as an effort to enhance efficiency and to avoid duplication of responsibilities within the Russian security system,[5] a result of the large amount of strategic challenges faced by Russia.

It would use personnel and resources belonging to the Russian Airborne Troops, Air Force, Navy and Military Police, as well as elements of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations.

[15] On 6 April 2016, Putin submitted a draft framework law for this new executive body titled "On the Russian National Guard Troops" to the State Duma, along with its corresponding amendments[16] that contain a provision for the protection of pregnant women, children, disabled persons and crowds, which mirrored the limitations already in place in the Russian legislation concerning police work:[17] It shall be prohibited to use firearms against women with the visible signs of pregnancy, people with the apparent signs of disability and underage persons, except for the cases when such persons put up armed resistance, make an assault involving a group of attackers or commit another attack threatening the life and health of citizens or a National Guard serviceman, and it shall also be prohibited to use firearms at largely crowded places, if their use may casually hurt people.

[21][22] Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the National Guard started operations before the legal basis for its work was actually finalized.

[24] In February 2021, it was noticed that the National Guard had been used to silence pro-Navalny protests in an attempt by the Putin regime "to fend off threats to its political monopoly at any cost.

"[26] In late July 2021, the National Guard staged their first-ever operational-strategic exercise simultaneously in every Russian federal district except the North Caucasian.

[28] Early in January and February 2022, there were reports of National Guard detachments moving to the Russia–Ukraine border and Belarus, joining the supposed "training exercise" going on during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis.

[29][30] When Russian forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February, National Guardsmen moved into Ukrainian territory, establishing themselves in occupied cities and towns reportedly for the purpose suppressing local hostile population.

"[42] On 6 June, President Putin ordered a 5 million ruble life insurance benefit payment to the families of National Guardsmen who died in Ukraine.

[46] On 13 November 2023, it was reported that four former inmates who fought for the Wagner Group in eastern Ukraine had been receiving calls and text messages offering them military contracts.

[16][50] However, according to the draft presidential decree, the National Guard was expected to get the right to interact with competent bodies of other countries, including for training relationships.

[52] Early in January and February 2022, there were reports of National Guard detachments moving to the Russia–Ukraine border and Belarus, joining the supposed "training exercise" during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis.

[29][30] When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, National Guard troops started to move into Ukrainian territory, establishing themselves in occupied cities and towns, reportedly for suppressing local hostile population.

[53] While in the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka, National Guard forces attempted to disperse a rally by using sting ball grenades and firing into the crowd with rubber bullets, resulting in one death.

[36] Chechen "Kadyrovite" troops nominally under the National Guard deployed in combat roles in Ukraine, fighting in the Kyiv offensive and the Siege of Mariupol, intended as a "psychological weapon against Ukrainians" and a vanguard force.

[35] Mikhail Afanasyev, the chief editor of Novy Fokus in the Russian region of Khakassia, was arrested in April 2022 because the authorities disliked his report on the Krasnodar refuseniks.

[64] On 27 May, it came to light that 115 guardsmen from Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian republic, had similar difficulties with foreign engagements because they were hired only to police domestic troubles and did not have military training.

The lawsuit was dismissed after the judge determined that the soldiers had been rightfully fired for "refusing to perform an official assignment" to fight in Ukraine and instead returned to a duty station.

[48] According to the establishing law, National Guard troops exercise their activity on the basis of the principles of legality, the observance of the rights and freedoms of an individual and a citizen, single authority, and centralized control.

[citation needed] In a major overhaul of Russia's security agencies,[75] the National Guard which will include Interior Ministry troops, servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, and, as proposed in 2012, Ministry of Emergency Situations personnel such as fire fighters and rescue workers consisting of both conscripts and contract personnel[citation needed] and will take over functions previously managed by the OMON riot police and SOBR rapid-reaction forces.

[80] According to the official website, other top positions include those of Commander of the Troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, held in 2016 by Oleg Borukayev and Sergei Yerygin.

[81] As of January 2022, the current organizational leadership consists of:[82] According to Sergey Sukhankin of the Jamestown Foundation, the National Guard includes a special cyber security and intelligence unit tasked with monitoring and analyzing online social networks.

[93] The establishment of the Russian Federal National Guard Service triggered several domestic and international reactions and assessments, with attempts to interpret and explain the move, ranging from power games[94] to plans to prevent colour revolutions.

[95] On the other hand, Communist MP Vyacheslav Tetekin said that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does see a link between the move and the bad conditions of the Russian economy;[20] according to Tetekin, assigning all combat units to a separate structure would critically weaken the Interior Ministry and that assigning to the National Guard the task to license private security firms had nothing to do with countering terrorism and extremism.

[citation needed] With the timing of President Putin's creation of this National Guard force coming ahead of the 2016 parliamentary election to the State Duma in Russia and crashing oil prices, Pavel Felgengauer, an independent military analyst based in Moscow, said this new force is "a kind of Praetorian Guard to deal with the internal enemy" and further stated "It reminds me of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

"[76] Konstantin Gaaze,[97] a Moscow-based political analyst and journalist with the Carnegie Moscow Center, said this new force was "linked to the election cycle" and that "Putin wants to make sure the situation that took place on the Maidan, in Ukraine, won't happen in Russia.

"[94] Ella Paneyakh,[98] senior researcher for the Department of Political science and Sociology at the European University at Saint Petersburg, said that this new National Guard force was not just another law enforcement agency, but another army that had the right to conduct military operations against the country's citizens.

[67] According to Roger McDermott of The Jamestown Foundation, the National Guard was established in order to counter future colour revolutions and to link foreign and domestic threat assessments as part of a seamless web.

McDermott links the origins of the corps to experience acquired during internal crises and power games among key actors in the 1990s,[5] as well as to future colour revolutions abroad, especially close to the Russian borders and in Middle East.

[67] According to former Federal Security Service Director and Russian Parliament Member Nikolai Kovalyov, the establishment of the National Guard was important amid NATO's eastward expansion.