This article was written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/putin-creates-a-russian-national-guard/
The recent announcement by President Putin of the creation of a Russian National Guard has triggered a flurry of wild speculations about the reasons behind this important move. Some experts saw that as a way to prepare a bloody crackdown against an insurrection, others have speculated that Putin needed a new force to deal with protests and riots, while others have even suggested that this National Guard would become “Putin’s army”. In reality, the matter is both much simpler and much more complicated.