OMON (ОМОН) is a generic name for the system of special units of
militsiyaMilitsiya or Militia was used as a short official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation ....
(police) within the
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and earlier the
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs). As of 2008, there is an OMON unit in every
oblastOblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
of
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, as well as in many major cities; for example, there is an OMON unit within the
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
City police department, and a separate unit within
Moscow OblastMoscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye is a federal subject of Russia . Its area, at 45,900 km², is relatively small comparing to other federal subjects, but it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and the second most populous federal subject —only surpassed by...
police department. Their
mottoA motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used...
is "We know no mercy and do not ask for any." OMON also continues to exist in
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
and some other post-Soviet territories following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
History
OMON originated in 1979, when the first group was founded in preparation for the
1980 Summer OlympicsThe 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
, to ensure that there were no
terroristTerrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...
attacks like the
Munich massacreThe Munich massacre is an informal name for events occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by Black September, a militant group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization.By the end of...
during the
1972 Summer OlympicsThe 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was then West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
. Subsequently, the unit was utilized in emergencies such as high-risk
arrestAn arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. The term is Anglo-Norman in origin and is related to the French word arrêt, meaning "stop".-United States:...
s,
hostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
crises, as well as in response to acts of terrorism. The OMON detachments were often manned by former soldiers of the Soviet Army and veterans of the
Soviet war in AfghanistanThe Soviet War in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet–Afghan War, was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan at their own request, against the Islamist Mujahideen Resistance...
.
The OMON system itself is the successor of that group and was founded in 1987, with the commando duties largely taken over by the
SOBRThe Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR is an elite commando unit of the Russian Interior Ministry, involved in anti-criminal operations.On...
(dangerous ciminals) and
VityazVityaz is a Russian Spetsnaz unit of the MVD.Vityaz is assigned specifically to counter-terrorism duties. Vityaz unit regularly conducts counter-terrorism patrols in Chechnya and along the Caucasus border. Vityaz troops are also trained to stop rebellions in prisons and regular army units, should...
(
counter-terrorismCounter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed....
) units of the MVD. The OMON units were initially used as the riot police used to control and stop
demonstrationDemonstration may refer to:*Demonstration , a political rally or protest*Demonstration , a conclusive mathematical proof*Demonstration , a method of teaching by example rather than simple explanation...
s and
hooliganismHooliganism refers to unruly and destructive behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans, particularly supporters of association football and university sports. In some countries, the hooligan elements of a group of supporters are known as Category C...
, as well as other emergency situations, but later became accustomed to a wider range of police operations, including
cordonCordon may refer to:* Cordón Industrial is an organ of popular power, direct or workers democracy. Many of these organs of popular power were formed in Chile during the Popular Unity government between 1970-1973....
and street
patrolA patrol is commonly a group of individual persons or military units that are assigned to monitor a specific area .- Military :...
actions, and even
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
and
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
-style operations.
High-profile operations
- On January 20, 1991, the Soviet Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava...
OMON attacked LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
's Interior Ministry, killing six people during the January 1991 eventsIn January 1991, Latvia, which had declared independence from the Soviet Union in the previous year, was attacked by pro-Soviet forces, notably the OMON of Riga...
following the republic's declaration of independenceA declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. Seven OMON members were subsequently found guilty by the RigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava...
District Court and received suspended sentenceA suspended sentence is a legal construct. Unless a minimum punishment is prescribed by law, the court has the power to suspend the passing of sentence and place the offender on probation. It is the passing of the sentence, not the sentence itself, that is being suspended...
s.
- A series of attacks on border outposts
Several Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts occurred in 1991, after Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990, and began establishing control of its borders with Belarus. Two of the incidents resulted in the deaths of Lithuanian citizens.-Summary:The...
of the newly-independent Republic of LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
during the January-July 1991, resulting in several summary executionA summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial. Summary executions are practiced by police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, terrorism and counterinsurgency.According to international law,...
