The transfer of special police units - OMON and SOBR - to the Russian Guard caused a number of conflicts between the fighters of these structures and the leadership of the “guardsmen”. They believe that the norms and rules adopted by the military have led to the fact that special forces officers began to devote less time to combat and physical training. Some special forces even wrote an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to influence this situation. The leadership of the Russian Guard, in turn, notes that it will not ignore the discontent of the fighters, but will try to find a compromise.
“They forced us to walk into the dining room in formation”
The merger of the former special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - OMON and SOBR - with the troops of the Russian Guard (FSVNG) is not without problems. As Gazeta.Ru learned, some experienced employees of these structures are dissatisfied with a number of innovations that appeared after the transfer of special forces to the guard.
In particular, one of the officers of the Ryazan SOBR wrote an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Commander-in-Chief of the FSVNG Viktor Zolotov. It was received by the electronic reception of the Russian head of state and is at the disposal of Gazeta.Ru.
“We also continue to work with the operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so why burden the already loaded paper bureaucracy with additional approvals through fifth hands? What kind of efficiency can we talk about when, not so long ago, being part of the criminal police, we went out on the first call. The specificity of operational units is that they are needed here and now, and not sometime in a week, or even two,” writes the author.
This is not the only thing that angers the SOBR soldier. He is dissatisfied with the fact that the unit’s soldiers are sometimes forced to clean up the territory, since “with the transfer to the FSVNG units, janitors and cleaners disappeared in all units. Probably, guided by the logic that we, like soldiers, must spend the park and maintenance day from morning to night. But the question arises: when to engage in combat training?
I didn’t come to the special unit to wash floors and sweep streets,” the appeal states.
This letter is not the only manifestation of dissatisfaction with the special forces. Gazeta.Ru has at its disposal a copy of a written appeal to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Guard, Zolotov, this time from a riot police officer. He also believes that after the transfer of this unit to the National Guard, many new shortcomings were revealed there.
“Combat training is carried out on paper. The entire service is conducted according to the principle of internal troops (on their basis the Russian Guard was created - “Gazeta.Ru”). All the best that has been developed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is cut off and not accepted.
The service is based on show and constant reports, which distracts from service and combat missions. Initiative, the ability to take responsibility and make decisions are eradicated by all means. We often hear from leaders from the internal troops that the effectiveness of our units is low, while the internal troops are positioned as professionals, better than us in everything,” writes the author of the appeal.
He further complains that during a business trip to North Caucasus District his unit lived in tents of 15-20 people without basic living conditions; also, according to the author of the letter, the special forces had their mobile phones taken away.
“We were forced to beat down the beds, straighten the pillows, were forbidden to sit on the beds during the day, were forced to line up 10 times a day, and go to the dining room in formation. In general, they treated us like conscripts. Only the “conscripts” are 30-35 years old and most of them are in the rank of senior officers,” the letter states.
The wipers were found, but the sediment remained
The press service of the Central Command of the Russian National Guard told Gazeta.Ru that these appeals did not go unnoticed by the leadership of the FSVNG. “The leadership of the Russian Guard pays Special attention moral and psychological climate in the OMON and SOBR units and does not ignore a single appeal, including an anonymous one, from employees of the above-mentioned units. Based on the requests specified in the request dated June 27 and August 21, 2017 addressed to the director Federal service National Guard troops Russian Federation Comprehensive internal checks were carried out,” the press service said.
The command of the Central District of the National Guard troops held a meeting with the SOBR officer from Ryazan and discussed in a calm atmosphere all the facts indicated in his letter, the press service added.
“The author was given comprehensive explanations about the decisions made by the district command. All of them were adopted in accordance with the governing documents and, above all, in the interests of the service and safety of the unit’s personnel. However, they have absolutely no effect negative influence on the effectiveness of the operational and service activities of the unit. At the same time,
The opinion of the employees was taken into account, the district command decided to consider proposals for introducing into the staff of the territorial department workers responsible for cleaning the premises, including SOBR and OMON,” noted the press service of the FSVNG.
As a source familiar with the situation explained to Gazeta.Ru, there are no negative consequences for the officer, after his letter there will be no: “He was told that there were no complaints against him in his service.” The press service of the Russian Guard also emphasized that the author of the other appeal is not and has never been an employee of the special forces units of this department. The press service did not explain who he was and what prompted him in this case to write a letter addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Zolotov.
