| mil. | internal troops | внутренние войска (The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (Russian: Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviated VV); alternatively translated as "Interior (Troops or Forces)" is a paramilitary gendarmerie-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Internal Troops are subordinated to the Internal Affairs Ministries (police) of the respective countries. They are used to support and reinforce the Militsiya, deal with large-scale crowd control, internal armed conflicts, prison security (except in Russia) and safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plants). As such, the force was and is involved in all conflicts and violent disturbances in the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia, including Stalin's mass deportations, imprisonments and executions and the First and Second Chechen Wars. During wartime, the Internal Troops falls under Armed Forces military command and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security. WAD Alexander Demidov) |