-style deaths of the unarmed customsCustoms is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country. Depending on local legislation and regulations, the import or export of...
officers and other people (including former members of VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
OMON), were attributed to Riga OMON; some sources say that the Soviet leader Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was the second-to-last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until 1991, and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1988 until its collapse in 1991...
had lost control of the unit. Lithuanian government continues to demand that the persons suspected in these incidents should be tried in Lithuania; one suspect was arrested in Latvia in November 2008.
- Violent and often armed clashes between the Georgian SSR's OMON and the opponents of the first Georgian
Georgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
President Zviad GamsakhurdiaZviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Gamsakhurdia (Georgian: ზვიად გამსახურდია, (March 31, 1939 — December 31, 1993) was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
prior to the Georgian Civil WarThe Georgian Civil War consisted of inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , as well as the violent military coup d'etat of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992 against the first democratically elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his...
of 1991-1993.
- The April-May 1991 Operation Ring
Operation Ring was the code name given to the May 1991 military operation conducted by Soviet Internal Security Forces and OMON units in the region of Shahumyan, north of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR...
by the Azerbaijan SSR OMON and the Soviet Army against the Armenian irregular unitsArmenian irregular units, also known as are Armenian guerrillas who leave their families to form brigades. The Armenian fighters were volunteers who are literally "one who is ready to sacrifice his life" for his people)...
in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous OblastThe Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created in the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923. After the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1987 between the Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs, it grew into a full-scale war by the end of 1991...
, resulting in several dozen people killed and the forced displacement of thousands of ethnic ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
.
- Prior to the creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the bulk of the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on the Azeri
Azerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
side was conducted by the post-Soviet OMON units and irregular forces. This included the defence of the village of KhojalyKhojali is a city in and the capital of the Khojali Rayon of Azerbaijan.- References :*...
by the force of Azeri OMON and volunteers against the Armenian insurgents and the Russian Army forces prior and during the Khojaly massacreThe Khojaly Massacre was the killing of hundreds of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians from the town of Khojaly on 25 February 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
on February 25 1992; most of the group involved died during the ensuing slaughter in which several hundred of Azeri civilianA civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agencies, which often use...
s died.
- The Moscow OMON and units brought from the other cities clashed with the anti-Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999....
demonstrators order during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, reportedly even beating up some members of the Supreme Soviet of RussiaSupreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR / Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation - in 1938-1990 highest organ of state power in Russia; in 1990 - 1993 - permanent Parliament, elected by Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian...
(the Russian parliament at the time).
- Cordon duties during the Russia's mass hostage crises, including the 1995 Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis
The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis took place from 14 June to 19 June 1995, when a group of 80 to 150 Chechen terrorists led by Shamil Basayev attacked the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk , some 70 miles north of the border with the Russian republic of Chechnya...
, the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisisThe Moscow theatre hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of a crowded Moscow theatre on October 23, 2002 by about 40-50 armed Chechen terrorists who claimed allegiance to the separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the withdrawal of...
and the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisisThe Beslan school hostage crisis began when a group of armed Muslim terrorists, demanding an end to the Second Chechen War, took more than 1,100 people hostage on September 1, 2004, at School Number One in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania, an autonomous republic in the...
.
- Breaking up of several opposition rallies (including Dissenters' Marches since 2006), sparking reports of police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. It is in some instances triggered by "contempt of cop", i.e., perceived disrespect towards police officers.Widespread...
, including excessive use of force and arbitrary detentionDetention may refer to:* Detention * School punishment#Detention, a punishment used in schools*Detention , Episode 58 of CBS TV Drama Cold Case....
of participants. In November 2007, the brutal actions of OMON against peaceful demonstrators and arrests of opposition figures were harshly criticised by the European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
institutions and governments.
