Russian creates National Guard

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Interior Ministry Troops Commander Viktor Zolotov, Federal Drug Control Service Director Viktor Ivanov and Federal Migration Service First Deputy Director Yekaterina Yegorova. He announces the creation of the National Guard on the basis of the Interior Ministry Troops.

«As you know, we have been actively discussing issues related to improving the work of law enforcement agencies and their national security component, and we have considered and thought about ways of improving this work in all areas, including the fight against terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking. In this context, many considerations and opinions have been put forward, and we actively discussed them at the level of the Security Council, including quite recently. Decisions have been made. We are creating a new federal executive government body on the basis of the Interior Ministry Troops. We are creating a National Guard, which will fight terrorism and organised crime and, in close contact with the Interior Ministry, will continue to perform the functions that were previously performed by Special Purpose Police units, Special Rapid Response units, and so on. We will formalise this – as we discussed with the Interior Minister [Vladimir Kolokoltsev] – not only in an executive order, but also in forthcoming federal legislation so that there is no misunderstanding and so that everything works smoothly and efficiently. Again, I hope that National Guard troops will carry out their missions as effectively as has been the case until now and that they will intensify their efforts in those areas that are considered to be priorities», - Putin said.