5th Separate Special Police Brigade
Unit Identification and Nomenclature
The designation '5th Separate Special Police Brigade' does not align with standard contemporary Russian terminology. Open-source records identify a '5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade' (Russian: 5-я отдельная бригада специального назначения) within the former Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (VV MVD). This formation is commonly cited with military unit number 3219 and a garrison in Prokhladny, Kabardino-Balkaria. The pairing of this brigade with military unit number 6713 could not be corroborated in authoritative public sources as of 2025. The label 'Separate Patrol Battalion' with military unit number 5527 likewise does not match a verifiable Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) or Ministry of Defence formation in publicly available records.
Organizational Affiliation and Legal Framework
On 5 April 2016, Presidential Decree No. 157 established the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops (Rosgvardia). Federal Law No. 226-FZ of 3 July 2016 codified the National Guard Troops and transferred the Internal Troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Rosgvardia. As a former VV MVD formation, the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade was incorporated into the National Guard Troops and operates within the Rosgvardia regional command structure (North Caucasus District). Detailed current tables of organization and precise subordination for this brigade are not officially published.
Verified Site: Prokhladny Garrison — Location Analysis
Prokhladny is a city in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Russian Federation, situated in the North Caucasus. Open-source directories and historical reporting place the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade in or near Prokhladny, with access to established road and rail links connecting to regional centers such as Nalchik and to wider North Caucasus transport corridors. The location enables rapid movement to mountainous and urban operational areas typical of Rosgvardia missions in the region.
Regional Security Context
The North Caucasus has been a persistent focus of counterterrorism and law-and-order operations since the 1990s. Special-purpose formations of the former Internal Troops (now Rosgvardia) have historically been employed in high-risk operations in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. While unit-specific operational records are not comprehensively published, the siting of a special-purpose brigade in Prokhladny aligns with the longstanding concentration of internal security forces across the North Caucasus.
Infrastructure and Facilities
Rosgvardia special-purpose brigades typically maintain garrisons with unit headquarters, barracks, motor pools and maintenance areas, weapons storage, small-arms ranges, training fields, and logistical support services. Official Russian sources do not disclose detailed facility layouts, capacity figures, or restricted-area boundaries for the Prokhladny site. Accordingly, site-level specifics for the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade remain limited in the public domain beyond its widely reported presence in or near Prokhladny.
Mission Set and Capabilities
Under Federal Law No. 226-FZ, National Guard Troops are tasked with maintaining public order and safety; combating terrorism and extremism; protecting important state facilities and special cargo; participating in territorial defense; and assisting border security. Special-purpose brigades provide high-readiness forces for counterterrorism and high-risk law-enforcement support, convoy and facility security, and operations in urban and mountainous terrain. Precise manning levels, subunit composition, and readiness metrics for the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade are not published.
Equipment and Mobility Profile (General)
Rosgvardia special-purpose units commonly field standard Russian small arms and support weapons (e.g., AK-series assault rifles, PKM/Pecheneg machine guns, RPG-7-series launchers) and operate wheeled armored personnel carriers such as BTR-80/82-series, light armored vehicles including GAZ Tigr-M, and general-purpose trucks. These categories are typical across comparable formations; however, an authoritative, current inventory list for the unit in Prokhladny has not been released publicly.
Assessment of Designator 'military unit 6713'
No authoritative Russian government or Rosgvardia publication confirms that military unit 6713 corresponds to the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade. Open-source compilations instead commonly list the brigade as military unit 3219. In the absence of official confirmation, mapping 6713 to this formation—or to any specific Russian military site—cannot be substantiated using publicly available information.
Assessment of 'Separate Patrol Battalion, military unit 5527'
In Russian practice, 'Separate Patrol Police Battalions' belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs police (Patrol-Post Service) rather than to the National Guard Troops or the Ministry of Defence, and they are generally not identified by 'military unit' (в/ч) designators. The numeric designator 5527 cannot be reliably attributed to a Russian Rosgvardia or MoD formation in open sources. Without authoritative attribution, no site-level details can be provided for a unit labeled 'Separate Patrol Battalion, military unit 5527'.
Open-Source Confidence and Limitations
The presence of the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade in or near Prokhladny is supported by multiple open-source directories and historical reporting. However, Russian authorities do not publish comprehensive registries of National Guard unit numbers, detailed orders of battle, or facility schematics. Consequently, the precise mapping of military unit numbers 6713 and 5527 to specific Russian sites, as well as detailed infrastructure characteristics and current personnel/equipment figures for the Prokhladny garrison, remain unconfirmed in the public domain.
Collection Priorities to Resolve Outstanding Points
To conclusively resolve unit-to-site mappings and current status, relevant public sources include official Rosgvardia press releases and regional command communiqués that explicitly reference unit numbers and locations; Russian government procurement and court records that cite military unit identifiers and contract addresses; and high-resolution commercial satellite imagery correlated with verifiable unit signage and vehicle markings. Absent such corroboration, assertions regarding military unit 6713 and 5527 would be speculative and are therefore withheld.
Analytical Summary
Among the identifiers provided, the verifiable Russian site is the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade, widely reported as military unit 3219, garrisoned in or near Prokhladny, Kabardino-Balkaria, and incorporated into the National Guard Troops following the 2016 reform. The associations '5th Separate Special Police Brigade — military unit 6713' and 'Separate Patrol Battalion — military unit 5527' cannot be substantiated from authoritative public sources; no reliable Russian site information can be provided for those pairings.