- On March 24, 2006, Belarus
Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
ian OMON stormed the democratic opposition's tent camp at the Minsk October Square without provocation, violently ending the peaceful Jeans RevolutionThe Jeans Revolution was a term used by the democratic opposition in Belarus and their supporters in the West to describe their effort and aspirations as regarding democratic changes in Belarus at the presidential elections of 2006...
against the regime of Alexander LukashenkoAlexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has served as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko served as a military officer and worked as a director for manufacturing plants and farms...
. Thousands of people were beaten and hundreds detained as the result of the attack, including the opposition's presidential candidate Alaksandr Kazulin.
- In June 2007, the Moscow OMON prevented the gay rights activists
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexuality and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
(including the European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
members) from demonstrating the parade by detaining the activists. This is because they were instructed to do so, as the mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov did not allow the parade to take place.
- In August 2008, the South Ossetia
South Ossetia is a disputed region in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
n separatist OMON took part in the fighting with the Georgian national forces during the 2008 South Ossetia warThe 2008 South Ossetia War, also known as the Russia–Georgia War, was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and the Russian Federation together with Ossetians and Abkhazians on the other....
and were accused of "special cruelty" in the ethnic Georgian villages. Subsequently, South Ossetian OMON fighters were included into Russian regular forces in area as a contract soldiers and continued to be deployed in the highly-disputed AkhalgoriAkhalgori or Leningor is a town in South Ossetia, partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic...
zone.
In Chechnya
The force was active in the
First Chechen WarThe First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
where the unit was used as
light infantryTraditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
and in the notorious "mopping-up" operations (
zachistka). In February 1996, a group of 37 officers of the
NovosibirskNovosibirsk is Russia's third-largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia. It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
OMON were captured by the Chechen militants during the
Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisisThe Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis, known in Russia as the terrorist act in Kizylar was a guerrilla raid conducted by the Chechen separatists in January 1996 during the First Chechen War, which soon turned into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.The crisis culminated...
; 17 of them were later swapped for the Chechen fighters captured in the same incident. In August 1996, group of 30 Chechen OMON members answering to Said-Magomed Kakiyev were reportedly captured and executed in
GroznyGrozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic in Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2002 All-Russia population census, the city had a population of 210,720 people and in 2008 the city had a population of 230,100 people.-Name:In Russian "Grozny" means "fearsome",...
, the Chechen capital, during the
battle for the cityIn the August 1996 Battle of Grozny Chechen rebels conducted a rapid assault on the Chechnya capital Grozny...
.
OMON is active in the
Second Chechen WarThe Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus began on 2 August, 1999, when Chechen militants launched an armed invasion of Dagestan. Russian federal military forces supported Dagestani units to repel the invasion...
. Almost every Russian city sends, on a regular basis, small units of police (often composed of OMON members) for tours of duty in
ChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , or, informally, Chechnya , sometimes referred to as Ichkeria, Chechnia, Chechenia or Noxçiyn, is a federal subject of Russia...
lasting several months, while the Chechen Republic also formed its own OMON detachment. The force sustained heavy losses in the second conflict as well, including from the March 2000 ambush which killed more than 30 OMON servicemen from
PermPerm is a city and administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia. It is situated on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains....
(including nine captured and executed), the
July 2000 suicide bombingJuly 2000 Chechnya suicide bombings happened on July 2-July 3 2000, when the Chechen insurgents launched five suicide bomb attacks into Russian military and police headquarters and barracks within 24 hours...
which inflicted more than 100 casualties at the
ChelyabinskChelyabinsk is a city in Russia, located just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on Miass River. It is the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast. Population: -History:...
OMON base in
ArgunArgun is a town in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Argun River. Population: 25,698 ; 25,491 ; 22,000 ....
, and the April 2002 attack which killed 21 Chechen OMON troops in central Grozny.
