OMON
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox law enforcement unit
OMONTemplate:Refn is a system of military special police units within the National Guard of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the Soviet Militsiya in 1988, it has played major roles in several armed conflicts during and following the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.
OMON is much larger and better known than SOBR, another special-police branch of the National Guard of Russia. In modern contexts, OMON serves as a riot police group, or as a gendarmerie-like paramilitary force. OMON units also exist in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and other post-Soviet states. However, some post-Soviet units have changed names and acronyms. Russian speakers commonly refer to OMON officers as omonovtsy (Template:Langx; singular: omonovyets – Template:Langx).
On 5 April 2016 OMON became part of the newly-established National Guard of Russia, ending its years as part of the MVD.<ref name="ZdzislawRosGuard">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The MVD continues to operate the Police of Russia.<ref> МВД России – "Сегодня от работы МВД зависят многие аспекты повседневной жизни граждан. Органы внутренних дел занимаются обеспечением порядка на улицах, предотвращением и раскрытием преступлений, защитой и охраной частной собственности, государственных и коммерческих объектов. Подразделения МВД борются за безопасность на дорогах страны, обеспечивают проведение массовых мероприятий, днем и ночью приходят на помощь гражданам в чрезвычайных ситуациях. От министра до участкового Министерство внутренних дел – на страже интересов гражданина, закона и общества." </ref>
History
Special purpose militia units were formed on May 5, 1919 in the Russian state in the structure of the "white" (Siberian) militia.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Alexander Kolchak emphasized that
These militia units operated where open war gave way to partisan war. The detachment consisted of four foot and one horse platoons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The staff included 285 people.<ref name=":0" /> In those days, there was no such thing as a "omonovets" therefore these units were called "guards".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The modern Soviet OMON originated in 1979, when the first Soviet police tactical unit was founded in preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to ensure that there were no terrorist incidents like the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics. Subsequently, the unit was to be utilized in emergencies such as high-risk arrests, hostage crises and acts of terror.
The current OMON system is the successor of that group and was founded on 3 October 1988 in Moscow and was called the Militsiya Squad of Special Assignment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Special police detachments were often manned by former soldiers of the Soviet Army and veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War. OMON units were used as riot police to control and stop demonstrations and hooliganism, as well as to respond to emergency situations involving violent crime. The units later took on a wider range of police duties, including cordon and street patrol actions, and even paramilitary and military-style operations.
Following Russia's 2011 police reform, Russian OMON units were to be renamed Distinctive Purpose Teams (KON), while OMSN (SOBR) would become Special Purpose Teams (KSN).<ref>Moscow News, 22 August 2011: Retooling Russia's Riot Police</ref> It was announced that Special Purpose Centers for Rapid Deployment forces would also be created in Russian regions, to include regional OMON and OMSN units. In essence, all police spetsnaz (special designation) units were brought together under the joint command of the Interior Ministry<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> — the Center for Operational Spetsnaz and Aviation Forces of MVD (Центр специального назначения сил оперативного реагирования и авиации МВД России).
In January 2012, Russia's OMON was renamed from otryad militsii osobogo naznacheniya, (Special Purpose Militia Unit) to otryad mobilniy osobogo naznacheniya (Special Purpose Mobile Unit), keeping the acronym. Template:Clear left
Soviet OMON activities
- On 20 January 1991, Soviet-loyalist Riga OMON attacked Latvia's Interior Ministry, killing six people during the January 1991 events which was not confirmed by an internal investigation, in a failed pro-Moscow coup attempt following the Latvian SSR's declaration of independence.<ref>BBC News, 27 March 2007: Timeline: Latvia</ref> Seven OMON officers were subsequently found guilty by the Riga District Court and were sentenced in absentia. Part of the Riga OMON troops remained loyal to the USSR and their oath of allegiance. The unit was evacuated from Riga to Tyumen in Russia by air force together with all ammunition, vehicles and firearms, and incorporated with local Tyumen OMON.