In other regions, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs encountered similar problems when transferring to the guard. For example, a video recently appeared on Youtube where a man in the uniform of a Russian National Guard serviceman explains in detail to clearly middle-aged men in camouflage how to make beds. Those standing in the front rows listen very carefully, and those standing behind make fun of the situation.
A source of Gazeta.Ru, familiar with the situation, explained that the events shown in the video took place recently in the training of machine gunners of the Russian Guard in Omsk, where about 30 riot policemen arrived from other regions, and among them were mainly employees with many years of service experience. “The classes on making beds were conducted for them by the major, the battalion commander,” explained Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor.
The soldiers burst into "Thunder"
“After moving to the Russian Guard, there are many shortcomings in the riot police. But among them there are several critical ones. The most important thing is the red tape when making decisions about the use of our unit. In order for an operative to “call us”, he must write a statement addressed to the head of the regional police, after his signature, the head of the department where this operative serves must go to bow to the territorial department of the Russian Guard, where he must sit in line at the reception of a native of the internal troops, who may not know all the specifics of the work of riot police.
Then you have to explain to him the essence of the task, and then it turns out that something is written in the papers that is not military-style and everything needs to be redone. It is not surprising that the detectives from the criminal investigation department prefer not to contact us again. The criminal won’t wait,” said Andrei, a 39-year-old riot policeman from one of the detachments in the Sverdlovsk region.
According to him, the FSVNG leadership also pays increased attention to cleaning the unit’s territory, which often comes at the expense of combat training. “For some reason we were forced to keep a book of those who left the riot police unit without permission. The men here are over 30 years old, where will they run from their place of work?” asks Andrey.
“I don’t want to throw mud at the Internal Troops; there are a lot of decent people there who carried out combat missions, including in the North Caucasus. But the leadership of the National Guard, from my point of view, has a poor understanding of the tasks of the riot police, and therefore is trying to make soldiers out of us. The situation with physical training is also extremely poor, at least in my squad. Because of all the innovations, they began to allocate less time to it. In addition, sparring between fighters was canceled - but this is the basis for us! But the management considered that this would lead to an increase in injuries,” the special forces soldier said.
Including this, many riot policemen joined the “Grom” detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which appeared in the police force after the disbandment of the Federal Drug Control Service and the transfer of some of the fighters to the police. It was created for power support of operational services. According to Andrei, in the future, riot police may face a shortage of experienced personnel, and there will remain young fighters who do not know how to think outside the box, are less prepared, but will be absolutely loyal to the leadership of the Russian Guard.
However, some special forces have a different point of view. “I didn’t notice any special changes. The drill guys were already intimidating me. I usually answer that I won’t march until I want to. It is better to ask someone from management about changes. They seem to have added a significant amount of documents. I tend to characterize people who don't like something as whiners. And recommend looking for Sobrov’s salary in the national economy. In addition to the mentioned salary, it seems to me that we should not forget, first of all, about the oath that was given by both the military and the police,” explained Victor, a SOBR soldier from Ryazan.
A source familiar with the situation told Gazeta.Ru that the conflict between a number of OMON and SOBR officers and the commanders of the Russian Guard has several reasons. “Both the Internal Troops and the above units were recently part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The leadership of the ministry was, as a rule, civilian and often did not support the initiatives of the command staff of the internal troops. In a number of regions, the heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs believed that the “veshniks,” as they were called, should not be listened to, although this is unfair: soldiers of the Internal Troops, for example, serve and served in crowded places, helped police officers in the metro, in a word, did their job and did it well.
With the transfer of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the guard, military leaders introduced certain elements of army order. But not all “civilians” liked this,” the interlocutor said. According to him, OMON and SOBR fighters will soon become military personnel, but for now they continue to carry special ranks of police officers.
“This is also a cause for concern among many special forces: it seems to them that after this they will have more responsibilities and fewer rights. But they won’t be able to resign from the Russian Guard so easily, since the status of a military personnel imposes a number of restrictions on the timing and possibility of dismissal,” the source said.
He noted that now there is a “grinding in” of former police officers who transferred to the Russian Guard to new tasks and requirements. “It’s too early to draw conclusions, we’ll see what happens in six months or a year, when they all become military personnel. It is clear that there will be negativity, those who are happy with everything will not write appeals, they will calmly carry out their service. It’s the dissatisfied who write,” he concluded.
