The transfer of forces and means of the Russian National Guard to the regions of the country is a planned preparation for the ‘Zaslon 2022’ (“Barrier 2022”) exercise, as explained by the official representative of the department Valery Gribakin.
“The National Guard is preparing to conduct the Zaslon 2022 operational-strategic exercise. Such exercises are held annually by the department on a planned basis. The transfer of forces and means to practical training areas will be carried out from different districts of the troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation by military aviation, as well as by road and rail transport,” Gribakin told.
According to him, the exercises are aimed at testing the readiness of the troops to carry out the assigned tasks, as well as increasing the professional level of training of personnel, and developing the coherence of the departments.
Russian National Guard: Strong Shield Against Any Threats
When Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced on April 5, 2016, the creation of the National Guard, it was explained that the new system would be engaged in the fight against terrorism and organized crime, that is, it would continue to perform the functions of units of the Internal Troops, a mobile special forces unit (OMON), and a special rapid response unit (SOBR). In accordance with the head’s order, the new federal executive authority reports directly to the President.
The creation of the National Guard marked the unification of the work of professionals in one department, which became a base for rapid response to manifestations of terrorism, extremism, and organized crime. Among other things, the National Guard was tasked with protecting nuclear-hazardous facilities, ensuring the legal regime of the counter-terrorism operation, and protecting public order. It is also envisaged that the guard will be able to participate in the territorial defence of the country and cooperate with the border authorities of the FSB (Federal Protection Service) in the protection of the state border.
Rosgvardiya ("Russian Guard") is the central governing body of the Russian National Guard's Troops created on the basis of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and referring to state paramilitary organizations that have the right to acquire military weapons.
The basic structure of the Rosgvardiya includes: - internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; - the Special Purpose Centre of the Rapid Response and Aviation Forces; - mobile special purpose detachments; - management bodies and divisions of the Department for the Organization of Licensing and Permitting work, exercising state control over the circulation of weapons in the field of private security activities. Among the divisions of the Rosgvardiya there are also: - medical organizations; - sports committee; - cynological service; - engineering service; - scientific company.
The military formations of the Rosgvardiya are deployed in eight districts: 1) Central Orsha-Khingan Krasnoznamenny District (Moscow); 2) North-Western District of the Order of the Red Star (St. Petersburg); 3) Privolzhsky district (Nizhny Novgorod); 4) Southern District (Rostov-on-Don); 5) North Caucasian District (Pyatigorsk); 6) Ural District (Yekaterinburg); 7) Siberian District (Novosibirsk); 8) Eastern district (Khabarovsk).
The main tasks of the National Guard troops are: * maintaining the readiness of military units to perform peacetime tasks and upkeeping their combat and mobilization readiness; * ensuring public safety; * protection of important state facilities; * participation in the fight against terrorism and extremism; * participation in ensuring the regimes of the state of emergency, martial law, the legal regime of the counterterrorist operation; * participation in the territorial defence of Russia; * assistance to the FSB border authorities in the protection of the state border; * participation in repelling aggression against Russia; * organization of control over compliance with legislation in the field of arms trafficking and private security activities.
Also, by the decision of the President, formations and military units of Russia’s Armed Forces, as well as other formations and bodies may be transferred to the operational subordination of the commanders of the National Guard districts. The Internal Troops, on the basis of which the National Guard was created, did not have such an opportunity – to use the army if necessary; on the contrary, parts of the Internal Troops could be subordinate to the army, but not vice versa.
Although the Russian National Guard was created for special operations and global protection, it has a wide range of duties. Its members help police to eliminate a drug laboratory, provide civilians with assistance in house restoration after a flood, plant trees on the territory of children’s hospital, evacuate civilians from buildings on fire, bring lost people home, help traffic police to catch traffic rules violators and much more, which follows from the official reports on the Russian Guard website.
Thus, the Russian Guard deals with almost all kinds of offences and crimes, starting from minor administrative violations and up to the global threats for the country or emergency situation inside of it. That is why nowadays the armed formations are presented as ones that should maintain public order, ensure State security, and protect the country and its residents in any kind of difficult situation.
Ru-Main, 03.02.2022
Source: Interfax
