Internal Troops (Russia) - History

History

On 28 July 1988 the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree “On duties and rights of the Internal Troops of the USSR MVD when safeguarding public order”, clarifying its role in the cracking USSR. However, the Internal Troops were still a part of the Armed Forces and this state of affairs pleased no one. The Armed Forces did not want to be seen as a force of internal suppression, especially after the disastrous Afghan war. The MVD was finding itself having to extinguish increasingly frequent and violent hot spots and to cope with growing and increasingly well organised and equipped criminals. For this the MVD needed more fire power. On 21 March 1989 The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to take the Internal Troops out of the Armed Forces and give them to the Interior Ministry.

Russia treated the First Chechen War as an internal matter and the MVD played the co-ordinating role for the Russian forces in the area. The Internal Troops on Chechen territory were reinforced but the MVD was not ready. Its commanders had no experience or training which would prepare them for the conflict. The deputy commander of the Internal Troops General Kavun attempted to justify the less than satisfactory performance of his troops by saying that they had only 39% of the BTR and BMP vehicles they were allocated on paper