Control and
disciplineIn its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. To discipline thus means to instruct a person to follow a particular code of conduct "order." Usually, the phrase 'to discipline' carries a negative connotation...
is questionable in Chechnya, where the members of the group were noted to engage in or fall victim of several deadly
friendly fireFriendly fire is an expression meaning fire from one's own side or allied forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces, and was a tactic originally adopted by the United States military....
and
fratricideFratricide is the act of a person killing his or her brother....
incidents. In the bloodiest incident, at least 24 Russian OMON officers were killed and more than 30 wounded when two units (from
PodolskPodolsk is an industrial city and the administrative center of Podolsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Pakhra River...
and
Sergiyev PosadSergiyev Posad is a city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It grew up in the 15th century around one of the greatest of Russian monasteries, the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra established by St. Sergius of Radonezh. The town became incorporated...
)
fired on each otherOn March 2 2000 a unit of OMON from Podolsk and a military unit from the Sverdlovsk Oblast opened fire on an OMON unit from Sergiyev Posad , who had arrived in Chechnya to replace them. More than 20 policemen were killed and more than 30 injured in the result of friendly fire between the Russian...
in Grozny on March 2, 2000. Among other incidents, several Chechen OMON servicemen were abducted and executed in Grozny by the Russian military servicemen in November 2000, members of the Chechen OMON
clashed with the Ingush policeThe Ingush-Chechen fratricide incident was a September 13 2006 incident in which eight police officers were killed and about 20 were wounded when Chechen and Ingush policemen fired on each other on the border between the republics....
on the Chechen-
IngushThe Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. The republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
border resulting in eight fatalities and about 20 injuries in September 2006, and the
Ramzan KadyrovRamzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004, and heads a private army known as the Kadyrovtsy who, along with Kadyrov himself, have been accused of serious human rights abuses...
-controlled Chechen OMON clashed with a group of rival Chechens belonging to the Kakiyev's
GRUGRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the acronym for the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,...
commando unit in Grozny, resulting in five dead and several wounded in 2007.
In the course of the Chechen conflict the OMON was accused of severe human rights abuses, including
abductingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or asportation of a person against the person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
,
torturingTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
and killing civilians. As of 2000, the bulk of
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
s recorded by international organisations in Chechnya appeared to have been committed by the OMON. An OMON detachment from Moscow region took part in the
April 1995 rampageThe Samashki massacre was an incident which occurred on April 7-8, 1995, in the village of Samashki, at the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia. Numerous villagers died at the hands of Russian paramilitary troops, many of them reportedly drunk or drugged, under the command of Gen. Anatoly Kulikov...
in the village of
SamashkiSamashki is a village on the western plains in Achkhoy-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia; since 1992 it is a border village with the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. The pre-war population of Samashki counted about 14,600 people .A railway line from Nazran to Grozny runs through...
, during which up to 300 civilians were reportedly killed in the result of a "cleansing operation" conducted there by the MVD forces. The OMON unit from
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
is also believed to be behind the
Novye Aldi massacreThe Novye Aldi massacre was a February 5 2000, incident in which Russian federal forces summarily executed at least 50 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya...
in which at least 60 civilians were robbed and then killed by the Russian forces entering Grozny in February 2000; one officer,
Sergei BabinSergei Babin is a former Russian police officer who had served in the OMON detachment sent from Saint Petersburg and an accused war criminal....
, was reported to be prosecuted in relation to the case in 2005 and then to disappear. In 1999 a group of unidentified OMON members shot dead around 40
refugeeUnder the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
s fleeing Grozny.
In April 2006, the
European Court of Human RightsThe European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is an international judicial body established under the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 to monitor respect of human rights by states...
found Russia guilty of the
forced disappearanceA forced disappearance occurs when force is used to cause a person to vanish from public view, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty , thereby placing the victim outside the protection of law.According to the Rome Statute of the International...
of
Shakhid BaysayevShakhid Baysayev was Chechen civilian who was forcibly disappeared after being detained by Russian special police forces on the outskirts of Grozny, Chechnya in March 2000. His body was never found....
