Vladimir Putin is moving to cement his Caesar-like authority over Russia with plans for a new, several hundred thousand-strong National Guard that one analyst described as a “Praetorian Guard on steroids.”
The creation of the National Guard, which was announced unexpectedly on Tuesday, marks a major shift in the structure of Russia’s domestic security forces at a time when the Kremlin is braced for rising social unrest amid economic woes. Interfax, a news agency, cited a source familiar with the matter as saying the new security force was likely to number 350,000-400,000.
At a meeting with his security chiefs on Tuesday, Mr Putin said that the new National Guard would “fight terrorism and organised crime”. An executive order that Mr Putin signed creating the body listed its functions as protecting the public order, countering terrorism and extremism, guarding government facilities and cargo, assisting with protection of borders, and controlling arms trade.