I am often amazed at the reaction of some of our readers to any events in which our special services are mentioned. When something out of the ordinary happens, we scream with a cry about the defect of these particular special services. But when it comes to those events that are designed to improve their work, we together begin to talk about the desire of the leadership to intensify the fight against us, about the senseless waste of money, about old people and orphans, about bad roads, about villages without gas and other problems. The object of the latest outburst of this type of emotion was the Russian Guard.
Last week, "Lenta.ru" published a very informative article about Rosgvardia aviation, accompanied by a video report (https://lenta.ru/articles/2017/07/26/aviaguard/). The article is really good. It was this circumstance that became a stumbling block for some of our "fighters for the Motherland" from various "radical margins" of the political spectrum. There are many reprints on the Internet, not only in the media, but also on blogs. And, accordingly, a lot of opinions …
The Russian Guard has existed for a little over a year. Let me remind you that this special service was created on April 5, 2016 on the basis of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. A little over a year, but show me someone who doesn't know about her. Show me a person who would not have at least some opinion about the National Guard. Positive, negative, neutral. The only thing I came across in the course of preparing this material is that … people really do not know the official name of the special service.
Rosgvardia, that's all. Our wine. More precisely, the media. And the Russian Guard itself. Therefore, I am correcting this oversight. The full name of the young special service is the Federal Service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation.
But many people know the results of the last year! Paradox? No. It's just that the results of the work of the National Guard concern many of us personally. Or through people close to us, through friends and acquaintances. Let me remind you that according to official data, in 2016 the fighters of the Rosgvardia destroyed 125 militants and eliminated more than 300 camps, caches and shelters. At the same time, according to data with reference to the temporary information center of the Russian Guard, over the past year, SOBR officers conducted about 9 thousand special operations. In their course, 19 hostages were released, more than 7 thousand violators were detained. Among the detainees there were 332 armed, 281 were on the wanted list. In addition, about 1,000 firearms and over 61,000 ammunition were seized.
The article indicates the presence of a fairly solid aircraft fleet in the Rosgvardia units. But most importantly, about the planned purchases of additional aircraft. Why additional? After all, today there are 60 different air formations in the Russian Guard. From individual detachments to air regiments. And the fleet includes many types of aircraft. Only 9 types of aircraft. But there are also helicopters, drones …
Theoretically, the question is correctly posed. But only in theory. And practically? Maybe you should look at the map of the Russian Federation? View with scale bar. From Anadyr to Makhachkala. From Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. Our country is huge. And the transfer of subunits and units is a rather difficult task. But if for the army units there is (in peacetime) at least some time reserve, then for the units of the Russian Guard there is no such reserve. The terrorists leave after the execution of the terrorist act. And they disappear quickly. This is the problem.
I will now express a rather controversial idea. For some readers. However, like any citizen of the Russian Federation, I have the right to my own judgments and assessments. I believe that the Russian Guard is an anti-terrorist army. By analogy with tank and other armies, air defense and missile defense armies. Today the military component of the Russian Guard consists of 8 divisions, 21 brigades and 69 regiments. They are all very different in composition: from the protection of important state facilities to operational purposes, including artillery, engineer-sapper, training and other units. And today it also performs combat missions. Participates in hostilities.
And the enemy of the guards is not easy. These are no longer just small arms gangs. These are detachments with fairly serious weapons. Mobile with their own databases. Capable of countering lightly armed soldiers. And the places of deployment of such gangs are not simple. Mountains, woodlands, remote villages and villages. You won't be able to take them with a bang. The lives of trained fighters are, sorry for some cynicism, dear. And in the moral, and in the state, and in the material sense.
It's no secret that today, no matter how we resist, there are a lot of "problem" foreigners on our territory, and even Russian citizens. Including those with combat experience of participation in terrorist organizations in other countries. It is no secret that such people are well aware of their fate if caught. It's no secret that they usually resist to the last.
So why should we save on aviation for the Russian Guard? Don't they need aerial reconnaissance? Don't they want attack helicopters? Why throw fighters under bullets when you can destroy a gang with an airstrike? A couple of combat helicopters, that's all.