, a Chechen man who had gone missing after being detained in a March 2000 security sweep by the Russian OMON in Grozny. In 2007, the
Khanty-MansiKhanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra , or Khantia-Mansia, is a federal subject of Russia . The people native to the region are the Khanty and the Mansi, known collectively as Ob Ugric people...
OMON officer
Sergei LapinSergei Lapin, also known by his radio communications call sign Kadet , is a former Russian police officer who had served in Grozny, Chechnya as a Lieutenant in the OMON from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug...
was sentenced for kidnapping and torture of a Chechen man in Grozny in 2001, with the Grozny court criticising the conduct of the OMON serving in Chechnya in broader terms. In an event related to the conflict in Chechnya, several OMON officers were accused of starting the May 2007 wave of the ethnic violence in
StavropolStavropol is a city located in south-western Russia and is the administrative center of Stavropol Krai. Population: 355,900 ; -History:...
by assisting in the
racistRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
murder of a local Chechen man.
Before and early during the Chechen wars, there were also OMON formations belonging the Interior Ministry of the
Chechen Republic of IchkeriaThe Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya...
, Chechnya's separatist government.
OMON in Russia
Information from different sources suggests that there were between 10,500 and 15,000 OMON members stationed at population centers and
transportation hubA transport hub or transport interchange is a location where passengers and cargo are exchanged across several mode of transport. Hubs make out the center of spoke-hub distribution paradigms, allowing passengers and cargo to be transported from one place to another without a direct service...
s around the country in the 1990s, yet by 2007 this number officially rose to about 20,000 nationwide (as referenced to as Innner Armed Forces). Members receive a comparatively small salary of about $700 per month in Moscow (regional units offer less). Most members
retireRetirement is the point where a person stops employment completely . A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours...
at the age of approximately 45 years, and receive practically no financial aid from the state afterwards. They are also sometimes not paid for their service (in 2001, for example, some 50 OMON members from Moscow filed the
lawsuitA lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have received damages from a defendant's actions, seeks a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
claiming they were not paid for one month of combat operations in Chechnya). Due to the use of OMON members in high risk situations, especially in Chechnya and elsewhere in North Caucasus, the group often loses members in combat.
Members of OMON are supposed to be extremely fit and experts in
small armsSmall arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, rifles, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light machine guns, and sometimes hand...
and hand-to-hand combat. Males between the ages of 22 and 30 who have completed their two-year
military serviceMilitary service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether...
can apply to join OMON (the application includes medical and
psychologicalPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
tests, and tests of speed and
fitnessFitness may mean: The state of being physically active on a regular basis to maintain good physical condition.* Physical fitness, a general state of good health, usually as a result of exercise and nutrition * Cardiorespiratory fitness...
). The initial training lasts for four months. The applicants are extensively trained in the use of different weaponry and
close combat*Close combat is a generic term for both Close Quarters Battle and Hand to hand combat.*Mêlée generally refers to disorganized close combat.*CQB is an acronym for Close Quarters Battle, such as that which occurs in urban warfare....
, and are also trained to follow orders at any cost. Special emphasis is put on urban combat and the entering and clearing of buildings. The training also includes legal training. The application procedure closes with a final test, where the applicant has to fight three to five trained members of OMON by hand wearing boxing gloves. Fewer than one in five applicants pass and are selected to join.
The OMON groups use a wide range of weapons, including but not limited to
AK-74The AK-74 is a 5.45mm assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union. It was developed from the earlier AKM and introduced in 1974.The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces engaged in the Afghanistan conflict...
assault rifleAn assault rifle is a rifle designed for combat, with selective fire . Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies, having largely superseded or supplemented larger and more powerful battle rifles such as the M14, FN FAL and the Heckler & Koch G3...
, AKS-74U
carbineA carbine is a firearm similar to a rifle or musket. Many carbines, especially modern designs, were developed from rifles, being essentially shortened versions of full rifles firing the same ammunition, although often at a lower velocity...
assault rifle,
9A-91The 9A-91 is a carbine assault rifle currently in use with Russian police forces.The 9A91 is a gas operated, rotating bolt weapon, which utilizes a long stroke gas piston, located above the barrel, and a rotating bolt with 4 lugs. The receiver is made from steel stampings; the forend and pistol...
compact assault rifle, and PP-19 Bizon
submachine gunA submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size...
