JRL NEWSWATCH: “Some thoughts on the security side of Saturday’s Moscow crackdown” – In Moscow’s Shadows/ Mark Galeotti

“… 1. There seems to have been something of a split between the police and the National Guard. …  2. … gas and guns were absent. … an entirely old school shield-and-baton operation …. [without] even … armed snatch squads … behind the lines as backup, suggesting [authorities] knew … they weren’t going to face serious trouble …. 3. Who was in charge? … there are real questions as to how far … Sobyanin actually made the decision … [and] there seems a distinct lack of clarity about the chain of command amongst the security forces. The FSB’s Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order … [and] with the Investigative Committee is [leading] … prosecutions … It would be interesting to know … the command structure between police and National Guard … and how far this was being driven by the MVD or the Kremlin. … 4. Who was there? … regular police, National Guard Interior Troops and National Guard OMON. … Simplistic and unreliable way … to tell them apart: police are in dark blue uniforms, NG in blue stripy urban camouflage … OMON generally wear black body armour, and other troops camouflage vests. This doesn’t always apply, though ….”

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