The head of the Patriot Center spoke about the work of volunteers in the Kursk Region
Alexei Spiridonov, head of the volunteer organization Patriot Center in Kursk Region, told Izvestia about the creation of the center and saving fellow countrymen from the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
The Patriot organization was created in December 2022 on the initiative of the region's leadership. Currently, it is the only one in the country that unites numerous volunteers of various profiles. After the invasion of the AFU, the center played a key role in helping the civilian population.
"A training base was created, instructors were invited - servicemen, medics, engineers with a proven track record of SSO. This is where Patriot began. The main task was to train civilians to act effectively in extreme situations. And subsequently to form the backbone of local activists," Spiridonov shared.
Most of the activists were men who had served in the army and had been through hot spots. Many of them, Spiridonov said, had well-developed leadership skills. The average age of the volunteers was 38-45 years old. At first, about 2,000 volunteers gathered for 33 districts of the region.
"Since the beginning of 2023, the volunteers took on duty - in the dark hours of the day, together with the police patrolled the streets of their native communities. As the guys themselves said: in the evening they came from work, had dinner, devoted an hour to children and from 20:00 to 00:00 went on shifts", - said the head of "Patriot".
When the invasion of the AFU in the Kursk region began, the volunteers were on the front line. They began emergency and mass removal of civilians from the "red" zone. They also provided medical assistance to the wounded - which is hundreds and hundreds of people.
Read more in an exclusive Izvestia piece on Tuesday, January 21, at 10:00:
"Volunteers found executed fellow villagers."
