National Guard Forces Command

National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation Войска Национальной Гвардии России Voyska Natsional'noy Gvardii Rossii
Common name	National Guard
Badge of the National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation
Flag of the National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation
Agency overview
Formed	5 April, 2016
Preceding agency	Special Corps of Gendarmes Internal Troops of Russia
Employees	estimated 185,000 personnel
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction)	RUS
Population	145 million
Legal jurisdiction	Russian Federation
Primary governing body	Security Council of Russia
Secondary governing body	National Guard of Russia
General nature	Federal law enforcement Gendarmerie
Operational structure
Overviewed by	President of Russia thru the Commander of the National Guard
Headquarters	Moscow
Agency executive	Colonel General Viktor Zolotov, Commander of the NGFC (in concurrent capacity as Commander of the Federal National Guard Service)
Parent agency	Security Council of Russia thru the National Guard of Russia
Notables Significant operation Conducting anti-terrorism operations, borders control, combating illegal weapons trade, public order Anniversary April 5 March 27, anniversary of the Internal Guards Corps

The National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation (Russian: Войска национальной гвардии Российской Федерации, Voyska Natsionalnoy Gvardi Rossiyskoi Federatsii) is the gendarmerie component of the new National Guard of Russia, created through a presidential decree on April 5, 2016. It is a gendarmerie organized on paramilitary lines with its mission to ensure public order, national security and defense against terrorism.

It is the successor of the Special Corps of Gendarmes and the Internal Troops of Russia.

From 1565 to 1572 the Oprichnina and its agents, the oprichniki, served, under the behest of Tsar Ivan III, as the first ever police service in Russia with a national focus. Their missions were mass repressions, public executions, and confiscation of land from Russian aristocrats and their families. They served primarily as a secret police service reporting to the Tsar's office.

The first example of internal security troops in Russia are the police dragoons established during the reign of Peter the Great. As early as 1763 police dragoon units were raised in both Moscow and Saint Petersburg as part of their police forces. Regulations made on 12 (24) February 1802, 8 (20) June 1804 and 23 February (7 March) 1806 standardized the size of the police dragoons as:

Peter the Great's other legacy to Russian law enforcement were the Imperial Russian Army's Military Garrison Forces. Raised in 1701 the Garrison Forces - of battalion or squadron size, plus 4 dragoon regiments of special use - served as a military police force not just for the military bases but for the communities nearest them.

Today's National Guard Forces Command traces their lineage and heritages from the Internal Guards Gendarmerie units, established in 1811 and tasked with public security, rear area defense and police duties, and the Gendarmerie Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army, raised in 1815 with the re-designation of the Borisoglebsk Dragoon Regiment which served in Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812.