Common name Internal Troops Dissolved April 5, 2016 Employees 182,000 in 2012 | Formed March 27, 1811 Superseding agency National Guard | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency | ||
The Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD RF) (Russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviated ВВ, VV), was a gendarmerie-like paramilitary force of the federal government in Russia. On April 5, 2016 it was officially split from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to form the basis of the National Guard of Russia.
Contents
- Internal Troops in the USSR
- Legal basis
- General organisation
- Districts and formations
- Missions
- Equipment
- Transportation
- Weaponry
- References
Internal Troops supported and reinforced the Politsiya, deal with large-scale riots, internal armed conflicts and safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plants). As such, the service was involved in all conflicts and violent disturbances in modern Russia, including and First and Second Chechen Wars. Internal Troops fell under Armed Forces military command during wartime and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security.
Internal Troops consisted of both volunteers and conscripts and hence the number of active service members keeps fluctuating. On the moment of their disestablishment, it had less than 200,000 active members and had had shortage of officers since 1998. Its strength plunged to this level from the peak strength of 350,000 active members. The commander of the Russian Internal Troops was Colonel General Viktor Zolotov until their disestablishment occurred in April 2016.
Internal Troops in the USSR
The modern Internal Troops were raised by the All-Russian Central Execuitive Committee as part of the NKVD in 1918, and was reorganized in 1919 unto the Internal Security Forces (Voyska vnutrenney okhrany Respubliki,VOHR). In 1919, these were transferred to the Cheka and in 1922-23 into the OGPU.
On 28 July 1988, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree “On duties and rights of the Internal Troops of the USSR MVD when safeguarding public order”, clarifying its role in the cracking USSR. However, the Internal Troops were still a part of the Soviet Armed Forces and this state of affairs pleased no one. The Armed Forces did not want to be seen as a force of internal suppression, especially after the disastrous Afghan War. The MVD was finding itself having to extinguish increasingly frequent and violent hot spots and to cope with growing and increasingly well organised and equipped criminals. For this the MVD needed more fire power. On 21 March 1989, the Presidium decided to take the Internal Troops out of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense and give them to the Internal Affairs Ministry.
In 1990, the establishment of the RSFSR MVD meant that the Internal Troops in the SFSR were now subordinated to the republican ministry.
With the April 2016 foundation of the National Guard, the IT became the National Guard Forces (Войска национальной гвардии, Voyska Natsionalnoy Gvardi) and now reports directly to the Security Council and its chairman, the President of Russia, and thus removed from the MVD proper.
Legal basis
The Federal Law No.27-173 was signed into law on 6 February 1997. The law set the operational standards for the Internal Troops of the Russian Federation. The law is entitled "On the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops". When supporting a state-of-emergency regime, Internal Troops were paid salary increases and additional monetary payments according to federal laws and other legal acts approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs. Article 38 granted senior operational commanders the right to call in subunits of special motorized formations and military units outside their deployment areas for a period of up to one month.
The federal law also detailed the important role that the Russian Ministry of Defense played in the affairs of the MVD's Internal Troops when crises arose. For example, MOD was responsible for providing airliners for supporting Internal Troop activities during emergency situations, and conditions of armed conflicts; carrying out the stockpiling and echelon armaments and military equipment, ammunition, fuel and supplies for the mobilization deployment of the Internal Troops in wartime; and transferring arms and military equipment free of charge to the Internal Troops through support services based on special decisions of the federal government, and rendering assistance in the repair and restoration of damaged arms and military equipment.
General organisation
Despite being subordinated to civilian MVD authority, Internal Troops were a paramilitary force with centralized system of ranks, command and service. The Chief Commander and Staff of the troops reported only to Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. The Chief Commander was concurrently First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. VV units in Soviet Union were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army. Modern Internal Troops in Russia, as in Ukraine, experienced a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers were trained in both own special academies and Army's military academies.
The main kinds of Internal Troops were field units, various facility-guarding units, special motorized units, riot control and patrol units, and special forces like Rus. Since the 1980s, spetsnaz units were created within the VV to deal with terrorism and hostage crises. Fields units were essentially light motorized infantry, similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons. They and the special forces have been heavily engaged in the armed conflicts in Chechnya and the broader North Caucasus.
Districts and formations
The organization of the Russian Internal Troops comprised headquarters, military units, military training institutions and the institutions for Internal Troops activities, and maintenance and administration bodies. The largest units were located in all major cities.
Internal Troops districts:
Military units under direct subordination:
Missions
Equipment
Internal Troops' equipment included: