Internal Troops
Encyclopedia
The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs
(MVD) ; alternatively translated as "Interior (Troops or Forces)" is a paramilitary gendarmerie
-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union
and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia
, Ukraine
, Georgia
and Azerbaijan. Internal Troops are subordinated to the Internal Affairs Ministries (police
) of the respective countries. They are used to support and reinforce the Militsiya
, deal with large-scale crowd control
, internal armed conflicts, prison
security (except in Russia) and safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plant
s). As such, the force was and is involved in all conflicts and violent disturbances in the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia, including Stalin's mass deportations, imprisonments and executions and the First
and Second Chechen War
s.
During wartime
, the Internal Troops falls under Armed Forces
military command and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security.
merged the regional military companies present in every Russian gubernia (administrative region) into battalions of Internal Guards.
The Soviet Internal Troops were formed in 1919 under the Cheka
(later NKVD
, and were known as "NKVD Troops"), remained there with all the mergers and splittings of Soviet state security
services and ended up under the control of the police
-like MVD.
The most well-known of the Internal Troops divisions is OMSDON based near Moscow
which traces its roots to the "OSNAZ
" detachment of the VChK (formerly 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment of the VTsIK). It was later reorganized into the DON (Special-Purpose Division) of the OGPU and the NKVD.
, most units of the NKVD Internal Troops were engaged alongside Red Army
forces against Axis
troops. They participated in the defense of Moscow
, Leningrad
, the Brest Fortress
, Kiev
, Odessa
, Voronezh
, Stalingrad, the North Caucasus
and were heavily engaged during the battle of Kursk
.
Typically, NKVD Internal Troops were defensive in nature, although they played a particularly instrumental role during the defence of Moscow
, Leningrad and Stalingrad where they experienced heavy losses. Large VV 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 defended by the 156th NKVD regiment in 1941.
Altogether, more than 53 Internal Troops divisions and 20 Internal Troops brigades were on active duty during the war. 18 units were awarded battle honors (military decoration
s 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, 295 servicemen were awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union
" title.
in the Baltic states
(such as the Forest Brothers
) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
With the beginning of the Krushchev era and de-Stalinisation, Internal Troops became significantly reduced in size, but retained their pre-war functions.
After the Chernobyl disaster
in 1986, Internal Troops units were among liquidator
s, engaged in security and emergency management activities. Hundreds of servicemen were exposed to heavy radiation, and dozens died.
In the 1990s, Internal Troops became engaged in the ethnic conflicts that occurred during the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
, experiencing significant losses. Such engagements started with the 1989 violent incident in Tbilisi when VV servicemen used entrenching shovels to decimate a crowd of unarmed civilians. Dozens of protesters were killed and injured in the incident.
Prior to the 1990s, there were 180 regiments (of varying size) of interior troops, of which 90 were mainly guards of correctional institutions, important public facilities and public order.
After the fall of Soviet Union, local Internal Troops units were resubordinated to the respective new independent states, except for the three Baltic countries. Azerbaijan (Internal Troops of Azerbaijan), Kazakhstan (see Military of Kazakhstan#Ground forces), the Russian Federation (Internal Troops (Russia)
), and Ukraine
, in the form of the Internal Troops (Ukraine) retained the name, organization and tasks of their Internal Troops. Up until December 2002, Armenia maintained a Ministry of Internal Affairs, but along with the Ministry of National Security, it was reorganised as a non-ministrial institution. The two organisations became the Police of the Republic of Armenia and the National Security Service.
authority, Internal Troops are a military force with centralized system of rank
s, command and service. The Chief Commander and Staff of the troops report only to Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. VV units in Soviet Union
were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army
. Modern Troops in Russia
and Ukraine
are experiencing a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers are trained in both own special academies and Army's military academies.
The main kinds of Internal Troops are field units, prison
security units, various facility-guarding units and special forces
like Rus
. Since the 1980s, the several special forces
units that developed within the VV, were created to deal with terrorism
and hostage crises
.
Fields units are essentially light motorized infantry, similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons.
Soviet prison security units were originally consisting of the units that guard the perimeters of the prisons, and the prisoner transport teams (actually konvoi, literally "convoy
"). In post-Soviet countries, some or all of the prison-related tasks were transferred to other agencies.
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del is the interior ministry of Russia. Its predecessor was founded in 1802 by Alexander I in Imperial Russia...
(MVD) ; alternatively translated as "Interior (Troops or Forces)" is a paramilitary gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Azerbaijan. Internal Troops are subordinated to the Internal Affairs Ministries (police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
) of the respective countries. They are used to support and reinforce the Militsiya
Militsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
, deal with large-scale crowd control
Crowd control
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
, internal armed conflicts, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
security (except in Russia) and safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s). As such, the force was and is involved in all conflicts and violent disturbances in the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia, including Stalin's mass deportations, imprisonments and executions and the First
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
s.
During wartime
Wartime
The term wartime could refer to:* Wartime, Saskatchewan, a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada.* Wartime Station, Saskatchewan, a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada.* A formal state of war, as opposed to peacetime...
, the Internal Troops falls under Armed Forces
Armed Forces
Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the U.S. by Columbia in 1979...
military command and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security.
History of the Soviet Internal Troops
The history of the Internal Troops can be traced back to March 27, 1811, when Emperor Alexander IAlexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
merged the regional military companies present in every Russian gubernia (administrative region) into battalions of Internal Guards.
