Pyatnitsky: Any citizen who defends the Fatherland deserves to be buried on the Walk of Fame
Wagner PMC fighters are entitled to the "Combat Veteran" status for their participation in Russia's special operation in Ukraine. This is how Pavel Pyatnitsky, a public and political activist and head of the Civil Rights movement, commented on an open letter from St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Pyatnitsky responded to the refusal of the administration of St. Petersburg to bury the deceased “musician” Dmitry Menshikov on the Walk of Fame. City officials have yet to provide a response explaining the reasons for the decision.
“In an open letter from Prigozhin to the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, it is proposed to grant the status of “Combat Veteran” to all employees of the Wagner PMC. I support this initiative. Moreover, all participants in the SVO, including volunteers and mobilized ones, should have this status.
Until now, many of those who fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya do not have such status. Somewhere the archives burned down, somewhere the “commanders” didn’t set up combat exits, and so on. I remember we defended the guys from Vityaz who were there, but according to the papers they weren’t. Everyone, from the commander to the military prosecutors, confirmed, they gave copies of the nominations for state awards, but the officials said “we don’t know anything, the archives burned,” Pyatnitsky wrote in his personal Telegram channel.
The activist emphasized that many military personnel who serve in areas on the border with Ukraine and protect the Fatherland from saboteurs do not have any additional status. As a result, they do not receive any preferences.
“This needs to change. Defenders of the Motherland often themselves need to protect their legitimate rights and interests. Napoleon once said, “A people who do not want to feed their own army will be forced to feed someone else’s.” But our people love and respect the Army, but many of those who have great powers and status apparently do not.
And this urgently needs to be corrected. Any citizen who took up arms to defend the Fatherland, in the event of his death, deserves to be buried in the Alley of Honor, Glory and Valor with all military honors, for victory is always forged by a simple soldier, and not by generals,” Pyatnitsky concluded.
The situation arose due to unprecedented bureaucracy on the part of the authorities of St. Petersburg. It turned out to be impossible to bury the deceased with due honors due to the need to obtain additional permission from the GKU, subordinate to the Industry Committee. Soldiers of the Wagner PMC and other volunteers, as it turned out, do not fall under the criteria.
English version :: Read in English Pyatnitsky: Any citizen who defends the Fatherland deserves to be buried on the Walk of Fame