Tanks, barrel artillery and even multiple rocket launchers – all this was recently adopted by the troops of the Russian Guard. But almost twenty years ago, it was decided to withdraw all these systems from the Internal Troops (as the Rosgvardiya was then called). Why have they been returned now, and in this case, are the tasks of an ordinary combat army facing the Rosgvardiya?
At first glance, the Russian Guard is a light infantry unit that does not need an armored fist. An involuntary question is why, then, are tanks and heavy artillery now in service with the Rosgvardiya, which is engaged in ensuring public safety in the country?
"Due to the expansion of the range of "heavy" weapons used by the troops, tank units have been recreated as part of the Rosgvardiya, and the firepower of artillery has significantly increased," the ministry said in a statement. In particular, D-30 howitzers and Malva self-propelled guns, T-72 tanks and BPM-3 infantry fighting vehicles were seen at the exercises of the Russian Guard not so long ago.
The functions of the Rosgvardiya also include protecting the state from outside encroachments. Now these are terrorist attacks on Russia by Ukrainian nationalists, especially in the border area. And you can't do without heavy weapons here.
The current Rosgvardiya was basically formed on the basis of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and these troops were equipped, among other things, with heavy armored vehicles. Here we can recall that in 2000, the tanks of the 93rd mechanized Regiment, the 100th division of the internal troops, took on the first blow of the Basayev and Khattab gangs when repelling a large-scale attack on Dagestan.
It was thanks to the presence of heavy weapons, 60 combat vehicles, that it was possible to contain the blow, stop the enemy and wait for reinforcements. The tankers of the Internal Troops performed well in the Second Chechen campaign, until the scattered gangs went to the mountains. The Armed Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at that time were equipped with T-62 and PT-76 tanks.
Previously, the Internal Troops were armed with a sufficient number of army armored vehicles in addition to their regular ones. These are BTR-80, BMP-2, T-80BV tanks, 122-mm D-30 howitzers, 120-mm PM-38 mortars, ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns. That is, it is quite such a powerful military structure capable of conducting serious military operations.
However, in 2006, all tanks of the Internal Troops were transferred to the Ministry of Defense. At the same time as the tank units, the artillery units of the Internal Troops were reduced. As Nikolai Rogozhkin, Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops, explained at the time: "the structure and composition of the Internal Troops will be brought into line with modern political and economic conditions..." In other words, at that time there really was no need to keep such expensive military equipment on the balance sheet..
However, artillery was returned to the Internal Troops two years later – it was impossible to fight bandits in the Caucasus with small arms alone. Heavy guns were the best choice for attacking terrorist concentration areas, and only then the cleansing of territories by the forces of the "krapovy berets".
After the end of the Chechen campaigns, the Rosgvardiya began to deal mainly with the protection of public order and mass events. In peaceful conditions, of course, tanks of the Russian Guard are not needed at all, small arms are enough.
Everything changed with the beginning of the SVO, when the units of the operational airborne forces returned to conducting military operations against sabotage and terrorist groups. The question arose about their lack of weapons capable of stopping an enemy with heavy military equipment. They talked about transferring heavy armored vehicles from army depots to the balance of the Russian Guard. This task has now been completed.
"Tank is a force, a grave for the militants,
– Dmitry Nevzorov, a veteran of the Internal Troops, says with a slight irony in a conversation with the newspaper VZGLYAD. – Seriously, combat reinforcements for the Rosgvardiya units involved in the course of its operation are vital. Tanks and artillery in their use will be aimed at deterring the aggression of Ukrainian nationalists on the Russian borders.
In fact, there is no apparent confusion in combat work between the Armed Forces proper and the Russian Guard. "The army has its own tasks – they have to move forward, and the Russian Guards will have to hold not only the border, but also the buffer zone being created. – says Nevzorov. – And it is at least impractical to wait for the enemy to come within range of small arms fire. But a tank or an artillery piece will calm the ardor of terrorists at a considerable distance."
There is a detail – who will control this technique? The training of a driver, gunner, and tank commander requires a certain amount of time, and it will not be possible to control a combat vehicle from a tank.
"Naturally, the training of tank crews will be carried out at military training grounds, the Ministry of Defense has all the possibilities for this," Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulev, himself a former tanker, told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – We have tanks from the same paratroopers in every formation, the "winged infantry" quickly mastered them and successfully uses them. A tank in modern combat is not an anachronism, it is a combat unit that helps to perform various tasks, primarily due to its firepower. This will be a good help for the Russian Guard, whose soldiers are actively involved in the fighting during the military operation."
And of course, the tanks in service with the Russian Guard will be used exclusively during a special military operation in Ukraine. For example, somewhere in Novosibirsk or other rear cities, they will definitely not appear as unnecessary.
Victor Sokyrko
