(EDM) The recent release of the “Panama Papers,” which revealed notorious cases of hidden money flows tied to the global elite, continues to cause a political stir across the world. But in Russia, this scandal was eclipsed by President Vladimir Putin’s sudden reshuffling of the law enforcement structures. The main element of this bureaucratic coup was the creation of the National Guard on the basis of the Interior Troops. And while loose ideas on reorganizing this 200,000 strong “power structure” had been floating around the Kremlin corridors since the mid-1990s, there had been no discussion of the dubious rationale for such a shakeup since 2012, so Putin’s decision came as his trademark surprise (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 7). Various special units (OMON and SOBR) from the Ministry of Interior were also incorporated into the planned National Guard, which thus becomes 400,000 strong (Rbc.ru, April 7). This sizeable army will be commanded by Victor Zolotov, who for many years was in charge of Putin’s personal security (Gazeta.ru, April 6). No official explanation was provided for the need to form this new “federal executive body“ (as Putin’s decree defines it), leaving much space for speculation about the motivations for and timing of Putin’s urge to take direct control over the “enforcers” of domestic security (see EDM, April 7). […]
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