Russian Guard (Rossyiah)
The Russian Guard or Rosgvardiya (Russian: Русская Гвардия, Russkaya Gvardiya or Росгвардия, Rosgvardiya) is the internal military force of the Russian government, comprising an independent agency that reports directly to the Tsar of Russia as Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The Russian Guard is separate from the Imperial Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Guard was established in 1980 by a decree signed by Tsar Alexander IV. Its stated mission is to secure Russia's borders, combat terrorism and organized crime, protect public order and guard important state facilities.
The Russian Guard numbers approximately 640,000 personnel in almost 200 units across Russia.
The Russian Guard Day is designated to 27 March, linking the Russian Guard to a long history of public security services within Russia, that day being the date when the Internal Guards Corps was established in 1811, by a decree of Tsar Alexander I.
Official name
The full name is the Russian Guard. In official documents, it may be referred to by the romanized acronym RG (Russian: РГ). In Russian, the less formal acronym Rosgvardiya (Russian: Росгвардия) is commonly used.
History
Internal Guards
Today's Russian Guard traces their lineage and heritages from the Internal Guards Gendarmerie units, established in 1811 and tasked with public security, rear area defense and police duties, and the Gendarmerie Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army, raised in 1815 with the re-designation of the Borisoglebsk Dragoon Regiment which served in Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812.
The Internal Guards Corps were founded by an Ukaz of Tsar Alexander II on 17 (29) January 1811 and 27 March (8 April) 1811, officially disbanding the police dragoon troops and the paramilitary police formations, plus military garrison battalions and/or squadrons under the Imperial Army, which were reorganized into Internal Guards brigades and districts, all under the leadership of Adjutant General Yevgraf Fedotovich Komarovskiy, its first commander. The aforementioned decree approved the "Regulations for the Internal Guard", according to which the guard was mandated to aid in public order and security and help enforce law and order and the judicial process, as well as in firefighting. By 1817, the Internal Guards units and the Gendarmerie evolved into a national organization with units all over the Empire.
With the growing power and duties of the Internal Guards, the office of Chief of Gendarmes was created in 1826. Personnel were either retired or reserve Army personnel or had separate training within command headquarters. The military heritage was also seen in its military ranks and military styled uniforms. In 1842 the IRA's Gendarmerie Regiment was transferred to this organization.
A separate command for the railways was raised in 1846; by 1881 the 3rd Section was transformed into the Okhrana, and several personnel of the SCG moved to the new organization.
The Internal Guards Corps was mobilized in order to support the Internal Russian Army. With the outbreak of the Russian Civil War, units of the Internal Guard Corps followed the Tsaris forces.
SpeKo Internal Security Forces
The SpeKo Internal Security Forces (Силы Bнутренней Безопасности, CBБ; Sily Vnutrenney Bezopasnosti, SVB) were formed in 1919 under the SpeKo, by reorganizing the Internal Guard Corps. The most well-known of the Internal Security Forces divisions was the 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment. The SVB were transferred to the MVD.
World War II
In July 1941, formations of the MVD were providing security for government installations, railway lines, and industrial centres. Railway security forces totalled 62,100 troops, comprising nine divisions and five brigades securing 1,700 sites. Operational forces included 11 regiments stationed in the western military districts, seven regiments and three battalions in the internal districts, and the Abakumov Independent Special Designation Division in Moscow (transferred from the UGB in 1935). In October 1940, a specialised MVD force had also been formed to assist with local air defence for important areas. By June 1941 this new Main Directorate for Local Antiaircraft Defence had three regiments, including in Moscow, and four battalions, all engineer-anti-chemical units. Another division and five brigades totalling just under 30,000 men were in the process of formation.
During World War II, most units of the MVD Internal Security Forces were engaged alongside Imperial Russian Army forces against Axis troops. They participated in the defence of Moscow, Petrograd, the Brest Fortress, Kiev, Odessa, Voronezh, Tsaritsyn, the North Caucasus and were heavily engaged during the Battle of Kursk.
Typically, MVD Internal Security Forces were defensive in nature, although they played a particularly instrumental role during the Battle of Moscow, the Siege of Petrograd, and the Battle of Tsaritsyn where the 10th MVD Rifle Division suffered almost 90% casualties during the battle. Large SVB units also stayed in the rear to maintain order, fight enemy infiltrators and to guard key installations (such as the armament manufacturing complex at Tula, protected by the 156th MVD regiment in 1941) and the railway installations guarded by the 14th Railway Facilities Protection Division MVD.
Altogether, more than 53 Internal Security Forces divisions and 20 Internal Security Forces brigades were on active duty during the war. Of those, 18 units were awarded battle honors (military decorations or honorary titles). A total of 977,000 servicemen were killed in action. More than 100,000 soldiers and officers received awards for gallantry in the face of the enemy, and 295 servicemen were awarded the "Defender of the Tsar" title.