- A series of attacks on border outposts of the newly independent Republic of Lithuania took place during the period of January to July 1991. These resulted in several summary execution-style deaths of unarmed customs officers and other people (including former members of Vilnius OMON), which were attributed to Riga OMON.<ref>Pasienio apsaugos tarnyba // Fight for Independence 1990–1991 (English)</ref> Some sources say that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had lost control of the unit during that period. For years, Lithuania has continued to demand that the persons suspected in these incidents should be tried in Lithuania; one suspect was arrested in Latvia in November 2008.<ref>Novaya Gazeta, 29.11.2008: The unmasked face Template:Webarchive</ref>
- The April–May 1991 Operation Ring by the Azerbaijan SSR OMON and the Soviet Army against the Armenian irregular units in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, resulted in forty deaths of mostly Armenian civilians, and the forced displacement of nearly 10,000 ethnic Armenians. In later attacks, several more Armenian civilians were killed; others suffered abuse which included instances of rape. In continuing fighting in this area, fourteen Azerbaijani OMON members and one Armenian paramilitary fighter were reported killed in September 1991.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Violent and often armed clashes occurred between the Georgian SSR's OMON and opponents of the first Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia prior to the Georgian Civil War of 1991–1993. Eleven combatants on both sides, including Georgian OMON members and regular militsiya officers, were reported killed in skirmishes during September and October 1991. There were also allegations of OMON firing at unarmed protesters.<ref name="auto"/>
Post-Soviet OMON activities
- Prior to the creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the bulk of the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Azeri side, was conducted by the post-Soviet OMON units and irregular forces. This included the defence of the village of Khojaly by a group of Azeri OMON troops and armed volunteers against the Armenian and Russian Army forces prior to, and during, the Khojaly massacre on 25 February 1992; most of the group involved died along with several hundred other Azeris, mostly civilians.
- South Ossetian ad hoc OMON, organized by a group of Tskhinvali internal affairs division militsiya officers, was reportedly the most combat-ready force on the separatist side at the outset of the South Ossetia War in April 1992.
- In Tajikistan, the civil war began after local OMON began defecting to anti-Nabiyev protesters in May 1992.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The country's minority Pamiri people largely backed the United Tajik Opposition, and for that reason were targeted for massacres by pro-government forces during the bloody first phase of the war in 1992–1993. A significant portion of the Tajikistan MVD's command structure and its OMON consisted mainly of Pamiris who were then either killed or forced to flee to Gorno-Badakhshan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- North Ossetia's OMON participated in the short but vicious 1992 East Prigorodny Conflict in Russia. They killed or 'disappeared' hundreds of local indigenous Ingush people. Ossetian OMON reportedly massacred residents of Ingush villages that had first been shelled by Russian federal army tanks that were officially in to the region for 'peacekeeping' purposes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Following the War of Transnistria in 1992, several high-ranking former OMON and KGB officers assumed senior posts in Moldova's pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria. Former Riga OMON Major Vladimir Antyufeyev, who had led the attacks against Latvian authorities in 1991 and was put on the Interpol wanted list, renamed himself "General Vadim Shevtsov" and became Transnistria's minister of state security and intelligence. He is also alleged to have overseen the self-declared republic's organized criminal smuggling rackets.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, the KGB of Transnistria announced it has "launched a criminal investigation into Vladimir Antyufeev who is suspected of misuse of state powers."
- Moscow OMON, and units brought from other cities, clashed with anti-Yeltsin demonstrators during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis and reportedly beat some members of the Supreme Soviet of Russia (Russian parliament at the time).<ref>Memorial, April 1994: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS UNDER THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MOSCOW DURING THE PERIOD FROM NOON, OCTOBER 4 TO OCTOBER 18, 1993 Template:Webarchive</ref>