According to the decree of the President of Russia on the creation of the National Guard, all power structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - internal troops, SOBR, OMON and private security - become part of the National Guard. That is, now the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (and its territorial bodies) is limited in making personnel and operational decisions regarding employees of these law enforcement agencies.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the department is joined by units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, namely OMON, SOBR, and private security units. But, despite a number of difficulties, the Russian Guard will be formed on time and, according to Viktor Zolotov, will begin to work for the benefit of society and the state and ensure law and order.
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Ministry of Internal Affairs. The apparatus (personnel, logistics, finances, etc.) will be completely cut, the operational staff will be cut by at least 30%, too, because The Ministry of Internal Affairs has its own structure for BNON.
In the National Guard, maybe everything will be different, or maybe they will leave a similar allowance. It seems that Kadyrov has already expressed that he is in every possible way for the creation of the National Guard and that his special forces will gladly go there.
Now, if a situation arises while the police are doing their work (capturing a tough gang), when it is necessary to urgently use, for example, riot police, this is done quickly and simply. A policeman calls: “We urgently need riot police there!”, and he: “Call my superiors,” he calls his superiors, and they: “Only if there is a command from my superiors,” etc. But, naturally, the question now is how all this will be spelled out in the law. Yes, but the Guard won't investigate, right? And it does not report directly to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In Russia there are 208 detachments: 121 - OMON (mobile detachment special purpose) and 87 - SOBR (special rapid response squad). The riot police are mostly contract soldiers - privates and sergeants. And in this very first part it is stated that the troops of the National Guard are entrusted with the tasks of protecting public order, ensuring state security and the state of emergency.
However, there are no special innovations here - all these rights and responsibilities of servicemen have long been spelled out in general military regulations and federal law"About the police."
The reform will have enormous political consequences for one of the regions of the Russian Federation - the Chechen Republic. Thus, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic does not have any security forces similar in their capabilities and power to an army motorized rifle unit. You yourself have repeatedly heard how ordinary and high-ranking Chechen police officers expressed their personal loyalty, first of all, to Kadyrov.
The head of Chechnya received unlimited influence on decision-making by the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic, including personnel decisions regarding former militants. Now Ramzan Kadyrov will no longer be able to gather Putin’s National Guard at the stadium in Grozny. He will not be able to call the commanders of the relevant units of the National Guard to his meeting and give them the order to shoot to kill other National Guard soldiers.
And he may be notified of a special operation, for example, to detain a resident of Chechnya suspected of committing a crime in his region. But they may not notify.
New form and strength
And it was Kadyrov who later defended these fighters. Second. Traditionally, in the Ministry of Defense and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, military counterintelligence agencies were responsible for internal security. I know for sure that military counterintelligence works in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and it works well. In the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, this function is performed by its own security units. Amnestied militants serving in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs have always been a stumbling block. They were checked by the personnel service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs locally (in Chechnya), and the influence of the subjective factor was enormous.
Since, as I have already said, special political conditions have developed in Chechnya, this principle has been massively ignored. The central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, apparently, never welcomed this, but put up with it. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation did not have mechanisms to solve this problem, but now with the creation of the National Guard they have appeared. And they appeared, I must say, just in time to solve this problem peacefully, without incidents. The fact is that a serviceman’s contract implies that he can be transferred to any region of the country for service, and this is normal.
This precisely allowed Soviet army move away from ethnic conflicts. And that is why Colonel Maskhadov, a Chechen, was primarily a Soviet officer. Ethnic Chechen units will be diluted with military personnel of other nationalities, while sending part of the Chechen SOBR or OMON to other units in other regions.
How was it before? Police academies did not specifically prepare graduates for service in SOBR. Officers are trained in special forces, and then command units and, thus, the experience they gain in special forces is transferred to the soldiers of ordinary combat motorized rifle units. And it's very correct principle, when the selection of military personnel begins from military schools, that is, selection for suitability for military service begins at the cadet level.
Ramzan Kadyrov immediately responded to Putin’s decree on the creation of the National Guard, welcomed him and declared the readiness of Chechen security forces to serve in the ranks of the new security structure. First. I think people like Vismuradov will be transferred to the state defense department (subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and, accordingly, to the corresponding regional divisions).