. OMON units during a combat operations may also use other weaponry typical for the Russian light infantry (the OMON troops in Chechnya were sometimes called "OMON soldiers" in the reports, especially in the so-called active phases of the conflict), such as the
PK machine gunThe PK is a 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet Union and currently in production in Russia. The PK machine gun was introduced in the 1960s and replaced the SGM and RPD machine guns in Soviet service. The PK machine gun can be used as a light anti-aircraft weapon when it is...
, the GP-25 underbarrel
grenade launcherA grenade launcher is a weapon that launches a grenade with more accuracy, higher velocity, and to greater distances than a soldier could throw it by hand....
for AK-74 or the GM-94
pump-actionA pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
grenade launcher, and the
DragunovDragunov may refer to:*Dragunov sniper rifle*Sergei Dragunov, a Tekken character*Yevgeny Dragunov, Soviet weapons designer who created the Dragunov Sniper Rifle...
and Vintorez
sniper rifleIn military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a rifle used to ensure accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military centerfire cartridge...
s.
OMON vehicles include specially-equipped
vanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
s,
busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
es and
truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle - more specifically a commercial vehicle commonly used for transporting goods and materials. Some light trucks/lorries are similar in size to a passenger automobile...
s of various types, as well as limited number of
armoured personnel carrierAn armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s (
BTR-60The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers. It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for BTR-152 and was seen first time in public in 1961...
,
BTR-70The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier , originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ-4905. In August 21, 1972, it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies...
and
BTR-80BTR-80 is an 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed in the Soviet Union. Production started in 1986 and replaced the previous versions, BTR-60 and BTR-70 in the Soviet army.-Description:The Soviets based the BTR-80 on the BTR-70 APC...
). OMON's
headgearHeadgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.Headgear serve a variety of purposes:...
remains a black
beretA beret is a soft round cap, usually of wool felt, with a flat crown, which is worn by both men and women and usually associated with France although it is also the traditional headgear of Northern Spain...
(they are thus sometimes called
"Black Berets") although otherwise there were significant changes in
uniformA uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organisations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
and
insigniaInsignia is a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...
. The group members often use the blue urban camouflage uniforms and black face masks while on duty, and various Russian Army and
Internal TroopsInternal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs is a paramilitary national guard-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia and Ukraine...
uniforms while in Chechnya. OMON of the Chechen Republic also frequently wear
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-made military uniforms similar to these often used by the separatist fighters.
See also
- Rus
Rus is a special forces unit of the Interior Troops , of the interior ministry of the Russian Federation. Its full name in Russian is OSNAZ VV MVD Rus....
- A counter-terrorist and emergency situations unit of the Russian MVD
- SOBR
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR is an elite commando unit of the Russian Interior Ministry, involved in anti-criminal operations.On...
- A system of the Russian MVD special units specializing in combating dangerous criminals
- SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in American and some international law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
- The AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
model for the initial OMON squads
- Vityaz
Vityaz is a Russian Spetsnaz unit of the MVD.Vityaz is assigned specifically to counter-terrorism duties. Vityaz unit regularly conducts counter-terrorism patrols in Chechnya and along the Caucasus border. Vityaz troops are also trained to stop rebellions in prisons and regular army units, should...
- Another counter-terrorist unit of the Russian MVD
- ZOMO
Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej , were paramilitary-police formations during the Communist Era, in the People's Republic of Poland...
- Former special police units in the People's Republic of PolandThe Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990.Although the Polish People's Republic was a sovereign state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by the Kremlin...
External links
- Unofficial OMON webpage
- The Kingdom of OMON, The eXile
The eXile was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting...
, May 18, 2007