General Organization
Despite being subordinated to a civilian MVD authority, Internal Troops are a paramilitary force with centralized system of ranks, command and service. The Chief Commander and Staff of the troops report only to Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. VV units in Soviet Union were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army. Modern Troops in Russia and Ukraine are experiencing a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers are trained in both own special academies and Army's military academies.
The main kinds of Internal Troops are field units, various facility-guarding units, Special Motorized Units - riot control and patrol units which use Police uniforms and special forces like Rus. Since the 1980s, the several spetsnaz (special forces) units were created within the VV to deal with terrorism and hostage crises.
Fields units are essentially light motorized infantry, similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons.
Currently, the primary role of the Russian Internal Troops is their large-scale participation in the Second Chechen War.
Read more about this topic: Internal Troops (Russia)
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