E. M.), Tsakaev (commander of the Chechen riot police. - E. M.), Asukhanov (company commander of the SOBR. - E. M.) and others - transfer to the National Guard as part of their units
That is, in Chechnya this is, in fact, a special unit of bodyguards. I think it will remain that way for now. In any case, Kadyrov has enough time to think. In our case, most of Kadyrov’s supporters will now be under the jurisdiction of Khankala and Vladikavkaz. In the meantime, until the federal law on the National Guard comes into force, everything will work for some time by inertia.
And I think this point will be specifically spelled out in the federal law on the National Guard. And the Chechen Republic in this sense is one of their leaders. Cops serving in riot police and special forces, special purpose centers, as well as aviation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, become military personnel from 2018, and their status as cops is forgiven.2.
About 400 thousand people will serve in the National Guard, including fighters of elite special forces: riot police, sobrovtsy, special forces, Chechen special forces. Now many of them duplicate each other
The National Guard will include units of internal troops (VV) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, SOBR and OMON, the Special Forces Center for Rapid Reaction Forces and Aviation, private security, in particular the Special Purpose Center for Private Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that monitor compliance with legislation in the field of arms trafficking and the field of private security activities. This is stated in the presidential decree signed on April 5.
The total number of the National Guard will be determined by the president, but Interfax's source suggests that it will be 350-400 thousand people: 170 thousand are internal troops, another 200 thousand are private security. About 30 thousand more people serve in OMON and SOBR detachments, notes RBC’s interlocutor in law enforcement agencies.
Riot police
Mobile special forces were created in 1988, when the likelihood of mass unrest increased. The number of units is not disclosed. OMON detachments are deployed on a regional basis and are subordinate to local departments of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate.
Riot police. Mobile special forces (OMON) were created in 1988. Riot police are involved in ensuring security at public events, as well as in hot spots. Riot police officers undergo special training and are better armed than ordinary police officers. The number of riot police units is not disclosed. According to RBC's source in law enforcement agencies, a total of about 30 thousand people serve in the OMON and SOBR detachments. In the photo: riot police take part in a lesson patriotic education at the school in St. Petersburg. (Photo: AP)
In 2010, The New Times magazine wrote about soldiers of the second OMON battalion of the capital's Central Internal Affairs Directorate who complained to Dmitry Medvedev, who held the post of president at that time, about unbearable working conditions. According to the magazine, the battalion leadership set a plan for subordinates to make arrests during shifts and used fighters to guard elite cottages and “protect prostitutes.” Later, the magazine wrote, pressure was put on the heroes of the publication. Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who at that time was the head of the capital’s Main Department of Internal Affairs, argued that the internal audit did not confirm the facts stated in the article.
One of the largest riot police units is "Bison". It was created in 2006 on the basis of the riot police of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Moscow region. The number of the unit is about 2.5 thousand people. “Zubr” ensured order at the “Marches of Dissent” in Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan and Moscow. In 2011, a criminal case was opened against a gang involved in kidnapping and extortion. The group included Zubr fighters and henchmen of crime boss Hakob Meliksetyan, who was considered an associate of thief in law Aslan Usoyan, nicknamed Ded Hasan.
"Bison". The Zubr detachment was created on the basis of the riot police near Moscow in 2006 and reports directly to the Minister of Defense. “Zubr” ensured order at the “March of Dissent”. In 2011, a criminal case was opened against several members of the detachment for kidnapping and extortion. In the photo: demonstration exercises of the Zubr detachment in Shchelkovo near Moscow, 2011. (Photo: Kommersant)
In 2013, the Zubr detachment took part in the operation to capture the “Belgorod shooter.”
SOBR
The functions of most special forces now overlap in many ways, notes in a conversation with RBC deputy chairman State Duma Committee on Security Ernest Valeev . “The difference is that they were created at different times by different structures. SOBR were created under RUBOPakh as special units that were supposed to support efforts to combat organized crime. Riot police were created under the Ministry of Internal Affairs earlier SOBR when organized crime It hasn’t happened yet.”
