It may sound like a rather arcane development, but a change in the command structure of the Rosgvardiya, Russia’s National Guard, offers some clues about both the state of the country and the Ukraine war – and the Kremlin’s fears for the future.

Zolotov has been lobbying for some time for the Rosgvardiya to have its own General Staff. This week, he got it

Zolotov has been lobbying for some time for the Rosgvardiya to have its own General Staff. This week, he got it

The Rosgvardiya is an internal security force of some 180,000 personnel, ranging from the blue-camouflaged OMON riot police who patrol the streets alongside the regular police, through to the Interior Troops, a virtual parallel army with its own tanks and artillery. (There are also at least as many in FGUP Okhrana, its private security firm.) It was established in 2016 to a large extent because the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) was increasingly unhappy at being called on to suppress public protests. When Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev – a career cop, not a KGB veteran like his predecessor – communicated the mildest of dissent to Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin responded by stripping the MVD of its security forces and transferring them to a new agency. Ex-presidential bodyguard, Viktor Zolotov – a man who has acquired the nickname “Putin’s Doberman” – was put in charge. The Kremlin........

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