When will the riot police and special forces be transferred to the guard? “riot police is a diagnosis”: the underside of service in a special forces detachment

The Russian Guard has been plagued by failures since its founding (April 2016). The idea of ​​Russian President Vladimir Putin was that the new law enforcement agency would become an effective structure that could professionally solve law enforcement problems and carry out operations to neutralize bandits and terrorists.

To this end, a three-stage program for the formation of the Russian Guard was approved, which includes the settlement of legislative and bureaucratic delays, the establishment of military groups and the transfer of riot police and special forces to military service. The deadline for the second stage was supposed to be August 31, 2017, the third - January 31, 2018.

Broken reform

However, from yesterday’s speech in the Federation Council by the director of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov, it is completely unclear at what stage the process of creating the department is. Vladimir Putin's former security guard complained about the presence in the legislation of the Russian Federation of many unclear formulations, which, in particular, prevent the Russian Guard from regulating security activities and monitoring the circulation of weapons.

At the same time, standing on the podium in front of the senators, Zolotov spoke about the achievements that his department can boast of. This is a common practice for any leader to report, but the case with the Russian Guard is special. Zolotov actually admitted the failure of the plan to transfer riot police and Sobrov officers to military service. According to him, the completion of this procedure has been postponed to 2019.

As Russian Planet wrote earlier, the purpose of including riot police and SOBR in the National Guard is to unify police units and special forces of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “Guardsmen” are required to pass certain standards in order to obtain the status of military personnel. Ideally, riot police and SOBR officers should improve their combat skills and physical fitness. In return, they will receive the same privileges as contract workers, in the form of various social benefits.

“Perhaps, with the global events that will be held in 2018, the timing of the transfer of members of the special forces detachments of riot police, special forces and aviation units will be postponed to the second half of 2018 or the beginning of 2019. This is only due to the fact that we do not see funding for these tasks,” said First Deputy Director of the Russian Guard Sergei Melikov.

Zolotov expressed himself more specifically: “Unfortunately, we will not resolve this issue in 2018. We will have presidential elections Russian Federation, as well as the FIFA World Cup. It also comes with a lot of funding for this event.” Zolotov stated that the department is forced to exist on the budget of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is not enough to complete all assigned tasks on time.

Thus, the leaders of the Russian Guard attribute the delay in completing the final stage of the formation of the department to a lack of funding. “By decision of the Security Council, these deadlines were approved during 2018. Today, when considering the budget, we see that the Ministry of Finance cash for troops National Guard are not allocated for this task,” Melikov explained .

The deputy head of the Russian Guard said that this issue would soon be discussed with the participation of the president. According to him, “the parameters for implementing the Security Council decision will be clarified. But our position is unshakable - we must transfer these people to military service, raising them social status».

Negligence as the norm

The complaints of the leaders of the Russian Guard have a real basis. At a meeting of the Federation Council, senator from the Orenburg region Andrei Shevchenko asked Zolotov about the regiment that was planned to be stationed in the region. The director of the department reminded the member of the Federation Council that about 5 billion rubles need to be allocated for the creation of infrastructure, but no money is provided for this purpose in the budget.

A professional soldier costs the Russian budget at least two million rubles a year. The Defender of the Fatherland demands a decent salary, benefits in the form of a military mortgage and sanatorium treatment, uniforms and equipment, which costs several hundred thousand rubles. And this is not a complete list of expenses for maintaining personnel. Naturally, the budget of the Internal Troops does not allow the transfer of all OMON and SOBR officers to military service.

But why did this problem come to light only now, when there are three months left before the completion of the final stage? After all, it was initially clear that the reform launched in April 2016 would require additional funding?

However, the situation with the professionalism and discipline of the “guards” may be much worse. At the moment when Zolotov spoke in the Federation Council, news about another tragedy appeared. On October 23, in a unit of the 46th Brigade of the Order of Zhukov in the village of Shelkovskaya (Chechnya), senior lieutenant Marat Gadzhiev opened fire on his colleagues. The native of Dagestan killed four people: a platoon commander and three privates.

According to Kommersant, Gadzhiev was upset by the dismissal and, after refueling with alcohol, started shooting with a submachine gun. The incident testifies not only to the unsatisfactory moral qualities of the fighters of the Russian Guard, but also to the illiterate policy of recruiting units, which may have become the root cause of the tragedy.

It is no secret that in Russia (with rare exceptions) it is not customary to form units consisting of natives of the North Caucasus, and also to send the same Dagestanis to serve in neighboring republics. Relations between representatives of Dagestan and Chechnya have always been very tense and in the 1990s escalated into open clashes.