- OMON have broken up several opposition rallies, including the Dissenters' Marches since 2006, sparking reports of police brutality, including excessive use of force and arbitrary detention of participants.<ref>Amnesty International, 16 April 2007: Russian Federation: Attack on public dissent Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2007, the brutal actions of OMON against peaceful protesters and arrests of opposition figures were harshly criticised by the European Union institutions and governments.<ref>Template:In lang Polska Agencja Prasowa, 26 November 2007: Milicja biła opozycję, Europa oburzona Template:Webarchive (Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat)</ref> Moscow OMON also made international news when it prevented gay rights activists (including the European Parliament members) from marching after the Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov did not allow a planned parade to take place in 2007.<ref>The Associated Press, 27 May 2007: Russian Police Detain Gay Activists (The Washington Post)</ref>
- On 24 March 2006, Belarusian OMON stormed the opposition's tent camp at Minsk's October Square without provocation, violently ending the peaceful Jeans Revolution against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. Thousands of people were beaten and hundreds detained, including the opposition's presidential candidate Alaksandr Kazulin, as a result of the attack.<ref>TIME, 25 March 2006: Belarus: 'They Knocked My Husband Down and Dragged Him Away' </ref>
- In February 2008, Tajik OMON commander Oleg Zakharchenko was killed in a shootout with an anti-organized crime police unit composed of former opposition fighters, under disputed circumstances, in Gharm.<ref>Template:Cite web
Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, the former Interior Minister of Tajikistan, Mahmadnazar Salihov, allegedly committed suicide to avoid being arrested in connection with the case; Salihov's family claimed he was murdered in a political purge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> - South Ossetian separatist OMON took part in the fighting against the Georgian Armed Forces in August, during the 2008 South Ossetia war and were accused of "special cruelty" against civilians in the overrun ethnic Georgian villages.<ref>The Georgian Times, 15 September 2008: "Resistance does not make any sense: they will kill us on the spot" Template:Webarchive</ref> Subsequently, South Ossetian OMON fighters were absorbed into Russian regular forces in the area as contract soldiers and continued to be deployed in the highly disputed Akhalgori zone.<ref>Imedi TV, 16 October 2008: Ossetian militiamen join Russian regular army (trans. BBC Monitoring)</ref>
- Gulmurod Khalimov, the Russian-U.S. trained<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> OMON chief in Tajikistan since 2012, disappeared in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, and threatened to attack American cities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was declared wanted for treason by Tajik government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Conflict in Chechnya
The force was active in the First Chechen War of 1994–1996 in which OMON was often used in various security and light infantry roles, notably for the notorious "cleansing" (zachistka) operations.<ref>Human Rights Watch, February 1995: Russia: Three Months of War in Chechnya</ref> Prior to the war, there was also an OMON formation belonging to the Interior Ministry (MVD) of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechnya's separatist government. The independent Chechnya had an OMON battalion prior to the war, but it was not battle trained,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and did not play any significant role as an organized force before disintegrating. During the armed conflict, almost every Russian city would be regularly sending militsiya groups, often OMON members, for tours of usually three or four months. The pro-Moscow administration of the Chechen Republic also formed its own OMON detachments. In February 1996, a group of thirty-seven Russian OMON officers from Novosibirsk surrendered to Chechen militants of Salman Raduyev and Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov during the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis.<ref>The Independent, 20 January 1996: Fog of battle clouds Pervomayskoye's ugly truth</ref>
OMON took part in the Second Chechen War as well. OMON forces sustained severe losses in the conflict, including from the March 2000 ambush which killed scores of servicemen from Berezniki and Perm (including nine captured and executed),<ref>The Sunday Times (UK), 9 April 2000: Chechens wipe out Russia's top troops (Center for Defense Information)</ref> the July 2000 suicide bombing which killed at least twenty-five Russians at Argun base of OMON from Chelyabinsk,<ref>People's Daily, 3 July 2000: Chechen Truck Bomb Kills at Least 25 Russians</ref> and the April 2002 mine attack which left twenty-one Chechen OMON troops dead in central Grozny.<ref>The St. Petersburg Times, 19 April 2002: Mine Leaves 21 OMON Troops Dead Template:Webarchive</ref> Control and discipline continued to be questionable in Chechnya, where OMON members were known to have engaged in, or fallen victim to, several deadly incidents of friendly fire and fratricide. In perhaps the bloodiest of such incidents, at least twenty-four were killed when OMON from Podolsk attacked a column of OMON from Sergiyev Posad in Grozny on 2 March 2000.<ref>The Independent, 15 January 2002: Russia invented ambush by Chechens to hide friendly-fire massacre</ref> Among other incidents, several Chechen OMON servicemen were abducted and executed in Grozny by Russian military servicemen in November 2000,<ref>European Court of Human Rights, 2007-11-15: CASE OF KUKAYEV v. RUSSIA</ref> members of Chechen OMON engaged in a shootout with the Ingush police on the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia resulting in eight fatalities in September 2006,<ref>The Moscow Times, 14 September 2006: 7 Dead in Police-OMON Battle</ref> and Ramzan Kadyrov-controlled local OMON clashed with a group of rival Chechens belonging to the Kakiyev's Spetsnaz GRU military unit in Grozny, resulting in at least five being killed in 2007.Template:Citation needed
