Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the creation of a new National Guard and appointed his former bodyguard and ex-chief of the country's interior troops as head of the service.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the creation of a new National Guard and appointed his former bodyguard and ex-chief of the country's interior troops as head of the service.
The new leader, Viktor Zolotov, who headed the president's security service from 2000 until 2013, will report directly to Putin.
The Moscow Times informs the National Guard will take over the forces and functions of Russia's elite riot police units — known in the country by their acronyms OMON and SOBR — among other Interior Ministry units, according to Putin's decree establishing the service earlier Tuesday.
"We are establishing the National Guard, which will be involved in fighting terrorism, organized crime, which will, in close contact with the Interior Ministry, keep performing the functions that units of OMON [special-purpose police detachment], SOBR [Special Rapid Deployment Force] etc. performed," Vladimir Putin said.
According to BBC, the creation of a National Guard has been talked about for years. Mr Peskov said he "could not explain" the timing but denied it had anything to do with upcoming elections or any mistrust of other law-enforcement agencies.