The Soviet Internal Troops were formed in 1919 under the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
(later NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, and were known as "NKVD Troops"), remained there with all the mergers and splittings of Soviet state security
State Security
State Security can refer to:* general concepts of security agency or national security* Committee for State Security * State Security * State Security...
services and ended up under the control of the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
-like MVD.
The most well-known of the Internal Troops divisions is OMSDON based near Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
which traces its roots to the "OSNAZ
OSNAZ
For Russian special purpose forces in general see: spetsnazThe Dzerzhinsky Division is a internal security division of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and then the Russian Federation.-USSR:...
" detachment of the VChK (formerly 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment of the VTsIK). It was later reorganized into the DON (Special-Purpose Division) of the OGPU and the NKVD.
World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, most units of the NKVD Internal Troops were engaged alongside Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
forces against Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
troops. They participated in the defense of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, the Brest Fortress
Hero-Fortress
Hero-Fortress is the honorary title awarded to the Soviet Brest Fortress, now in Brest, Belarus in 1965 for the defence of the frontier stronghold during the very first weeks of the German-Soviet War of 1941 to 1945...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
, Stalingrad, the North Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and were heavily engaged during the battle of Kursk
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
.
Typically, NKVD Internal Troops were defensive in nature, although they played a particularly instrumental role during the defence of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
, Leningrad and Stalingrad where they experienced heavy losses. Large VV 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 defended by the 156th NKVD regiment in 1941.
Altogether, more than 53 Internal Troops divisions and 20 Internal Troops brigades were on active duty during the war. 18 units were awarded battle honors (military decoration
Military decoration
A military decoration is a decoration given to military personnel or units for heroism in battle or distinguished service. They are designed to be worn on military uniform....
s or honorary titles
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
). 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, 295 servicemen were awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
" title.
Post-war Soviet Union
After the war's end, Internal Troops played an important role in fighting local anti-Soviet guerrillasGuerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
in the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
(such as the Forest Brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
With the beginning of the Krushchev era and de-Stalinisation, Internal Troops became significantly reduced in size, but retained their pre-war functions.
After the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986, Internal Troops units were among liquidator
Liquidator (Chernobyl)
Liquidators , or "clean-up workers", is the name given in the former USSR to people who were called upon to work in efforts to deal with consequences of the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl disaster on the site of the event...
s, engaged in security and emergency management activities. Hundreds of servicemen were exposed to heavy radiation, and dozens died.
In the 1990s, Internal Troops became engaged in the ethnic conflicts that occurred during the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, experiencing significant losses. Such engagements started with the 1989 violent incident in Tbilisi when VV servicemen used entrenching shovels to decimate a crowd of unarmed civilians. Dozens of protesters were killed and injured in the incident.
Prior to the 1990s, there were 180 regiments (of varying size) of interior troops, of which 90 were mainly guards of correctional institutions, important public facilities and public order.
After the fall of Soviet Union, local Internal Troops units were resubordinated to the respective new independent states, except for the three Baltic countries. Azerbaijan (Internal Troops of Azerbaijan), Kazakhstan (see Military of Kazakhstan#Ground forces), the Russian Federation (Internal Troops (Russia)
Internal Troops (Russia)
Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs is a paramilitary national guard like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia and Ukraine. Internal Troops are subordinated to Internal Affairs Ministries of the...
), and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, in the form of the Internal Troops (Ukraine) retained the name, organization and tasks of their Internal Troops. Up until December 2002, Armenia maintained a Ministry of Internal Affairs, but along with the Ministry of National Security, it was reorganised as a non-ministrial institution. The two organisations became the Police of the Republic of Armenia and the National Security Service.
General organization
Despite being subordinated to a civilian militsiyaMilitsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
authority, Internal Troops are a military force with centralized system of rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
s, command and service. The Chief Commander and Staff of the troops report only to Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. VV units in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
. Modern Troops in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
are experiencing a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers are trained in both own special academies and Army's military academies.
The main kinds of Internal Troops are field units, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
security units, various facility-guarding units and special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
like Rus
Rus (special forces)
Rus was a special forces unit of the Interior Troops , of the interior ministry of the Russian Federation. It was a unit in the Independent Operative Purpose Division .Rus was created on August 1, 1994...
. Since the 1980s, the several special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
units that developed within the VV, were created to deal with terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and hostage crises
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
.
Fields units are essentially light motorized infantry, similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons.
Soviet prison security units were originally consisting of the units that guard the perimeters of the prisons, and the prisoner transport teams (actually konvoi, literally "convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
"). In post-Soviet countries, some or all of the prison-related tasks were transferred to other agencies.
See also
- Special Corps of GendarmesSpecial Corps of GendarmesThe Special Corps of Gendarmes was the uniformed security police of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement and state security....
- Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego
- Awards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaAwards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RussiaKnown internationally as the MVD, The Ministry of Internal Affairs of The Russian Federation encompasses all militia forces, Interior Troops and the State Migratory Service. It has its own ministerial awards system subordinate to state awards...
- Awards and Emblems of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationAwards and Emblems of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationThe Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has its own complex system of awards. This not only includes awards common to all the Armed Forces but also service specific and departmental awards...
Further reading
- László Békési, György Török: KGB and Soviet Security Uniforms and Militaria 1917-1991 in Colour Photographs, Ramsbury (UK), 2002, ISBN 1861265115.
External links
- Russian Internal Troops official website (in Russian)
- Unofficial site (in Russian)
- MVD information Service (in Russian)
- Bratishka magazine (in Russian)
- Redstar (in Russian)
- TV Zvezda site (in Russian)