SOBR. Special rapid reaction units (SOBRs) were formed under RUBOP (regional departments for combating organized crime) as special units that were supposed to support the actions of RUBOP employees. In October 2013, SOBR participated in the arrest of Orkhan Zeynalov, who was later convicted of the murder of Yegor Shcherbakov, a resident of the capital’s West Biryulyovo district. This crime provoked riots. In the photo: demonstration performances by Sobrov members. (Photo: Kommersant)
The predecessor of the Special Rapid Reaction Detachment was the Special Purpose Police Detachment formed in 1978 at the capital's Central Internal Affairs Directorate. SOBR received its current name in 2012 after several renamings.
In October 2013, SOBR participated in the arrest of Orkhan Zeynalov, who was later convicted of the murder of Yegor Shcherbakov, a resident of the capital’s West Biryulyovo district. This crime provoked riots and led to clashes with the police. After Zeynalov’s capture, SOBR soldiers delivered the suspect to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev.
Special Forces (OSN) were in the structures of correctional institutions and in the internal troops. "N AC Guard will unite these different parts that performed the same functions,” explained Valeev RBC.
About one and a half dozen special forces are known. OSN are located in Moscow, Novocherkassk, Khabarovsk, Kemerovo, Chelyabinsk region and the North Caucasus. The most famous of them is the 604th Red Banner Special Purpose Center, formed from the Vityaz and Rus centers.
“Vityaz”, in particular, participated in the storming of the Theater Center on Dubrovka during the hostage taking in 2002, the observer wrote “ Novaya Gazeta» Anna Politkovskaya.
Moscow "Peresvet" was created in 2006 to maintain order in the capital. “The creation of the detachment is due to the fact that in the capital there should be<…>another unit for participation in public events,” explained its creation in 2006 by Colonel-General Nikolai Rogozhkin, Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Detachment "Vyatich", located in the city of Armavir Krasnodar region, took part in the second Chechen campaign. In 1999, in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan, “Vyatich” was attacked by militants and airstrikes by the Russian Air Force, as a result of which it suffered heavy losses (according to various estimates, from 23 to 80 people). The centers “Rosich” and “Edelweiss” participated in the Caucasian campaigns.
Chechen special forces
The 46th Separate Operational Brigade of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is considered one of the largest in the internal troops, it includes, among other things, military units that are recruited on a national basis - these are the Chechen battalions “North” and “South”. Their total number, according to Novaya Gazeta, does not exceed 2 thousand people.
The North battalion was formed in 2006. Its members included former militants who went over to the side of Ramzan Kadyrov after 2003.
"North". The North battalion is led by Alibek Delimkhanov, brother State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov. Several people accused in the murder of Boris Nemtsov, including the alleged killer Zaur Dadaev, served in the battalion. In the photo: soldiers of the Sever battalion in Grozny, 2009. (Photo: RIA Novosti)
The North battalion is led by Alibek Delimkhanov, the brother of State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov, whom Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov calls his successor. Ruslan Mukhudinov served in the battalion, whom investigators consider the organizer of the murder of Boris Nemtsov. An officer of the same unit was Ruslan Geremeev, whom the lawyers of the oppositionist’s relatives consider to be the real organizer of the assassination attempt. In the battalion, those whom the Investigative Committee calls the direct perpetrators are Beslan Shavanov, who died during the arrest, and the alleged murderer Zaur Dadaev.
The regiment of private security of oil infrastructure facilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya numbers about 3 thousand people. In 2003-2006, this unit was headed by Delimkhanov. According to Memorial, the regiment was financed by the company Grozneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft. Human rights activists have repeatedly accused fighters of the “oil regiment” of kidnapping and torturing Chechens.
Unification of special forces
The inclusion of law enforcement units into the National Guard troops, which were hitherto part of the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will allow them to devote more time to improving their professional skills and more clearly distribute responsibilities among themselves, says United Russia deputy Mikhail Starshinov. “SOBR and OMON units were police structures, but performed security functions. Now they will go to the security forces, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have units that are engaged in operational work,” he explained.
Former deputy chairman of the Security Committee Gennady Gudkov also sees no point in leaving various special forces. "There's no point in preserving them. various names, symbolism and etc. . no, because they had the same functions, but now they have merged,” he says in a conversation with RBC.
