Putin handed over the special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “Grom” to the Russian Guard.

The Grom special unit is being transferred from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the structures of the Russian Guard by the decision of President Vladimir Putin, State Duma deputy Alexander Khinstein said.

According to him, this applies not only to the state, but also to Thunder’s infrastructure, including facilities, equipment, weapons, ammunition and other material goods. Unit personnel will be transferred to serve in the National Guard if they consent.

Khinshtein accused the Interior Ministry of trying to “create its own special forces as an alternative to the Russian Guard’s SOBR”, although Grom’s powers were initially limited to the fight against drugs. He reminded that since last year, the unit has more than doubled to 7,000. people and was given the right to “work in the entire spectrum of police functions”.

After that, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs secretly ordered the territorial authorities to ignore SOBR while conducting operations in the country, which led to several emergencies, and then the department began to lure employees of the special units of the Russian Guard by offering them more favorable conditions, the MP claims.

According to Khinshtein, in the conditions of war with Ukraine, when SOBR and OMON, unlike the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are directly involved in hostilities, “all this was fraught with serious problems.”

In addition, this way Putin’s very decision to create the National Guard by redistributing the functions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is also in question – now the president has emphasized the key role of the department he created in protecting the country’s internal security and put an end to the dispute about its “secondary nature”, believes the MP.

Previously Vedomosti sources reported that Grom was about to be subordinated to the Russian Guard again. According to them, the decision was made after the PMC leader Wagner’s rebellion, Yevgeny Prigozhin. At the same time, the head of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov, said that he had asked Putin for tanks and long-range cannons and received permission.

In this regard, on July 17, she submitted the State Duma a bill that will allow the Russian Guard to be equipped with heavy military equipment. The authors of the document noted that the changes result from the ministry’s tasks, including “combating terrorism and extremism, ensuring the state of emergency, martial law, the legal regime of the anti-terrorist operation, as well as participation in the territorial defense of the Russian Federation.” Bill considered at first reading on 19 July.