That is Western propaganda and domestic Russian liberal election propaganda meet each other. Western media wants to see these guys as part of Russian military and Russian liberals are playing their parents and widows trying to build discontent basing on it. The idea is hey, you see, your loved once died ‘for the common good’ (meaning ‘Putin’s foreign adventures’) and the government doesn’t care saying they don’t know them. It is far from reality but here it is. Based on such propaganda some relatives developing specific mentality. They really believe they are entitled to pensions and benefits as if their kids or husbands were killed in a line of duty. That’s basic psychology. People are bedazzled by their loss and an idea of victims being some sort of hero and not a mercenary easily sets into mind. And they blame Putin for not getting any. That’s perfect protest material for the lib’s like Navalny. ‘Putin is killing our babies!’ The facts doesn’t really matter.
I believe current legal ground is good enough, the statement by Duma is basically to preempt such propaganda and eliminate discontent. First, they are explaining the reality and then promising solution.
AP was aware of this difference and wrote the "story" withholding that information for the purpose of creating the perception that Putin, and the Russian Government supported and controlled these private security and their actions, when they did not.
Thanks for the rundown on how this is used in Russia to discredit the Government and Putin, and confuse Russian citizens about those eligible for Military service and Veterans Benefits.
This was another facet of Russian Culture that I did not understand until I was able to learn the details.