Leib Guard (Rossyiah)
| Leib Guard | |
|---|---|
| Лейб-гвардия Leyb-gvardiya | |
 Coat of Arms of the Leib Guard | |
| Active | 1683 - present |
| Country |  Russia |
| Role | Executive protection |
| Size | 25,500 troops |
| Garrison/HQ | Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, Russia |
| Nickname(s) | Russian Imperial Guard |
| Shoulder boards trim colour | Gold
|
| March | Ordinary March of the Leib Guard |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |  Colonel-General Dmitry Kochnev |
The Leib Guard (Russian: Лейб-гвардия; Leyb-gvardiya), commmonly known as Russian Imperial Guard, is a military command serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Russia and, from 1917 onwards, the Tsar of Russia. Emperor Peter I founded the first such units following the Prussian practice in 1683. The Imperial Guard subsequently increased in size and diversity to become an elite corps of all branches within the Imperial Army. Following the Russian Civil War, the Leib Guard returned to the duty of protecting the Tsar. Numerous links are however maintained with the Imperial family and the bulk of the regiments of the Imperial Guard are stationed in and around Saint Petersburg and Moscow in peacetime.
History
Peter the Great first established the two senior units of the eventual Imperial Guard, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky infantry regiments. Later, Anna of Russia formed the Izmaylovsky Regiment, recruited from her native Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The Izmaylovsky Regiment became the official palace guards during Anna's reign.
The term "Leib" was first introduced by Elizabeth of Russia during her formation of the Leib Company made up of the grenadiers. Following the murder of Alexander II, on 1881 16 September (3 September O.S.) a special department was created to protect the top officials of the state.
The Imperial Guard played a key role in suppressing the 1905 Revolution, most particularly at Saint Petersburg on Sunday, 22 (O.S. 9) January 1905 (Bloody Sunday). The Semyonovsky Regiment subsequently repressed widespread disturbances in Moscow. However, a full battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment mutinied in June 1906.
Russian Revolution of 1917
During the February Revolution of 1917, the garrison of Petrograd included 99,000 soldiers of the Imperial Guard. These were reserve battalions, made up of a mixture of new recruits and veterans from the regiments of the Imperial Guard serving at the front. Generally still recruited from rural districts, the rank and file of the Guards were reliable instruments of Tsarist rule. The overall morale and leadership of the Saint Petersburg troops was high.
When Nicholas II moved from Petrograd to the Moscow Kremlin in early 1919, his protection was entrusted to the Life-Guards Lithuanian Regiment, under the command of the Commandant of the Kremlin Garrison. In September 1918, the Life-Guards Lithuanian Regiment left for the fronts of the Civil War, and they were replaced by the officer cadets of the Life-Guards 1st His Majesty's Rifle Regiment that were redeployed into the Kremlin for this purpose.
Nicholas II
In January 1925, as Nicholas II consolidated his power after the Russian Civil War, the remnants of the Imperial Guard were reorganized. Several units were disbanded, while other were integrated in the Imperial Russian Army.
In October 1935, a Special Purpose Battalion was created to replace the 1st His Majesty's Rifle Regiment on Kremlin guard duties. The 1st His Majesty's Rifle Regiment was assigned to the Imperial Russian Army. On 8 April 1936, in accordance with Order No. 122 for the Moscow Kremlin Garrison, the Special Purpose Battalion revived the designation of the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. The following day also Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment, Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment and Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment were reestablished. These three later Regiments found place in the 1st Guards Division.
Alexei II
When the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, the surviving units of the Leib Guard were made responsible for defending the Kremlin, where the Ministry of War and General Staff were located. On 25 June 1941, the Commandant of the Garrison ordered the defences to be reinforced: the 1st Guards Division was transferred to the Kremlin Garrison and was redesignated 1st Leib Guard Division. In 1942–1943 four Battalions of snipers from the Kremlin Garrison were sent to the Western and Volkhov Fronts. On 23 February 1944 the Kremlin Garrison was decorated with the Order of St. George. Three battalions from the Leib Guard took part in the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 on Red Square.
In 1946 the Leib Guard was again downsized. Only the Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment was kept as Leib Guard, while the Ministry of State Security assumed the duty to provide security to important State leaders, including the Tsar, outside Kremlin. On 10 April 1949, the 465th Special Commandant's Company, by order of the General Staff, was enlarged to an enhanced-battalion size and became the Life-Guards Egersky Regiment. This move was pressured to by Tsar Alexei II, in order to amass an its own base of power against possible uphevals from Mikoyan.