Cold War
After the war's end, Internal Security Forces were renamed Internal Troops (Внутренние Войска, BB; Vnutrenniye Voyska, VV) played an important role in fighting local independentis partisans in the Baltic Governorates and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In 1953, the Internal Troops suppressed the Vorkuta labour camp uprising with gunfire, which resulted in death of at least 100 political prisoners.
A series of Internal Troops districts supervised many divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions. Among them was the headquarters for Internal Troops in the Baltic area, which became Directorate Internal Troops Baltic Military District. This headquarters supervised several Internal Troops divisions, including the 14th Railway Facilities Protection Division from 1944 to 1951. Other divisions in the Baltic MD included the 4th, 5th, and 63rd Rifle Divisions MVD.
In 1960s, the Internal Troops were significantly reduced in size, but retained their pre-war functions.
In 1969, the internal forces were managed by the Main Directorate of Internal Troops MVD.
At the beginning of 1969 in the MVD were:
- Internal Troops Directorates (UVV) of the MVD of Kiev and Chisinau
- OMSDON "Abamukov" (Moscow).
- 19th, 36th (Moscow), 43rd (Minsk), 44th (Petrograd), 54th (Rostov-on-Don), 79th (Kirov), 80th (Samara), 83rd (Ust-Sysolsk), 84th (Perm), 87th (Yekaterinburg), 88th (Tashkent), 89th (Novonikolayevsk), 90th (Shcheglovsk), 91st (Irkutsk), and 92nd (Khabarovsk) Divisions
- Guard brigades and regiments
- Special motorized militia units
- Military Academies
Ten other divisions were formed up to the 1990s: 42nd (Vilnius), 68th Division (Nizhny Novgorod), 75th (Alma-Ata), 86th, 101st, 102nd, 38th, 39th, 48th, 50th and 76th (77th) Convoy Division (Petrovsky).
On 11 July 1978, the Interior Ministry forces in the Far East and Eastern Siberia were established. On 23 April 1979, it was implemented a major restructuring: on the basis of Headquarters 89th Convoy Division (Novosibirsk's Military Unit Number 7540) the Directorate of Internal Troops (UVV) MIA Western Siberia was created with the inclusion of the 90th and 102nd divisions). On the basis of the 44th Division the UVV MIA North-West and Baltic was created.
On 27 March 1980 the VV were reorganized and the Russian Guard under personal decree of Alexander IV.
After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Russian Guard personnel were among the cleanup crews, engaged in security and emergency management activities; hundreds of servicemen were exposed to heavy radiation and dozens died. By 1989, with the increasing popular discontent nationwide that had begun to manifest in the Russian Empire, the Russian Guard of the MVD, on orders from Alexander IV, officially became a reporting agency of the MIA after years as a part of the Ministry of Defense.
On 1 October 1989, the Ground Forces' 14th Tank Division at Novocherkassk was transferred into the MVD as the 100th Motorised Division for Special Use RG MVD RI.
Prior to the 1990s, there were 180 regiments (of varying size) of Russian Guard, of which 90 were mainly guards of correctional institutions, important public facilities and public order. Some of them became engaged in the ethnic conflicts that occurred during the 1990s. Their activities during this period included the 1989 violent incident in Tbilisi when RG servicemen used entrenching shovels to decimate a crowd of rebellious Georgian civilians.
Organization and leadership
The Russian Guard is directly subordinated to the supreme commander-in-chief with the incumbent head included into the Security Council as a permanent member.
The Russian Guard is to take over many of the existing duties of the special police forces thus eliminating the link on their use that previously existed between President Putin and his Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.[27]
The Russian Guard includes Interior troops, servicemen of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces (including paratroopers, air force, navy and military police), consisting of both conscripts and contract personnel.
Composition
The Russian Guard is organized into a composed structure, consisting of six broad elements:
- Russian Guard Forces Command (Войска национальной гвардии), which handles the operational units;
- ODON and the Russian Guard Naval Service Corps;
- Russian Guard Special Operations and Aviation Center, including Zubr, Vityaz, Rus and Yastreb special units;[26][32]
- Russian Guard SOBR, Berkut and OMON Units.
Top leadership
The Russian Guard is led by a Commander. The Commander has six deputy Commanders, including a first deputy director who is simultaneously Chief of Staff of the Russian Guard.
Districts
The territorial organization consists of six Russian Guard Districts which have the same name of the relevant Military District. Each Russian Guard District is further subdivided into Brigades. Police officers are appointed to the post of heads of the Russian Guard Districts, while military officers are appointed to the positions of chiefs of staff.
Districts of the Russian Guard directly operate task forces, military units and the other organizations of the Russian Guard, as well as region-level territorial units, such as main administration departments, local administration structures, other departments.