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...People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD).*
By the start the Nazi aggression, the Internal Troops had a numerical strength of 174,000 servicemen. After mobilization, their number increased to approximately 274,000. (1)
Being a component of the Armed Forces, during the war, the Internal Troops were directly involved in combat operations and performed special missions in ensuring the internal security of the state. They guarded the rear service areas of the active army, fought against the enemy's covert agents and its hit and run units, ensured public order, did garrison duty in liberated areas, escorted persons in custody and prisoners of war, guarded detention facilities, and fought against banditry.
NKVD troops were involved in guerilla warfare behind enemy lines and in the Resistance movement in occupied European countries.
With the start of the Nazi aggression, NKVD troops, in conjunction with border troops, were among the first to defend the country's western borders. Eleven NKVD special purpose regiments were the first to engage the enemy's superior forces.
In spite of the fact that by the type of their weapons and technical equipment, the Internal Troops were not designed to engage large enemy forces or conduct independent defensive operations (nor were such provisions made in prewar mobilization plans), they fought on all the main fronts of the enemy offensive.
From the very first days of the war, the NKVD troops became a kind of a commissioned officer reserve for the Red Army. In accordance with the June 29, 1941 order by the Supreme High Command, 23,000 NKVD officers were made available for the formation of 15 rifle divisions which were subsequently transferred under Red Army command. Thus, the 249th Rifle Division was among the first in the Soviet Army to be awarded the guards appellation (the 16th Guards Rifle Division); it was also granted the honorific appellation "Karachayevskaya" and awarded the Order or Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and the Order of Suvorov, Second Class. The 257th Rifle Division was reorganized as the 91st Guards Rifle Division, awarded the honorific appellation "Dukhovshchinskaya" and awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order the Red Banner, and the Order of Suvorov. The 254th Rifle Division was renamed "Cherkasskaya, Orders of Lenin, Red Banner, Suvorov, Kutuzov, and Bogdan Khmelnitskiy Rifle Division." It is among the 29 units and formations that were awarded fives order or more.
In October 1942, the Supreme High Command issued orders for an independent army of NKVD troops to be formed, comprising six divisions. On February 5, 1943, the formation, called the 70th Army, was deployed on the Central Front and fought in the Battle of Kursk.
Experienced generals and officers of the NKVD's border troops and internal troops were appointed to command and political positions in the active army, including I. I. Maslennikov, K.I. Rakutin, V.A. Khomenko, V.M. Sharapov, K.F. Telegin, F.N. Shilov, E.V. Kozik, D. P. Onupriyenko, and many others.
A total of 58 divisions and 23 brigades of NKVD forces, as well as other independent units...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
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