegram channel.
As retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk recalled in a conversation with RT, BARS servicemen are professional, motivated fighters. They successfully perform tasks both in defense and during assault operations.
Volunteers of the BARS detachment of the Dnepr group of troops were presented with state awards
“Since the beginning of the Northern Military District, BARS have been sent to the most difficult sectors of the front. They are essentially motivated assault infantry. They also carry out reconnaissance and sabotage missions, and are engaged in protecting the operational rear in the Northern Military District zone. There are a lot of young people in the ranks of BARS, but mostly people with experience of military service in various positions and in officer uniform join there,” Matviychuk noted.
"More autonomy"
According to materials from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, BARS was created in 2021 in accordance with the regulations on the procedure for the stay of citizens of the Russian Federation in the mobilization human reserve, which was previously approved by the government. The selection of candidates for the units was organized in the military commissariats of 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the area of responsibility of the Southern Military District (SMD).
“Recruiting the country’s combat army reserve (BARS) is a planned activity to increase the defense capability of the state, and to implement this project it is necessary to concentrate the efforts of all regional administrative authorities, as well as representatives of Cossack societies in the area of responsibility of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” said in August 2021 General of the Army, Commander of the Southern Military District, Alexander Dvornikov.
Those wishing to join BARS entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Defense and received payments for participation in military training and exercises. The contract was valid for three years, and subsequently the reservists had the opportunity to sign it for five years.
The Ministry of Defense organized intensive combat training courses for volunteers, during which they were trained in shooting from standard small arms and RPG-7 grenade launchers. The reservists also mastered the methods of defending strategically important objects and studied the artillery guns of tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.
After the start of the special operation, the Ministry of Defense continued to increase the number of BARS. So, in March 2022, Dvornikov agreed with the atamans of the All-Great Don Army, the Kuban Military Cossack Society, the Terek Cossack Army and the Black Sea Cossack Army to recruit Cossacks into volunteer units.
“Atamans of Cossack societies confirmed their readiness to ensure the selection and send to BARS at least 50% of the Cossacks registered with the military who meet the criteria for being in the mobilization manpower reserve,” says the materials of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
BARS also recruited fighters from other regions. As of June 2023, the total number of volunteers was 52 thousand.
In October, several volunteer units were combined into the Expeditionary assault corps. It also included Cossack battalions and brigades. The formation is equipped with mortars, cannon artillery, MLRS, tanks and is capable of fully performing combined arms missions.
Shoigu checked the process of combat training of military personnel and volunteers at the training grounds of the Southern Military District
Training of BARS fighters is carried out at eight training grounds under the guidance of 600 instructors. Volunteers undergo special tactical, fire, medical, and engineering training. They also master the skills of operating UAVs and military equipment.
As noted by the Russian Ministry of Defense, during firing exercises, military personnel “fire from 250 to 300 grenade shots from the AGS-17 “Plamya” automatic mounted grenade launcher, and from small arms, in particular from machine guns and machine guns, more than 500 shots each.”
“In accordance with the experience of a special military operation, trainees practice the evacuation of the wounded from equipment, from trenches, the very process of delivery to evacuation means, as well as practicing the organization of communications in an offensive battle,” the head of the combat training department of the Southern Military District reported to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in October.
When training volunteers, much attention is paid to practicing actions in combat teams of twos and threes, assault operations, countering enemy sabotage reconnaissance groups (DRG), and engineering positions. In addition, the ranks of BARS train heavy snipers who use large-caliber ASVK Kord rifles.
As military expert Kirill Fedorov said in an interview with RT, after the start of the Northern Military District, “BARS” detachments were created on a “regional principle” under the patronage of local authorities and caring entrepreneurs. Another feature of volunteer formations is a fairly high degree of autonomy compared to classical units of the Russian Armed Forces.
“For example, BARS-16 was formed in the Krasnodar region. Initially, many Cossacks joined BARS, who were always looking for special opportunities for military service to the Fatherland. But then detachments appeared, formed not only in the south of Russia. They also have somewhat more autonomy, and therefore greater opportunities for self-realization of fighters and commanders,” Fedorov explained.
"Unusually high motivation"
As the Russian Ministry of Defense emphasizes, BARS fighters show courage and high professionalism in the Northern Military District zone. Thus, at the end of December 2023, the department reported the successful counteraction to enemy attack drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporozhye direction by volunteers of the BARS-8 detachment.
“In addition to the air defense system and electronic warfare systems, Russian military personnel actively use layered defense and air surveillance posts... Having discovered a suspicious air target in their observation sector, observers quickly destroy it using anti-drone guns or small arms fire,” they said. ministry
Russian President Vladimir Putin and BARS volunteer Alexander Kolesov, awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation
RIA News
In December, RT published material about the volunteer detachment “BARS-16” (Kuban), which holds positions in the LPR. The fighters not only repel enemy attacks, but also counterattack.
“Our task is to hold the area. Next - reconnaissance operations using UAVs, inflicting maximum damage on the enemy,” the battalion commander with the call sign Zenit told RT.
According to him, first of all, volunteers must learn to survive. As Zenit explained, BARS fighters have to operate under fire from mortars, artillery and drones, which have become “the real scourge of this war.” At the same time, Russian military personnel also effectively use UAVs.
“Over the last month, two enemy dugouts were hit, an enemy AGS crew was destroyed, and a KrAZ vehicle with enemy ammunition was destroyed. It happens like this. First, an ordinary copter, Mavic, takes off and conducts reconnaissance of the area. The second, a combat FPV drone, is always ready. If the Mavic detects a target, an instruction is given and a second bird flies up. The delay is a maximum of three, well, five minutes. That's all! Fire damage is inflicted,” Zenit said.
He also reported on the recent attempt of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to seize the BARS-16 position by cunning. Ukrainian militants approached the volunteers, ostensibly in order to surrender. Russian servicemen demanded that the enemy lay down their arms and crawl to the trenches one by one.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces militants refused to obey and went on the attack. According to data received from the UAV, the volunteers destroyed 20 enemy soldiers and captured the platoon commander, who was supposed to break through the Russian defense.
In August, RT published the story of a volunteer of the BARS-16 detachment with the call sign Lakets. The serviceman achieved great success in the ability to adjust artillery fire on the enemy, participated in assault operations and battles with mercenaries.
“They (the mercenaries -
RT
) were hunting us, they wanted to take BARS-16 and again show on television that they had destroyed us. But we realized that there was an ambush there, we moved back that same day and hit them. They lost people, crossed to the other side, but Ozernoye remained under them on the maps. Although this, like many territories, has long become a gray area,” Lakets explained.
Volunteer of the BARS-16 detachment with the call sign Lakets
© RT
According to Anatoly Matviychuk, during the SVO, BARS fighters have repeatedly proven that they are capable of performing the most complex combat missions.
“I don’t want to belittle the merits of our other units, but BARS can be assigned to almost any combat mission. These are people who are distinguished by unusually high motivation and a conscious willingness to sacrifice themselves if necessary. They became famous in the hardest battles for Rabotino and the populated areas of Donbass,” concluded Matviychuk.