Putin creates the National Guard, a new security unit
The body is outside the interior ministry and reports directly to the President. It is formed by troops of the Interior Ministry, anti-riot police and 'swat' teams. Officially it is tasked with countering terrorism and drug trafficking, but according to experts it will be a "praetorian force" aimed at suppressing protests and possible control of the elite.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - On April 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a new security body, the National Guard, which will have the task of combating terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime but also, as the Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has clarified, unauthorized protests.
In a meeting with the Interior Minister, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, and others responsible for the national security Putin explained that the new force will be born from the merger of the troops of the Interior with the anti-riot police (OMON) and the emergency teams (SOBR). A as explained by the head of the Kremlin, the agency for the fight against drugs (FSKN) and Immigration Service (FMS) will also be incorporated into the structure of the Ministry of Interior.
The Russian president has not provided any information on the size of the National Guard, nor on how it will coordinate with the secret services, the FSB (the former KGB). The new body - headed by former head of the presidential guard and deputy interior minister, Viktor Zolotov - reports directly to the Russian president, and has special powers for the exercise of its function, which according to experts, it has in common with the FSB , of which Putin himself was once a member.
According to analysts, the new organization will have the task of coping with the risk of riots triggered by the economic crisis that Russia is facing, also in view of the September parliamentary elections. Speaking to press Peskov explained that the National Guard can participate "in efforts to ensure public order, for the maintenance of public safety and emergency management", but ruled that his institution is in no way linked to the upcoming referendums and then to presidential of 2018.
According to some experts, the move effectively resizes the group of so-called 'siloviki' (strongmen: intelligence and security services). According to the Kremlin spokesman, however, there is no crisis of confidence in this regard.
The American expert Mark Galeotti, who specializes in the Russian security services, believes that the National Guard will become "a powerful paramilitary security force with elements throughout the country." While adding that he will only be able to make a more detailed analysis after the new units enter service, Galeotti noted that "there was no real reason to create this body (which was discussed in 2012) outside the Interior Ministry troops, if not that those in power are seriously concerned about public disorder ".
According to the expert, the new unit will be a real "public security force", a sort of "praetorian force" headed by a Putin loyalist, Zolotov, who will be responsible not only for controlling the masses but also the elite.
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07/02/2019 17:28
13/02/2019 11:45
