Russian Military Police
| Military Police of Russia Военная полиция России |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 2010 |
| Country |  Russia |
| Type | Gendarmerie |
| Role | Law enforcement within the Armed Forces of Russian Federation, and conduct criminal investigations |
| Size | 20,000 active personnel (Planned) |
| Part of | Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defence |
| Nickname | VP |
| Patron | Lt. Gen. Sergey Surovikin |
The Military Police of Russia (Russian: Военная полиция России) is a law enforcement body within the Russian Armed Forces, which is know by official name as Main Directorate of the Military Police (Главное управление военной полиции Минобороны РФ), and it is operated by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The Chief of Military Police is ex officio the First Deputy Minister of Defense. The current Chief of Military Police is Lieutenant General Sergey Surovikin.
History [edit]
The idea to create military police in Russia came from the second President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who authorized his then-Defence Minister, Sergey Ivanov to establish such an organization. In 2005, human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin wrote a special report about abuse in the armed forces and proposed measures including the creation of military police.[1] On April 21, 2010, when Minister of Defence Anatoly Serdyukov announced further steps to establish military police, pursuant to the President's directive. Russian President Medvedev is a strong proponent of the creation of military police; one of its main objectives would be to combat Dedovshchina. On April 2012 Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said Russia’s military police will be instituted in two stages: first, the integration of the relevant Defense Ministry services and second, granting the new agency investigative functions.[2]
According to Russian media reports, up to 20,000 service members may be assigned to serve in military police.[3]
On 19 November 2012 it was reported by Maj. Gen. Andrei Nechayev to RIA Novosti that the The military police have already been created and are functional within the scope of tasks.The Defense Ministry has until the end of 2014 to complete formation of the new service.[4]
References [edit]
- ^ "Russian military police plans on track - defense minister", RIA Novosti, 20.4.2012
- ^ "Russian Military Police to Be Set Up ‘in Two Stages’", RIA Novosti, April 5, 2012.
- ^ http://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/russia’s-new-military-police-about-time-and-about-order/
- ^ http://en.rian.ru/military_news/20121119/177587253.html
External links [edit]
- Official Homepage
- Russian military police plans on track
- Russia's new military police, In Moscow's Shadows, August 19, 2011