OMON was often accused of severe human rights abuses during the course of the conflict,<ref>The Washington Post, 2 June 2000: Civilian Massacre Fits Pattern Of Earlier Human Rights Abuse Template:Webarchive</ref> including abducting, torturing, raping and killing civilians. By 2000, the bulk of such crimes, as recorded by international organisations in Chechnya, appeared to have been committed either by or with the participation of OMON.<ref>Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 5 April 2000: Chechens Rub Salt in Old Wounds</ref> Moscow region OMON took part in the April 1995 rampage in the village of Samashki, where up to 300 civilians were reportedly killed during a large-scale brutal cleansing operation by federal MVD forces.<ref>Memorial, 1996: By All Available Means: The Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs Operation in the village of Samashki: 7–8 April 1995 Template:Webarchive</ref> In December 1999, a group of unidentified OMON members manning a roadblock checkpoint shot dead around forty refugees fleeing the siege of Grozny.<ref>The Independent, 6 December 1999: Rebels inflict heavy losses as Russian forces close on Grozny</ref> OMON from Saint Petersburg<ref>Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 9 August 2007: Chechen Massacre Survivors See Justice</ref> are believed to have been behind the February 2000 Novye Aldi massacre in which at least sixty civilians were robbed and then killed by Russian forces entering Grozny after the fall of the city;<ref>Human Rights Watch, June 2000: FEBRUARY 5: A DAY OF SLAUGHTER IN NOVYE ALDI</ref> one officer, Sergei Babin, was to be prosecuted in relation to the case in 2005 but he vanished.<ref>Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2005: An Unlikely Antiwar Hero for Russians</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia guilty of the forced disappearance of Shakhid Baysayev, a Chechen man who had gone missing after being detained in a March 2000 security sweep by Russian OMON in Grozny.<ref>Prima, 11 April 2005: European Court of Human Rights finds Russia guilty in disappearance of man in Chechnya Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2007, Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug OMON officer Sergei Lapin was sentenced for the kidnapping and torture of a Chechen man in Grozny in 2001,<ref>The St. Petersburg Times, 1 April 2005: Chechen Court Sends OMON Officer to Jail Template:Webarchive</ref> with the Grozny court criticising the conduct of OMON serving in Chechnya in broader terms.<ref>Amnesty International, 31 March 2005: Russian Federation: Russian police officer found guilty of crimes against the civilian population in the Chechen Republic Template:Webarchive</ref> In an event related to the conflict in Chechnya, several OMON officers were also accused of starting the May 2007 wave of ethnic violence in Stavropol by assisting in the racially motivated murder of a local Chechen man.<ref>Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 7 June 2007: Russia: Ethnic Tensions Mounting In Restive Stavropol</ref> Template:Clear
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
In 2021 OMON officers tortured Jehovah's Witnesses in Irkutsk in an attempt to make them inform about other members.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Russo-Ukrainian War
Some OMON units participated in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine where they were intended to disperse riots and control civil unrest after Kyiv would be captured. The failure to capture Kyiv resulted in some SOBR missions becoming redundant, they also ended up engaging in military combat and some of its personnel being killed in action or captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A group of OMON officers are suing for unlawful dismissal after being sacked for refusing to fight in Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 28 September 2022, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and National Police of Ukraine published CCTV footage showing OMON and Rosgvardiya personnel shooting at civilians during the battle of Hostomel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Russia
