Global InformationVOKhR information
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2024) |
| VOKhR | |
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| ВОХР, Силы внутренней безопасности Советского | |
 Official and main symbol of the VOKhR paramilitary which depicts a red star with two crossed rifles. | |
| Active | December 5, 1917 – December 3, 1991 |
| Disbanded | December, 1991 |
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| Allegiance | Government of the Soviet Union, Red Army, Soviet Armed Forces, Cheka, NKVD, OGPU, Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union), KGB |
| Branch | Internal security |
| Role | Keeping the internal security of the Soviet Union |
| Nickname(s) | VeCheka |
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| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |   |
| Soviet Armed Forces |
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| Ranks of the Soviet Military |
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| History of the Soviet Military |
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VOKhR, VeCheka or The Internal Security forces of the Soviet Union (Russian: ВОХР, Силы внутренней безопасности Советского Союза tr. Voyska Okhrany Krasnogo Ugla) was a paramilitary organisation that operated with Civilian, Military and Security force troops who worked in a separate section of the military and security forces for the internal security of the Soviet Union. They were designated as a paramilitary force tasked with protecting the internal security, communications, transportation and, guarding of borders and regions.[1][2][3][4]
During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks had a paramilitary organisation called the Bolshevik red guards, they developed into the Red Army after Vladimir Lenin wrote: "There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, and that is to create a people's militia and to fuse it with the army (the standing army to be replaced by the arming of the entire people)."[5] The Red army was established in 1918 soon after the revolution, the predecessor of the VOKhR paramilitary was called the "Departmental armed and unarmed guards". At the time the Russian Civil War had begun and had already greatly affected the Bolsheviks, they had taken over the government but the White Army and the many minorities and republics declared war in the midst of the chaos. Because of the numerous external and internal security threats that were present during the civil war, the Council of People's Commissars created the Cheka. The VOKhR paramilitary was created and developed from the Departmental armed and unarmed guards along with the larger secret police of the Cheka, internal security was needed but the security of the undeveloped countryside of Russia and many other forms of security were also needed which was the main reason that the VOKhR branch was created.[6] VOKhR was largely designed to be operated by both officials, extensively trained personnel from the Cheka and other internal security branches and civilians who volunteer or were drafted. Civilians were more needed because they could report, guard or operate in smaller communities and roads across the countryside.[7]
- ^ "Under the Red Star - VOKhR Caps". www.undertheredstar.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ^ Rogozhkin, N. Ye (2006-04-01). "Internal Troops: from past to future". Military Thought. 15 (2): 37–43.
- ^ "Federal Service of Troops Russian Federation National Guard (RF FSVNG)". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ^ Landis, Erik C. (2008). Bandits and Partisans: The Antonov Movement in the Russian Civil War. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822943433.
- ^ "The Tasks of the Proletariat in Our Revolution". www.marx2mao.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ^ "ВОХР ВСНХ РСФСР в период 1927-29гг". www.vedomstva-uniforma.ru. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ "Об утверждении Типового положения о вневедомственной охране при органах милиции (фактически не применяется) от 18 февраля 1966 - docs.cntd.ru". docs.cntd.ru. Retrieved 2023-12-22.