However, Gadzhiev was sent to serve in the 46th brigade, which was formed in February 2000 to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. Now the soldiers are on duty to preserve the world won with blood. It is not reported what the senior lieutenant was guilty of. The most unsightly version that arises in the mind is a conflict with local Chechens or colleagues of a different nationality.

The level of combat training of personnel is also in question. On the night of March 24, unarmed people freely entered the part of the Russian Guard, which is located in the Naursky district of Chechnya, according to “ Novaya Gazeta"and RBC, local residents. The Chechens, who were registered as Wahhabi, stabbed to death two sleeping servicemen and took possession of machine guns. As a result of the shootout, four “guardsmen” were killed.

On June 10, in the village of Kratovo near Moscow, about 200 employees of the Russian Guard and police were unable to neutralize Igor Zenkov, who had drunk too much, for six hours. Armed with a Saiga and grenades, the man sent four civilians to the next world, and three of them died due to the fact that the security forces were unable to evacuate them.

Since April 2016, more than ten outrageous incidents have been publicly disclosed, indicating the fatal negligence and illiteracy of Rosgvardia employees. The soldiers themselves and innocent citizens are dying an absurd death. Of course, it is wrong to label all employees of the new law enforcement agency, but regularly recurring tragedies require a fundamental solution.

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The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs planned to reassign 2.5 thousand former special forces soldiers to the abolished Federal service for drug control "Grom" to police chiefs in regional headquarters, essentially turning them into an analogue of the SOBR transferred to the Russian Guard. However, the idea was criticized by Vladimir Putin. Now the fate of the special forces soldiers is again in question, says Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor in the security forces.

Speaking at the extended board on March 9, he spoke about the meeting with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “in an informal setting,” which took place the weekend before. According to Putin, official issues were also discussed, “including interaction with the Russian Guard.”

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs still has its own, so-called, security forces, designed to ensure operational activities, but a significant amount of work is still carried out by the Russian Guard.

I would really like this interaction to continue, but we would not see the growth of this power component. And under no circumstances do we need...” the president said.

“...the creation of a second National Guard,” Kolokoltsev finished his thoughts for the head of state.

“Yes, we don’t need the creation of a second internal troops, a second National Guard, but we need good interaction, the way it has always been. I don’t see any reason for there to be any disruptions,” Putin confirmed, adding that he sees no disruptions yet and expects that “it will continue to be like this.”

The President once again recalled the transformations to transfer the structures of the Federal Drug Control Service and the Federal Migration Service to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the internal troops, riot police and special forces units from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the created National Guard. According to Putin, this reform was “virtually painless for the relevant areas of work, and this, of course, is a great merit both to the management and personnel of the relevant units, and to the ministry as a whole.”

According to the presidential decree of April 5, 2016, the staff of the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) is transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Among others, the presidential decree did not mention the special forces and investigative units.

The latter could not remain in the anti-drug headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, since the police investigation was separated into a separate department, and the special forces of the drug police could no longer be placed in the riot police and special forces, which were generally transferred from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the National Guard created by a parallel decree.

At the same time, the document stated that all FSKN employees who wished to do so would be able to continue serving in the Ministry of Internal Affairs while maintaining their special ranks.

In December it became known that special forces were not included in the Russian Guard. This was discussed, in particular, by the head of the department of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops for Tatarstan. According to him, a special rapid response detachment, Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny mobile special purpose detachments, a special purpose aviation detachment, units of the Private Security Administration and the Center for Licensing and Permitting Work - a total of 3 thousand people - were transferred to the department from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“The Thunder unit was not included in the Russian Guard. We do not have any restrictions on hiring special forces officers who previously worked in state drug control agencies. Anyone can serve in the Russian Guard on a general basis,” Gumerov noted.

Already in January, reports appeared about the creation of special forces units “Grom” in the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, within the framework of the drug control department. For example, the head of the Chelyabinsk Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced this at a press conference on January 26.

“When working to suppress the spread of drugs, efficiency and speed of response are often important. And this activity will be much more effective if the relevant management has an appropriate structure. Therefore, we are creating “Thunder,” Sergeev was quoted as saying

At the same time, the publication called the unit “an analogue of the SOBR transferred to the Russian Guard.” “Bailiffs and border guards have special force cover and rapid response units. However, the police lost them,” the publication said.

According to a source from Gazeta.Ru, a similar situation has developed in all regions. Moreover, the Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev ordered to increase the number of “Grom” in Moscow and the Moscow region by 65 and 60 fighters, respectively, “at the expense of the minister’s personal reserve.”