Some will now talk about the civilian population that may suffer from such strikes. Yes maybe. Moreover, even now it suffers. Simply because terrorists often use civilians as hostages. And houses, especially in mountainous areas, are often built very soundly, like mini-fortresses. However, the same helicopter can conduct targeted fire. Specifically for the detected targets. And just "squeeze" the defenders for the duration of the advance of the detachment of guards. Or destroy the prepared line of defense.
For the majority, Rosgvardia aviation still remains a means of delivering fighters to the place of their next work. By the way, for those interested, in the above-mentioned article there is not only a description, but also a video of such a helicopter operation. And this is probably correct. Again, because of the size of our country. After all, other functions are included in the sphere of interests of this special service. The fight against terrorism is only part, albeit the most visible. But there is also the protection of objects. There is public order protection. There is help in eliminating the consequences of disasters of any nature.
In general, I understand very well what caused the interest in this topic on the part of the opposition and radicals. They started the election race long ago. Despite the fact that most people do not yet think about the upcoming elections, the fight for our minds is already underway. And in this struggle, all means are good. I am sure that there are already comments about the Rosgvardia as an understudy of the FSB (after all, it is true that some of the functions of both special services coincide). I am sure that experts from the "liberal" camp are already writing about the "new NKVD".
All this fuss doesn't really interest me. Just because the road is a spoon for dinner. And oh, how far is it before "lunch". Yes, and you and I are no longer the same romantics that we were in the early 90s. The famous "vote with your heart" is no longer impressive. We understand that the brain is still in the head. But what the Russian Guard has done over the past year, and what has been done for the current year, is impressive.
Therefore, I have two questions. One on the topic of the article. Why isn't a really belligerent structure armed and equipped on demand? Everything you need should be given first. Not much is needed. Do you need aviation? Receive. Even to the detriment of the army. Looking for armored vehicles? Receive. The defense industry complex today can increase output by a certain number of units. With the ever increasing its armed capabilities, terrorism also needs more and more opportunities for the forces opposing it.
The federal service of the troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation must be developed and supported in every possible way. As practice shows, international terrorism today is no longer particularly afraid of weakly armed police units. Even participants in illegal rallies, meetings, marches are not particularly afraid of the guards and police in the cordon. And why? I remember the old film "Born by the Revolution". There was an episode that answers this question. Remember how the new criminal investigation department in St. Petersburg defended the embassy? And the reaction of the attackers to the arrival of the sailors? Imagine that there will be pros with "square shoulders" and the appropriate equipment in place of a police officer. Will the boys from the "bulk" opposition go after these guys? I doubt. And what if there are other special equipment behind the backs of the guards, as in Europe or the United States?
And the second question concerns specific fighters. However, I do not know for sure, maybe it has already been resolved. I think readers who are associated with this structure will correct or confirm. So, some units of the guardsmen are involved in real hostilities. This means that they should have a preferential accrual of length of service and other benefits. Are they in the Russian Guard? And we do not need to "make surprised faces." Fu, the author, spoke about the material. Yes, he spoke. Because it is important for a particular soldier and officer. This is important for their family and friends.
And further. As a proposal for the National Guard. I once became interested in the color of berets from the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Many people remember the name of this color - maroon. But for the first time this color appeared in the Russian Empire to distinguish the ranks of a separate corps of internal guards in 1829! True, these were edging, not berets. And the inner guard itself was created by decrees of Alexander I in 1811. Many functions of the internal guard and the National Guard coincide … Why be ashamed of your history?
Maybe it is worth considering the issue of the National Guard from this point of view? And consider the moment of creation not April 5, 2016, but still 1811? The question, of course, is not particularly relevant today. But from the point of view of the continuity of generations, it is important.
To be honest, while writing this article, in the course of working with documents, in conversations with people, a lot became clear even for me. And the questions that are touched upon here, in many respects, arose already in the course of thinking about this topic. Probably, it should have happened. In general, the successes of the National Guard, even with all the problems of formation and support, are impressive. Well done guards …