On 15 March 1953, the Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment was reorganized into the Separate Special Purpose Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment. On 29 November 1956, by order of the Council of Ministers, the 1st Independent Honour Guard Company and the Military Band of the Honour Guard were raised, both under the supervision of the Office of the Kremlin Garrison. On 1 December, they received the name of Life-Guards Finliandsky Regiment.
In 1957, the State Security Service lost all protection and security duties and the Leib Guard was reformed on six infantry regiments: Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment, Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment, Life-Guards Egersky Regiment, Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment and Life-Guards Finliandsky Regiment. At the same time, the Leib Guard, while keeping its own Army traditions, was transformed in a branch of service outside the purview of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces. This reform did not end the foreign involvement of the Leib Guard.
On 9 May 1965 the Leib Guard was decorated with the Order of the Fatherland for its military achievements during the Great Patriotic War as 1st Leib Guard Division. On 8 May 1967 the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment took part in the unveiling ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden.
Alexander IV
In 1980 several servicemen from the Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment took part in the 1980 Olympic opening ceremony wearing civilian formal dress escorting the Olympic Flag. The regiment's Special Duties Company took part in Exercise Zapad-81 the following year as part of the Russian Armed Forces contingent, and received the Medal "For Courage in a Fire" for its fire fighting efforts that year when a fire broke out in the Moscow Oblast. The regiment took part in the 1985 World Festival of Youth and Students and in the 1987 commemorations of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino.
In 1993, at the height of the 1993 Constitutional Crisis, the Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment partipated to the occupation of Moscow in order to put down the parliament's rebellion. Since 1997 the Leib Guard has resumed guard duties on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its Eternal Flame, keeping alive the legacy of those who served on the war fronts: since 2001, the unit in charge is the Life-Guards Egersky Regiment.
The Leib Guard participated in the suppresion of the Caucasus Revolts, both acting as escort details and being involved in fully fledged combat missions. The Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment was deployed in the 1999–2000 Siege of Grozny. In 1999, the Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment participated in the first phase of the Russian contingent of the Kosovo Force while the Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment was deployed in Pristina between 2002 and 2003.
On 2 September 2002, on the basis of the 11th Cavalry Regiment, the His Majesty's Lancers were reestablished.
On 7 May 2006 all Leib Guard Regiments gained a new regimental colour, modeled on the traditional ones. These are worn in addition to modern style dress uniforms. Both types of uniform are in dark green with medium blue piping, but the shoulder boards in the historical full dress is different, even through the ranks are just the same, while only officers wear epaulettes in the latter. When in modern dress uniforms, they wear blue berets or peaked caps, but wear the shako, gorgets and tall period boots with the historical full dress, carrying the SKS rifle or sabres in both cases. This is also the case of the Regiment's Presidential Band, which wears white uniforms similar to those by the Imperial Guard bands of the late 19th century. In 2006, an amateur theater was created within the Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment.
Kyrill II
In the mid-2000s, the Leib Guard, along with other special services, was involved in a tough confrontation within the power structures of Russia. The infighting has been not only for the proximity to "object number one," but also for the control of cash flows, assets and resources.
With the new Tsar, Kyrill II, rising to the throne in 2007, the conflict heated up. The Leib Guard had frictions with the Imperial Court and with the SVB. While the SVB leadership was quick to acknowledge the exclusivity of the Leib Guard, the Imperial Court lost ground over properties intende for use of the Tsar and ended with the control took over by the Leib Guard of several estates.
In March 2017, the Leib Guard received the right to seize land plots for state needs (to which any object can be attributed), in June it became possible to restrict traffic on highways, use airports, sea and river ports free of charge and protect the data of protected officials.
Starting from 2016, the Leib Guard has participated in several overseas missions, such as in Syria and elsewhere.
Mission
The Leib Guard is the military body tasked with providing services related to the protection of the Tsar of Russia, the Imperial Family and several high-ranking state officials, mandated by the relevant law, as well as certain imperial properties. The Guard's troops protect not only the Tsar but also judges, witnesses, officials, and official sites such as the Kremlin and the State Duma.
The main principles of the implementation of the protection of the Tsar of Russia, of the Imperial Family and of the protected state officials are the principles of observance of human rights and freedoms, centralized leadership, interaction of state security agencies, continuity, a combination of public and private methods of activity, accountability and supervision.