“A third of the employees of the department for combating drug trafficking in the Moscow region are special forces. At the same time, other units should turn to the Russian Guard for force support during arrests,” the interlocutor says.

In practice, “Grom” fighters have already been involved in security measures outside the framework of ensuring the activities of the anti-drug units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, continues the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru.

For example, the chief of police of the Belgorod department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Zhigailo, at a press conference at the end of January, directly told reporters that the regional headquarters left “Grom” in its structure “to solve problems in a difficult operational situation.”

“At the request of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, we were supported taking into account the border situation, and a special unit “Grom” was created, whose employees are ready to carry out tasks of detaining armed criminals in the fight against drug trafficking. This is a unit that is physically, morally, and technically ready to carry out any operational and combat missions,” Zhigailo told local media. — The functions of the National Guard are mainly related to the fight against terrorism and extremism. Our unit will perform functions in the region, participate in the detention of armed criminals, gangs in the fight against drug trafficking and in solving some other tasks.”

According to him, now “Grom” remains in the structure of the anti-drug police department, but its number has been doubled, and the unit will be involved “in situations where there is a threat to police officers.”

After the president’s words at the last board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at least the preparation of an order on the subordination of “Grom” directly to regional police chiefs, and not to anti-drug departments, will be suspended, says Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor. In his opinion, perhaps the Ministry of Internal Affairs should have defended the retention of SOBR in the department with the transfer of OMON to the Russian Guard at the stage of preparation of the reform, but now it will have to come to terms with the coordination of all law enforcement operations with the guardsmen.

After the merger of OMON and SOBR, previously part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the Russian Guard, some employees expressed dissatisfaction. This was reported by Gazeta.ru with reference to an appeal from one of the officers of the Ryazan SOBR to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov.

The author of the appeal complained that after the merger of the structure with the Russian Guard, there was more “paper bureaucracy” in the SOBR, and “additional approvals through fifth hands” appeared when working with operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “What kind of efficiency can we talk about when, not so long ago, being in the composition criminal police, we left 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,” he writes.

Riot police officer from Sverdlovsk region explained that if an operative calls for reinforcements to carry out a special task, then he needs to write a statement addressed to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the region. After it is signed, the head of the operative’s department must visit the territorial department of the Russian Guard, “where you have to sit in line at the reception for a person from the internal troops, who may not know all the specifics of the work of the riot police.”

In addition, according to him, with the transfer to the Russian Guard, janitors and cleaners disappeared from the unit. The author of the appeal said that SOBR soldiers are “forced to clean up the territory” instead of combat training.

The publication emphasizes that this is not the only appeal to Zolotov. Thus, another OMON officer wrote that “combat training is conducted on paper.” He emphasized that the service is conducted on the principle of the internal troops, on the basis of which the Russian Guard was created. “All the best that has been developed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is cut off and not accepted,” he points out. The author of the appeal says that during a business trip to North Caucasus riot police officers lived in tents of 15-20 people. Basic living conditions were not met, he writes.

The Central Command of the Russian Guard told the publication that the department “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.” “Comprehensive internal checks” have already been carried out on them. The command met with a SOBR officer from Ryazan and “discussed all the facts in a calm atmosphere,” the command’s press service clarified. The press service reported that departments will appoint workers responsible for cleaning the area.

Regarding the second appeal, the Russian Guard said that the author of the letter to Zolotov is not a riot police officer.

An OMON officer from the Sverdlovsk region indicated that some members of the unit went to the Grom detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The detachment, created to provide force support to operational services, appeared in the police after the Federal Drug Control Service was disbanded. The special forces soldier emphasized that because of this, only young fighters can remain in the riot police, “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.”

Another source of the publication familiar with the situation said that in the coming year, riot police and SOBR fighters will become military personnel; now they carry special ranks of police officers. According to him, this is one of the reasons for the conflict between departments.

In mid-September, the head of the main personnel department of the Russian Guard, Major General Viktor Matsyuk, said that the unit’s troops were completing the second stage of formation and two new districts would be opened in Rostov-on-Don and Pyatigorsk in the near future. The formation of the Russian Guard will be completed next year.

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 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 soldiers conscript service. 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 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 checks were carried out addressed to the director of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation,” the press service stated.

With a SOBR officer from Ryazan command Central District National Guard troops held a meeting 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, 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 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.

Special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs encountered similar problems in other regions 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.

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 being 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 Department of the FSB of Russia has been actively checking for corruption of mid-level police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs at various 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.