Lawyer and former investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Zherebenkov disagrees with him. In his opinion, such units such as SOBR, Zubr, and OMON do not need to be unified. “Each of them performs its own tasks: “Vympel” is the fight against terrorism, “Zubr” is security in the colonies, OMON is about order during public events,” the lawyer notes. Different specifics of work require highly specialized specialists, Zherebenkov believes, while unification can lead to a decrease in the level of professionalism.
According to the lawyer, the authorities are too carried away with reforming the law enforcement system. “The police were renamed the police, and nothing has changed, they just spent money on rebranding,” the lawyer complains.
With the participation of Farida Rustamova, Anastasia Mikhailova, Maria Makutina
Why are the riot police complaining to Vladimir Kolokoltsev? Who will be fired from the Presidential Administration. Why economist Andrei Belousov did not want to work in the government. What does the failed governor of the Kaliningrad region, Evgeny Zinichev, do in the FSB?
Assistant to the President of Russia for Economics Andrey Belousov, who, after the arrest and resignation of the head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev considered one of the contenders for the vacant post, as they say in the White House staff, does not want to return to the government. Partly because his appointment is actively resisted by the financial and economic bloc of the Cabinet of Ministers (see “Profile” No. 39 of October 24, 2016). But mainly because of the difficult situation in the financial and economic sphere and the unwillingness to bear responsibility for it. However, as sources already in the presidential administration say, the latest rumor is spread deliberately in order to worsen Vladimir Putin’s attitude towards Belousov. According to the same sources, Ulyukaev tried to ask to resign in 2015, citing health reasons. The President took this extremely negatively, regarding it as a desire to “jump ship like a rat” at a difficult moment for the country. It is possible that it was after this that Ulyukaev’s opponents convinced the president that the official should be taken a closer look.
According to rumors from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, addressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev a letter of appeal was received from SOBR and OMON officers, signed by several hundred people. It sets out complaints against the leadership of the National Guard, to which these units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were transferred this year, and a request to return them to their native department. According to the authors and signatories of the letter, the leadership of the National Guard, not understanding the specifics of the work of police units, such as SOBR and OMON detachments, appoints as their commanders representatives of former internal troops, or even simply people recruited into the National Guard from army ground units. These commanders are passionate about purely army training, see SOBR and OMON officers as “infantry”, and treat them rudely. As a result, the professional training of SOBR and OMON has been sharply reduced, and experienced personnel are leaving because they do not want to serve in such an environment. The leadership of the National Guard is indifferent to this and does not respond to requests. According to Profile's sources, this letter will be used in the hardware struggle between Vladimir Kolokoltsev and the head of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov. Moreover, after the recent tragic death of teenagers in love in the village of Krasnye Strugi in the Pskov region (according to the press and bloggers, the children died due to the unprofessionalism and rough work of the National Guard soldiers), the activities of the SOBR are in the focus of media attention.
The long-awaited major reorganization of the AP may begin almost any day. Such conversations began on Old Square due to the fact that the head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino invited representatives of the trade union organization of the AP and asked them to prepare for the reorganization, which, according to him, should be completed in February 2017. Since three months are allotted for the employment of dismissed people, the AP employees decided that the time for reorganization had come. According to rumors, there are plans to cut costs for maintaining the administration and, accordingly, reduce its staff and the number of independent departments from the current 21 to 10-11 by merging existing structures. In addition, preparations are being made for a significant reduction in the number of presidential administration leaders who have the right to directly report to the President of Russia, and above all, a reduction in the number of presidential assistants. As they say, the latter is a personal wish-instruction Vladimir Putin. He also insists on rejuvenating AP personnel.
As they say on the sidelines of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the last month the Internal Security Directorate of the FSB of Russia has been actively checking for corruption of mid-level police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs different levels. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is perplexed: why is the FSB Internal Security Service doing this, and not the department that is responsible for control over the ministry? Some sources in the Ministry of Internal Affairs attribute such activity of the FSB of Russia’s Internal Security Service to the fact that its curator allegedly became Evgeniy Zinichev, former adjutant-bodyguard of Vladimir Putin. Recently he was unexpectedly transferred from acting governor of the Kaliningrad region to deputy director of the FSB Alexandra Bortnikova. And, according to these sources, Zinichev, by working against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, may seek to replace Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Moreover, Zinichev himself is considered a possible successor to Bortnikov as head of the FSB.