According to the Regulation on the Leib Guard, its main tasks are:
- Ensuring the safety of the Tsar and of the Imperial Family in the places of their permanent and temporary stay and on the routes;
- Forecasting and identifying threats to the vital interests of the Tsar, implementing a set of measures to prevent this threat;
- Participating in the fight against terrorism and in the defence of the Motherland;
- Assisting other State strucures in maintaining public order when in proximity of the Tsar, of the Imperial Family or when directed by the highest authority;
- Preventing, detecting and suppressing of illegal encroachments on the Tsar and protected objects;
- Preventing, detecting and suppressing of crimes and other offences at protected facilities, in places of permanent and temporary residence of the Tsar and on their routes;
- Protecting of protected objects;
- Organizating and maintaining operation, safety, improvement of special communications and information provided by and to the Tsar;
- Participating in the development and implementation of measures to ensure the information security of Russia, to counter technical intelligence and to protect information constituting a state secret.
Organization
The Leib Guard is organized into services and units. Names of the traditional units are kept alive for modern-day services operating each a specific area of responsibility. Both communications and enginereering services are formally entrusted to military units carrying the Artillery designation. Usually, the Tsar and some members of the Imperial Family hold a title of Honorary Colonel of the Guards, keeping ties with the individual units. Tsar Kyrill II is Honorary Colonel of the Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Izmailovsky and Finlandinski Regiment.
As of 2019, the Leib Guard consists of:
- Commander of the Leib Guard
Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment: Tsar's personal security service
Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment: General security service
Life-Guards Izmailovsky Regiment: Kremlin Regiment
Life-Guards Egersky Regiment: Honour Guard Regiment and Guard at the Eternal Flame- His Majesty's Lancers: Honour Guard Cavalry
- His Majesty's Personal Escort: Transit security and traffic internal military police
- King Frederick-William III's Life-Guards Petrograd Regiment: Security service in Petrograd
- Life-Guards Grenadier Regiment: Security service in Sochi
- Life-Guards Pavlovsky Regiment: Security service in Tbilisi
- Life-Guards Finliandsky Regiment: Security service in Helsinki
- Life-Guards Lithuanian Regiment: Security service in Riga
- Life-Guards Volinsky Regiment: Security service in Astana
- His Majesty's Life-Guards Cossack Regiment: Security service in Crimea
- Emperor of Austria's Life-Guards Kexgolmsky Regiment: Security service in Tashkent
- Emir of Bukhara's Life-Guards Regiment: Units at official residences
- Life-Guards Horse-Grenadier Regiment: Security service and honours at the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
- 1st Life-Guards Artillery Brigade: Special Communications Service
- 2nd Life-Guards Artillery Brigade: Engineering Support Service
- 3rd Life-Guards Artillery Brigade: Office of Special Communications and Information
- Life-Guards Hussar Regiment: Intelligence department and internal military police
- Educational and research institutions
- Public Relations Center
- Administrative service
Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment
The Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment is the His Imperial Majesty's own security service. The Regiment ranks first in order of precedence among all Russian Regiments and it has been excluded from the Leib Guard, altogether disbanded and reintegrated several times. After the 2000s reorganization, the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment switched to a functional area of responsibility. As of 2018, it consists of:
- Regimental Command;
- Guards Infantry Company;
- His Imperial Majesty's Own Convoy;
- Palace Security Battalion;
- Palace Grenadiers Battalion: personal security and honour guard.
As of 2018, the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment has around 1,500 personnel.
Life-Guards Hussar Regiment
The Life-Guards Hussar Regiment is the intelligence branch of Tsar's personal security service. The Life-Guards Hussar Regiment is responsible for analyzing information collected about the security threats to the life of the president. The Regiment therefore mixes several selected intelligence experts from the Military Intelligence, Internal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service into one branch.
The Life-Guards Hussar Regiment is known to be engaged in security-oriented sociological research projects.
Personnel
Personnel of the Leib Guard is strictly and carefully selected in order to maintain both an high effectiveness and a splendid demanour.
A major part of the officers of the Guard come from the rich hereditary nobility. As of 2010, the 55.5% of the Officers of the Leib Guard Infantry and 75.9% of the Officers of the Leib Guard cavalry units (His Majesty's Lancers, Life-Guards Horse-Grenadier Regiment and His Majesty's Life-Guards Cossack Regiment) were hereditary nobles. The officers of the Leib Guard have to fully equip at their own expenses, including the purchase of weapons and riding horses. Both traditions and government requirements demand special and additional splendour from them.
In the Leib Guard troops and enlisted personnel are selected by both their appearance and their record of service.