Militia (police) — the name for public order enforcement bodies in Russia and the USSR, in use from 1917 until 1 March 2011, when the Federal Law "On Police" came into force.[1][2] In Nizhny Novgorod and the governorate, the militia appeared in spring 1917, replacing the dissolved police force, and over ninety-four years evolved from squads of student volunteers into a regional headquarters. From 12 May 2011, the Nizhny Novgorod militia has been known as the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region.[4]

1917

After the February Revolution, police forces were disbanded across the entire governorate: on 5 March 1917, the ispravnik (police chief) of Arzamas Uyezd was handed a written order requiring the immediate and voluntary surrender of weapons by all police officers.[3]

The resulting vacuum was filled by volunteers: until 12 March 1917, public order in Nizhny Novgorod was maintained by university students and senior-year gymnasium pupils — 528 people in all. On 22 March, by order of the provincial commissar, a provisional militia was established, "unconstrained by the laws that had applied to the former police."[3]

It was then placed on a regular footing. From 15 May, staffing levels were approved, drawing on those who had completed special courses; from 4 June 1917, militiamen who had passed training exercises went out on public order duty for the first time. The yarmarka militia's roster was not fully assembled by 16 July: 90 out of 120 positions had been filled. On 1 September, the city duma confirmed Vasily Mikhaylovich Babakov as chief of the city militia.[3]

The 2011 Reform

Federal Law No. 3-FZ "On Police" was signed on 7 February 2011 and came into force on 1 March of the same year.[1][2] Internal affairs officers were subject to an extraordinary re-certification process; those who passed it were considered police officers and were assigned new specialist ranks. Service ID cards, letterheads, seals, and stamps of the militia were permitted for use until 1 January 2012 — so militia insignia lawfully survived to the year's end.[2]

On 12 May 2011, the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for Nizhny Novgorod Region was renamed the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region. The head of the directorate, Ivan Shayev, was awarded the rank of police major general by presidential decree No. 595 of 6 May.[4]

The name of the professional holiday changed, but not the date: by presidential decree of 13 October 2011, No. 1348, the Day of the Employee of the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation was established, observed on 10 November, as Militia Day had been observed before.[5]

Re-certification and Staffing Cuts in the Region

The re-certification process resulted in the largest personnel reduction in the region's history. Across the region, 4,878 established posts were cut; the re-certification period was extended to 1 August 2011, the examination comprised one hundred questions selected from a bank of two hundred, fifty minutes were allotted, and the passing threshold was eighty correct answers.[6]

By August 2011, 22.2 percent of the militia's former headcount had been removed from the structure — those same 4,878 posts; all officers admitted to re-certification passed it.[7] In 2015, a second wave followed: cuts affected nearly 11.5 percent of personnel, primarily in management and non-departmental security units.[8]

By late 2024, the situation had reversed: the staffing shortfall across the region reached 24.7 percent — 31.3 percent among district beat officers, 41.6 percent in the patrol and guard service, 47.1 percent in the escort and custody service, 26.9 percent in the criminal investigation department, and 30.1 percent in the investigative branch. At the start of 2022, the shortfall had been under ten percent.[9]

Leadership

From January 1998, the regional militia was led by Police Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Kanygin, who in April 2003 moved to head the Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.[10] He was succeeded by Viktor Bratanov, who led the directorate until December 2010.[11]

From December 2010 to March 2017 the directorate was headed by Ivan Shayev,[4] then by Yuri Kulik, transferred to the region by order of 10 September 2017 and departing the post in April 2019.[12]

On 13 June 2019, Police Major General Yuri Vasilyevich Arsentiev took charge of the directorate.[13] He continues to head it in 2026, now holding the rank of police lieutenant general: on 2 February 2026, he presented the results of the directorate's work for 2025, noting a 10 percent drop in offences against the person, an 18 percent drop in robberies, and a 15 percent drop in street crime.[14]

The Academy

The Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia traces its origins to the School for Junior Command Personnel of the Militia of the NKVD of the RSFSR, founded in 1927; in 2000 the academy was established on the basis of the Nizhny Novgorod Law Institute.[15] It is located at 3 Ankudinovskoe Highway and is still known in everyday city usage as the militia school.