The transfer of special police units - OMON and SOBR - to the Russian Guard caused a number of conflicts between the fighters of these structures and the leadership of the “guardsmen”. They believe that the norms and regulations adopted by the military have led to the fact that special forces officers began to devote less time to combat and physical training. Some special forces even wrote an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to influence this situation. The leadership of the Russian Guard, in turn, notes that it will not ignore the discontent of the fighters, but will try to find a compromise.
“They forced us to walk into the dining room in formation”
The merger of the former special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - OMON and SOBR - with the troops of the Russian Guard (FSVNG) is not without problems. As it became known, some experienced employees of these structures are dissatisfied with a number of innovations that appeared after the transfer of special forces to the guard.
In particular, one of the officers of the Ryazan SOBR wrote an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Commander-in-Chief of the FSVNG Viktor Zolotov. It was received by the electronic reception of the Russian head of state and is at the disposal of Gazeta.Ru.
“We also continue to work with the operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so why burden the already loaded paper bureaucracy with additional approvals through fifth hands? What kind of efficiency can we talk about when, not so long ago, being part of the criminal police, we went out on the first call. The specificity of operational units is that they are needed here and now, and not sometime in a week, or even two,” writes the author.
This is not the only thing that angers the SOBR soldier. He is dissatisfied with the fact that the unit’s soldiers are sometimes forced to clean up the territory, since “with the transfer to the FSVNG units, janitors and cleaners disappeared in all units. Probably, guided by the logic that we, like soldiers, must spend the park and maintenance day from morning to night. But the question arises: when to engage in combat training?
I didn’t come to the special unit to wash floors and sweep streets,” the appeal states.
This letter is not the only manifestation of dissatisfaction with the special forces. Gazeta.Ru has at its disposal a copy of a written appeal to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Guard, Zolotov, this time from a riot police officer. He also believes that after the transfer of this unit to the National Guard, many new shortcomings were revealed there.
“Combat training is carried out on paper. The entire service is conducted according to the principle of internal troops (on their basis the Russian Guard was created - “Gazeta.Ru”). All the best that has been developed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is cut off and not accepted.
The service is based on show and constant reports, which distracts from service and combat missions. Initiative, the ability to take responsibility and make decisions are eradicated by all means. We often hear from leaders from the internal troops that the effectiveness of our units is low, while the internal troops are positioned as professionals, better than us in everything,” writes the author of the appeal.
He further complains that during a business trip to the North Caucasus District, his unit lived in tents of 15-20 people without basic living conditions; also, according to the author of the letter, the special forces had their mobile phones taken away from them.
“We were forced to beat down the beds, straighten the pillows, were forbidden to sit on the beds during the day, were forced to line up 10 times a day, and go to the dining room in formation. In general, they treated us like conscripts. Only the “conscripts” are 30-35 years old and most of them are in the rank of senior officers,” the letter states.
The wipers were found, but the sediment remained
The press service of the Central Command of the Russian National Guard reported that these appeals did not go unnoticed by the leadership of the FSVNG. “The leadership of the Russian Guard pays special attention to the moral and psychological climate in the OMON and SOBR units and does not ignore a single appeal, including an anonymous one, from employees of the above-mentioned units. Based on the requests specified in the request dated June 27 and August 21, 2017, comprehensive internal inspections were carried out to the director of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation,” the press service stated.
The command of the Central District of the National Guard troops held a meeting with the SOBR officer from Ryazan and discussed in a calm atmosphere all the facts indicated in his letter, the press service added.
“The author was given comprehensive explanations about the decisions made by the district command. All of them were adopted in accordance with the governing documents and, above all, in the interests of the service and safety of the unit’s personnel. At the same time, they absolutely do not have a negative impact on the efficiency of the operational and service activities of the unit. At the same time, the opinion of the employees was taken into account, and the district command decided to consider proposals for introducing into the staff of the territorial department workers responsible for cleaning the premises, including SOBR and OMON,” noted the FSVNG press service.
As a source familiar with the situation explained, there would be no negative consequences for the officer after his letter: “He was told that there were no complaints against him in his service.” The press service of the Russian Guard also emphasized that the author of the other appeal is not and has never been an employee of the special forces units of this department. The press service did not explain who he was and what prompted him in this case to write a letter addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Zolotov.
