OMON

ОMON
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev visiting Bryansk OMON base in 2011
Active	1988 – 2016
Country	Soviet Union (originally)  Russia Other post-Soviet states:  Belarus  Kazakhstan  Tajikistan
Branch	Police (in Russia)
Type	Gendarmerie, riot police
Role	Tactical law enforcement, crowd control, riot control, domestic counter-terrorism, VIP protection, patrol and checkpoint duties
Size	~20,000 (in Russia)
Part of	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Nickname(s)	Omonovtsy, "Black Berets"
Anniversaries	3 October
Engagements	January 1991 events in Lithuania January 1991 events in Latvia Lithuanian border attacks Nagorno-Karabakh War Georgian Civil War Tajikistan Civil War East Prigorodny Conflict 1993 Russian constitutional crisis First Chechen War Second Chechen War Jeans Revolution Russia–Georgia War

OMON (Russian: ОМОН—Отряд мобильный особого назначения, Otryad Mobilny Osobogo Naznacheniya or Special Purpose Mobility Unit) was a system of special police units of Federal Police within the Russian, and previously Soviet, Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was created as the special forces of the Soviet Militsiya in 1988, and then played major roles in several armed conflicts during and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

OMON was much larger and better known than SOBR, another special police branch of the Russian Interior Ministry. In modern context, the OMON were used more like riot police, or as a gendarmerie-like paramilitary force. OMON units continue to exist in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and other post-Soviet states. However, some post-Soviet units have changed names and acronyms. OMON officers are commonly known as the omonovtsy.

On 5 April 2016, the functions of OMON were taken over by the newly established National Guard of Russia.

OMON originated in 1979, when the first Soviet SWAT-like police 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. Special police detachments were often manned by former soldiers of the Soviet Army and veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. 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.