In Russia, there is an OMON unit in every oblast, as well as in many major cities. Since 2016, the OMON units report directly to the National Guard Forces Command as part of its regional district commands, and they are expected to be deployed in support of the police forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Information from different sources suggested that there were between 10,500 and 15,000 OMON members stationed at population centers and transportation hubs around the country during the 1990s.Template:Citation needed The number officially rose to about 20,000 nationwide by 2007; the biggest OMON unit in Russia, Moscow OMON, numbers over 2,000 members. Most OMON officers retire at the age of approximately forty-five.Template:Citation needed They were also sometimes not paid for their service. In 2001, for example, some fifty OMON members from Moscow filed a lawsuit claiming they had not been paid for one month of combat operations in Chechnya.<ref>Gazeta.ru, 27 June 2003: Moscow policemen want Chechen money</ref> The use of OMON members in high-risk situations, especially in Chechnya and elsewhere in the North Caucasus, often causes the group to lose members in combat.Template:Citation needed
Moscow Zubr
The Zubr Special Purpose Police Detachment (Template:Langx; is Russian for Bison, particularly the European bison) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia was created in February 2006 on the basis of the OMON GUVD in the Moscow Region that existed since 1988.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is based in Shchelkovo-7 near Moscow. Zubr was made up of officers drawn from the OMON riot police near Moscow and numbered about 430 people. Zubr is equipped with armored personnel carriers, Tigrs and other special equipment, and includes snipers and dog handlers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Equipment
OMON groups use a wide range of firearms, including AK-74 assault rifle, AKS-74U carbine assault rifle, 9A-91 compact assault rifle, and PP-19 Bizon submachine gun, and the Makarov pistol, Stechkin automatic pistol and the MP-443 Grach or GSh-18 are assigned as sidearms. OMON units may use other weaponry, typically used by Russian light infantry during special operations and in war zones, such as: the PK machine gun, the GP-25 underbarrel grenade launcher for assault rifle or the GM-94 pump-action grenade launcher, RPG series rocket-proppelled grenade launchers, and the Dragunov and Vintorez designated marksman rifles. The kind of issued protective gear is shared with regular National Guard units. The Bagariy body armor is a common sight replacing the older Kora-Kulon while the ZSH 1–2 is the main issued helmet with the older Kolpak being used only on riot duty. They are sometimes called "OMON soldiers".<ref>Google: "OMON soldiers" search results</ref>
As riot police, OMON often uses special equipment termed riot gear to help protect themselves and attack others. Riot gear typically includes personal armor, batons, riot and tactical shields, and riot helmets. OMON also deploys specialized less-than-lethal weapons, such as water cannon, pepper spray, tear gas, sponge grenades, pistols, rifles, and shotguns which fire rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, stun grenades, and Long Range Acoustic Devices.Template:Citation needed
Transport
OMON vehicles include specially-equipped vans, buses and trucks of various types (often armored and sometimes equipped with mounted machine guns), as well as a limited number of armored personnel carriers such as GAZ Tigr, BTR-60, BTR-70 and BTR-80.
-
Moscow OMON with BTR-80M assault a building with suspects during Template:Ill 2017 exhibition.
-
Mothers' rally. St. Petersburg, 2019-02-10.<ref>This vehicle is colloquially known as "avtozak" (Russian автозак, short from (наряд) автомобильного заключения - "mobile detention (unit)")</ref>
-
Moscow OMON SPM-1 vehicle during anti-riot training.
-
Tambov OMON UAZ-469.
Uniforms
OMON's headgear remains their signature black beret (they are thus sometimes called Black Berets), which they share with the Naval Infantry.
OMON, as part of the RosGvard, is transitioning to the Russian version of the ATACS LE (blue/grey) but units are still seen wearing the traditional Noch-91 uniform in all-black, and blue or gray Tigerstripe camouflage,<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref> a not uncommon sight has been a variety of Russian Army and Russian Internal Troops uniforms,<ref name="auto1"/> often with (black) balaclava masks and/or helmets.
Rest of the former Soviet Union
- OMON of Abkhazia
- OMON of Armenia
- XTPD/OPON – Azerbaijani paramilitary successor to OMON (forcibly disbanded by the government security forces after an OPON revolt in 1995)
- OMON (AMAP) – Belarusian paramilitary successor to OMON
- Arystan Commando Unit – Kazakh paramilitary successor to OMON, falling under the command of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
- OMON of Kyrgyzstan
- ARAS (Lithuania)
- BPDS/OPON – Moldovan paramilitary successor to OMON, falling under the command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is officially known as the Special Purpose Police Brigade "Fulger".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- OMON of South Ossetia
- OMON of Tajikistan
- OMON of Transnistria
- Berkut – Ukrainian special police successor to OMON (disbanded following a revolution in 2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and replaced with the Special Tasks Patrol Police)
See also
- Internal Troops – paramilitary soldiers of the MVD in the Soviet Union and several post-Soviet states
- Zubr, a special police unit formed from the Moscow Region
- Russian Gendarmerie
References
External links
- "The Kingdom of OMON", The eXile, 18 May 2007
Template:Law enforcement agencies of Russia Template:Law enforcement in Belarus