In 2026 the academy is headed by Police Major General Konstantin Plyasov; on 31 July 2026, 236 graduates — 23 of them with distinction — were congratulated at the Eternal Flame memorial in the Kremlin.[16]

Commemoration

On 22 June 2015, a memorial stele to officers who died in the line of duty was unveiled in Avtozavodsky District, and on 22 June 2016 a memorial complex was opened at the city's Ministry of Internal Affairs directorate; a granite plaque bears the names of regional internal affairs officers who died in the North Caucasus.[17][18]

On 26 October 2025, a tram dedicated to militiamen who were Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Russia entered service on Route No. 5, with thirteen people depicted on its sides. According to the head of the directorate, the history of the internal affairs bodies of the Gorky and Nizhny Novgorod land records the names of more than 1,700 officers who went to the front; approximately one third returned, and twelve Gorky militiamen were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, some posthumously.[19]

Museums

The Museum of the History of the Main Directorate operates in the directorate's building at 71 Maxim Gorky Street. It grew out of a history corner dedicated to the Gorky and Nizhny Novgorod militia, occupies seven halls, and holds a primary collection of more than 4,500 items.[20]

A separate museum of the militia and police opened on 10 June 2013 in the settlement of Vacha, on the second floor of the district police department building. It was assembled by the chairman of the district department's veterans' council, Sergei Gamenyuk: more than 4,000 exhibits in six halls, over two hundred headpieces from police forces of different countries, uniforms from seventy-five states on thirty-six mannequins, and a dragoon sabre from 1855. In its first ten years the museum received more than forty thousand visitors.[21]

Police Dog Service

Canine handlers — formerly known as militia canine handlers — are today part of the Canine Service Centre of the Main Directorate. On 20–22 July 2022, a national Ministry of Internal Affairs competition among canine handlers was held there, drawing participants from 72 regions.[22]

Sources

  1. consultant.ru — ConsultantPlus — Federal Law of 7 February 2011, No. 3-FZ "On Police" (archive)
  2. legalacts.ru — Legislative Acts — Articles 54 and 56 of the Federal Law "On Police": extraordinary re-certification and entry into force (archive)
  3. statehistory.ru — History of the State — Establishment of the Nizhny Novgorod militia during the Provisional Government period (March–October 1917) (archive)
  4. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The Main Internal Affairs Directorate for Nizhny Novgorod Region renamed as the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region
  5. consultant.ru — ConsultantPlus — Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 13 October 2011, No. 1348, on the Day of the Employee of the Internal Affairs Bodies (archive)
  6. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The militia transforms: how re-certification proceeded in the region
  7. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Reform results: 22.2 percent of the militia's former headcount removed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs structure
  8. nn.aif.ru — Argumenty i Fakty — Nizhny Novgorod — The number of police officers in Nizhny Novgorod Region to be reduced (archive)
  9. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Nizhny Novgorod Region faces a shortage of police officers (archive)
  10. cyberleninka.ru — Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia — On the anniversary of Vyacheslav Ivanovich Kanygin
  11. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Viktor Bratanov: "We and the people come from the same gate"
  12. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Yuri Kulik appointed head of the Nizhny Novgorod Main Directorate (archive)
  13. V Gorode N — Yuri Arsentiev takes charge of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
  14. Vremya N — The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region presents results of work for 2025 (archive)
  15. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Diocese — The Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia celebrates its 90th anniversary (archive)
  16. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — 236 graduates congratulated at the Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
  17. mvdnn.ru — MVD Nizhny Novgorod — Memorial stele to fallen officers unveiled in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  18. mvdnn.ru — MVD Nizhny Novgorod — Memorial complex in memory of fallen police officers opened in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  19. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Tram dedicated to hero militiamen enters service in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  20. iqpax.com — City Panoramas — Museum of the History of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
  21. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The militia and police museum in Vacha marks its 10th anniversary (archive)
  22. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — National Ministry of Internal Affairs competition among canine handlers opens in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)