In other regions, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs encountered similar problems when transferring to the guard. For example, a video recently appeared on Youtube where a man in the uniform of a Russian National Guard serviceman explains in detail to clearly middle-aged men in camouflage how to make beds. Those standing in the front rows listen very carefully, and those standing behind make fun of the situation.
A source of Gazeta.Ru, familiar with the situation, explained that the events shown in the video took place recently in the training of machine gunners of the Russian Guard in Omsk, where about 30 riot policemen arrived from other regions, and among them were mainly employees with many years of service experience. “The classes on making beds were conducted for them by the major, the battalion commander,” explained Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor.
The soldiers burst into "Thunder"
“After moving to the Russian Guard, there are many shortcomings in the riot police. But among them there are several critical ones. The most important thing is the red tape when making decisions about the use of our unit. In order for an operative to “call us”, he must write a statement addressed to the head of the regional police, after his signature, the head of the department where this operative serves must go to bow to the territorial department of the Russian Guard, where he must sit in line at the reception of a native of the internal troops, who may not know all the specifics of the work of riot police.
Then you have to explain to him the essence of the task, and then it turns out that something is written in the papers that is not military-style and everything needs to be redone. It is not surprising that the detectives from the criminal investigation department prefer not to contact us again. The criminal won’t wait,” said Andrei, a 39-year-old riot policeman from one of the detachments in the Sverdlovsk region.
According to him, the FSVNG leadership also pays increased attention to cleaning the unit’s territory, which often comes at the expense of combat training. “For some reason we were forced to keep a book of those who left the riot police unit without permission. The men here are over 30 years old, where will they run from their place of work?” asks Andrey.
“I don’t want to throw mud at the Internal Troops; there are a lot of decent people there who carried out combat missions, including in the North Caucasus. But the leadership of the National Guard, from my point of view, has a poor understanding of the tasks of the riot police, and therefore is trying to make soldiers out of us. The situation with physical training is also extremely poor, at least in my squad. Because of all the innovations, they began to allocate less time to it. In addition, sparring between fighters was canceled - but this is the basis for us! But the management considered that this would lead to an increase in injuries,” the special forces soldier said.
Including this, many riot policemen joined the “Grom” detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which appeared in the police force after the disbandment of the Federal Drug Control Service and the transfer of some of the fighters to the police. It was created for power support of operational services. According to Andrei, in the future, riot police may face a shortage of experienced personnel, and there will remain young fighters who do not know how to think outside the box, are less prepared, but will be absolutely loyal to the leadership of the Russian Guard.
However, some special forces have a different point of view. “I didn’t notice any special changes. The drill guys were already intimidating me. I usually answer that I won’t march until I want to. It is better to ask someone from management about changes. They seem to have added a significant amount of documents. I tend to characterize people who don't like something as whiners. And recommend looking for Sobrov’s salary in the national economy. In addition to the mentioned salary, it seems to me that we should not forget, first of all, about the oath that was given by both the military and the police,” explained Victor, a SOBR soldier from Ryazan.
A source familiar with the situation said that the conflict between a number of OMON and SOBR officers and the commanders of the Russian Guard has several reasons. “Both the Internal Troops and the above units were recently part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The leadership of the ministry was, as a rule, civilian and often did not support the initiatives of the command staff of the internal troops. In a number of regions, the heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs believed that the “veshniks,” as they were called, should not be listened to, although this is unfair: soldiers of the Internal Troops, for example, serve and served in crowded places, helped police officers in the metro, in a word, did their job and did it well.
With the transfer of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the guard, military leaders introduced certain elements of army order. But not all “civilians” liked this,” the interlocutor said. According to him, OMON and SOBR fighters will soon become military personnel, but for now they continue to carry special ranks of police officers.
“This is also a cause for concern among many special forces: they think that after this they will have more responsibilities and fewer rights. But they won’t be able to resign from the Russian Guard so easily, since the status of a military personnel imposes a number of restrictions on the timing and possibility of dismissal,” the source said.
He noted that now there is a “grinding in” of former police officers who transferred to the Russian Guard to new tasks and requirements. “It’s too early to draw conclusions, we’ll see what happens in six months or a year, when they all become military personnel. It is clear that there will be negativity, those who are happy with everything will not write appeals, they will calmly carry out their service. It’s the dissatisfied who write,” he concluded.
