On April 27, Russia celebrates the Day of the formation of special units of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The date for this holiday was not chosen by chance. On this day, back in 1946, by order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, a special department for the protection of laboratories and research institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences engaged in research in the field of atomic energy was created as part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate for the Protection of Important Industrial Enterprises. The full name of the holiday date is the Day of special units of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as the Day of the formation of military units for the protection of places of special work, important state facilities and escort of special cargo (MPSR, VGO and SG), abbreviated as the Day of special units.
Almost immediately after the publication of this order in 1946, five special commandant's offices were created in the Soviet Union, whose responsibility was to ensure the protection of the most important facilities related to the creation of nuclear weapons. The rank and file of these commandant's offices were extra-long-term employees, today they would be called "contract soldiers." The special units began to fulfill their duties already in August 1946, and in 1947 the number of such commandant's offices was brought to 15, since the number of objects that needed protection was constantly increasing.
Then it became clear that the commandant's offices were not enough to protect important state facilities, and on their basis they began to form special regiments and battalions. They had to deal not only with the protection of individual enterprises, research laboratories and institutions, but also the closed cities that were rapidly growing around them. The existence of some closed cities has been a state secret for several decades. For this reason, mainly due to the specifics of the activity, the activities of such units were hidden from the general public for quite a long time.
For service in the special units of the internal troops, they tried to select only the best personnel, while they were recruited not only from the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also from the border troops and various units of the army and navy of the Soviet Union. At the same time, in the work of the internal troops, the activity of special units has become one of the main directions - the reasons for this are today quite understandable and explainable. At the same time, employees of special units already in those distant times had to face serious challenges that the atomic era threw down to mankind.
In particular, they had to face a major radiation disaster, which not many people know about today. Almost everyone heard about Chernobyl, Pripyat and the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but not so many people know about the accident that occurred on September 29, 1957. In those years, this topic was not even covered in the Soviet press. At the same time, the accident at the Mayak chemical plant located in the closed city of Chelyabinsk-40 (Ozersk) became the first radiation emergency of a man-made nature in the USSR. At that time, several enterprises of the Mayak plant, a fire station, a military town, a prison colony and then an area of 23 thousand square kilometers with a population of about 270 thousand people on the territory of three regions, were in the zone of radiation contamination. This accident had its own liquidators, as well as numerous displaced persons. The consequences of that accident still affect the descendants of those who took part in the liquidation of the accident at the Maya chemical plant and honorably fulfilled their task in very difficult conditions. Subsequently, servicemen of military units for the protection of important state facilities and special cargo took part in eliminating the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where they also coped with the task set before them with honor.
Today almost everything is known about the Chernobyl disaster. Much and absolutely deservedly is said about the feat of fire brigades, who were the first to face a terrible tragedy. But one should not forget about the courage of the entire personnel of the troops and especially about the guard of the special security guard of Colonel V. Biryukov who was guarding the nuclear power plant. At the time of the explosion at the fourth power unit of the station, the sentry, ensign Ivan Shcherba, was the closest to the scene of the tragedy. It was he who first reported the incident to the guardroom and continued to serve until the end of his shift. The chief of the guard - senior warrant officer V. German immediately took all measures to alert the fire brigades and the station administration, as well as to strengthen the security of the facility.
Despite the extremely dangerous and difficult situation that developed at the nuclear power plant, especially in the first days after the explosion, none of the military personnel of the commandant's office flinched, all of them continued to carry out military service to protect the nuclear power plant and were out of order only for medical reasons. At the same time, not only the rank and file of the special units of the internal troops, but also many officers of the Department took part in the elimination of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. At various times, up to half of all officers of the Special Forces Directorate of the Internal Troops worked in the infected zone in groups of 5-10 people, recalled Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Bolakhnin.
It is worth noting that today the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation have already ceased to exist. On April 5, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the creation of Russian National Guard troops on the basis of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which became part of a new structure - the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation. That, in general, does not cancel the holiday itself, especially for those citizens who were directly associated with special units of the internal troops.
Over the years of existence of these special units, their servicemen were engaged in the protection of not only scientific research centers of the nuclear industry, but also the products of these centers. They carried the protection of nuclear power plants, factories for the production of weapons and military equipment, closed military camps, storage areas for hazardous substances, and were also involved in escorting special cargo. After the reorganization of the Internal Troops into the National Guard, these tasks still need to be addressed. Therefore, increased combat readiness, the introduction of modern technologies and equipment, the growth of the professional level of the personnel of special units that protect especially important facilities of the Russian Federation acquire special importance.
At present, such connections provide reliable protection for more than 100 various government facilities of particular importance. The employees of special units are entrusted with a very responsible mission, which is to timely prevent and suppress terrorist activities, maintain public order near the facilities they protect and ensure the safety of the country's citizens.
In modern realities, the anti-terrorist activities of such units are of particular importance. The threat of terrorist attacks on objects of particular importance is not disregarded, since such attacks can have the most dire consequences. The protection of nuclear power plants and nuclear hazardous facilities places a special responsibility on the structures protecting them. The threat of terrorist attacks at such facilities should be adequately countered by systematic work on the practical training of command and control bodies and forces designed to protect especially important facilities, as well as military units of other purposes, which are involved in their cover in the event of a threat or emergencies. In the units responsible for the protection of especially important facilities, anti-terrorist exercises are regularly held.
On this day, "Voennoye Obozreniye" congratulates everyone who gave years of their service to special units of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as those who are still engaged in the protection of special work sites, important state facilities and escorting special cargo.
