Internal Troops (Russia)
Encyclopedia
Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops
Internal Troops
The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs ; alternatively translated as "Interior " is a paramilitary gendarmerie-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan...
of the Ministry for Internal Affairs
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del is the interior ministry of Russia. Its predecessor was founded in 1802 by Alexander I in Imperial Russia...
(MVD) is a paramilitary national guard like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Internal Troops are subordinated to Internal Affairs Ministries (police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
) of the respective countries. They are used to support and reinforce the Militsiya
Militsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
, deal with large-scale riot
Crowd control
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
s, internal armed conflicts, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
security (except in Russia) and safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s). As such, the force is involved in all conflicts and violent disturbances in the history of Soviet Union and modern Russia, including Stalin's mass deportations, imprisonments and executions and First
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
s.
During wartime
Wartime
The term wartime could refer to:* Wartime, Saskatchewan, a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada.* Wartime Station, Saskatchewan, a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada.* A formal state of war, as opposed to peacetime...
, the Internal Troops fall under Armed Forces
Armed Forces
Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the U.S. by Columbia in 1979...
military command and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security.
Strength has also fluctuated and was about 350,000 at its height. Currently at 200,000 it consists of both two year conscripts and volunteers. Its officers graduated from at least four schools. Rumors abound of an officer shortage since 1998.
General organization
Despite being subordinated to a civilian militsiyaMilitsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
authority, Internal Troops are a military force with centralized system of rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
s, command and service. The Chief Commander and Staff of the troops report only to Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. VV units in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
. Modern Troops in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
are experiencing a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers are trained in both own special academies and Army's military academies.
The main kinds of Internal Troops are field units, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
security units, various facility-guarding units, Special Motorized Units - riot control and patrol units which use Militia uniforms and special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
like Rus
Rus (special forces)
Rus was a special forces unit of the Interior Troops , of the interior ministry of the Russian Federation. It was a unit in the Independent Operative Purpose Division .Rus was created on August 1, 1994...
. Since the 1980s, the several spetsnaz
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...
(special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
) units were created within the VV to deal with terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and hostage crises
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
.
Fields units are essentially light motorized infantry, similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons.
Soviet prison security units were originally consisting of the units that guard the perimeters of the prisons, and the prisoner transport teams (actually konvoi, literally "convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
"). In post-Soviet countries, some or all of the prison-related tasks were transferred to other agencies.
Currently, the primary role of the Russian Internal Troops is their large-scale participation in the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
.
Districts and formations
The Organization of the Russian Internal Troops comprises Internal troop Commands, Formations, Military Units, Military Training Institutions and the Institutions for Internal Troops Activities, Maintenance, and Bodies of Internal Troops Administration.The largest units are the divisions and the units that are located in all major cities.
- Northwestern District
- Moscow Orshansko-Hingansky Order of the Red Banner District
- North Caucasus District
- Privolzhsky District
- Ural District
- Siberian District
- Eastern District
Military units under direct subordination:
- A separate rapid placement division (ODON) This formation, the former Felix DzerzhinskyFelix Edmundovich DzerzhinskyFelix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Communist revolutionary, famous as the first director of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, known later by many names during the history of the Soviet Union...
Division, based near Moscow, is the most well-known formation of the Internal Troops. - The Central Communications
- Engineering Center
- Intelligence Directorate Internal Troops under the Intelligence Chief-Deputy Chief of Staff of the Internal Troops.
Missions
- National Defence - conducts rear area security operations and all military operations within national borders, counter-intelligence authority in wartime.
- Security - Guard "key" state institutions (except for the KremlinMoscow KremlinThe Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
and the highest echelons of the government which are guarded by the Federal Protective Service (FSO)), nuclear facilities, special storage depots, and military bases. - Counter-terrorist operations (VV Special Forces units such as RusRus (special forces)Rus was a special forces unit of the Interior Troops , of the interior ministry of the Russian Federation. It was a unit in the Independent Operative Purpose Division .Rus was created on August 1, 1994...
) - Military policeMilitary policeMilitary police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
functions - Public Order - Assist the militsiyaMilitsiyaMilitsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
for riot controlRiot controlRiot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
operations when OMONOMONOMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
units are not available. - Prisoner Transport - In Soviet times, also guarded and operated the GulagGulagThe Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. Today: convict convoyage and transport. Security and operation of prisons has been performed by the Federal Correctional Service since its creation in 1994. - Possible counterweight to the military, especially during the Soviet era, when allegedly units of Division size existed till the fall.
- Border control - to assist the Russian Federal Border ServiceBorder Guard Service of RussiaThe Border Service of Russia , also called the Border Force of Russia is a branch of Federal Security Service of Russia tasked with patrol of the Russian border. In English, the terms "Border Guards" and "Border Troops" are frequently used to designate this service...
in the protection of the State border of the Russian Federation.
Equipment
- BTR-70BTR-70The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier , originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies...
- BTR-80BTR-80BTR-80 is an 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed in the Soviet Union. Production started in 1986 and replaced the previous versions, BTR-60 and BTR-70 in the Soviet army. -Description:The Soviets based the BTR-80 on the BTR-70 APC...
- BMPBMP-In computing:* BMP file format, the file name extension for the Bitmap image file format.* Basic Multilingual Plane, related to the Unicode character set.* Beep Media Player, a multimedia player.-Biology:...
- BPM-97BPM-97The BPM-97 or Выстрел is the Russian military designation for the KAMAZ 43269 Vystrel 4x4 Wheeled armoured vehicle. It is still in the prototype phase and only two being produced were fitted with several different turrets like the one of the BTR-80A...
- BMP-2BMP-2The BMP-2 is a second-generation, amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following the BMP-1 of the 1960s....
- BRDM-2BRDM-2The BRDM-2 is an amphibious armoured patrol car used by Russia and the former Soviet Union. It was also known under designations BTR-40PB, BTR-40P-2 and GAZ 41-08...
- GAZ-2330 TigrGAZ-2330"Tigr" - a Russian high-mobility vehicle GAZ-2330, manufactured by one of the Military Industrial Company LLC manufacturing plants ARZAMAS Machinery Plant AMZ in Russia...
- Ural-4320Ural-4320The Ural-4320 is a general purpose off-road 6x6 truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in Miass, Russia for use in the Russian army. Introduced in 1976, it is still in production today....
- UAZ-469UAZ-469The UAZ-469 is an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by the Red Army and other Warsaw Pact forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service in all state organizations that needed a robust off-road vehicle.The...
Shoulder Patches of Internal Troops
Internal Troops (variant) |
Internal Troops (variant) |
Internal Troops High Command |
Moscow District |
North-West District |
North Caucasian District |
Volga District |
Ural District |
Siberian District |
Eastern District |
Internal Security and Military Colleges |
Separate Rapid Deployment Division |
Management of the Protection of Important Public Facilities and Special Cargo |
See also
- MVD
- Awards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaAwards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaKnown internationally as the MVD, The Ministry of Internal Affairs of The Russian Federation encompasses all militia forces, Interior Troops and the State Migratory Service. It has its own ministerial awards system subordinate to state awards...