Ural National Guard District
District Overview and Legal Basis
The Ural National Guard District (Ural District of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation) is a territorial command of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops (Rosgvardiya). Rosgvardiya was established by Presidential Decree No. 157 of 5 April 2016 and operates under Federal Law No. 226-FZ of 3 July 2016. The service assumed the functions and forces of the former Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (VV MVD) and integrates regional OMON and SOBR special police units. Its statutory tasks include protection of public order and critical state facilities, participation in counter-terrorism and territorial defense, support to regimes of emergency/martial law, control over civilian arms circulation and private security oversight, and escort of special cargo as defined by government lists.
Headquarters and Command Functions
Headquarters: Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk Oblast). The district headquarters provides command and control over subordinate National Guard troop units and regional Rosgvardiya directorates in the Urals. Core HQ functions include operations planning and tasking, mobilization readiness, logistics and transport coordination, communications and information security, personnel administration, and oversight of OMON/SOBR activities within the district. The HQ acts as the principal coordination node with federal and regional authorities for public order, counter-terrorism support under the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK), and protection of important state facilities located in the Urals.
Geographic Area of Responsibility
Open-source structure and official regional pages indicate the Ural District's jurisdiction aligns with the Urals macro-region and the Urals Federal District, encompassing Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, and Tyumen Oblasts, as well as the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The district’s responsibilities span dense industrial centers (e.g., Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen) and energy-focused northern territories (KhMAO, YNAO), requiring widely dispersed basing, mobility, and seasonal operations capability in arctic/subarctic conditions.
Subordinate Structures and Units
Subordinate elements typically include: (1) regional Rosgvardiya directorates in each federal subject listed above; (2) OMON and SOBR units stationed in regional capitals and large cities for public order, high-risk arrest, and counter-terrorism support; (3) National Guard troop formations (operational and security units) responsible for facility protection, patrols, convoy/escort duties, and rapid reinforcement; and (4) licensing and permitting centers for arms circulation and oversight of private security organizations. Exact orders of battle, unit designations, and detailed manpower figures are not publicly disclosed.
Core Missions and Tasks
In accordance with Federal Law No. 226-FZ, the district executes: maintenance of public order and public safety; protection of important state facilities and special cargo; participation in combating terrorism and extremism (under NAK coordination); participation in territorial defense and in ensuring regimes of emergency or martial law when introduced; disarming of illegal armed formations and assisting in border security as designated by law; state control over civilian arms circulation and oversight of private security activities. The district apportions these tasks to OMON/SOBR, operational troop units, and dedicated security subunits depending on the mission profile.
Infrastructure and Basing Footprint
The basing footprint reflects the region’s administrative and economic geography. Garrisons and detachments are positioned in regional capitals (Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Kurgan, Khanty-Mansiysk, Salekhard) and in several major industrial or energy hubs (e.g., Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk) to enable rapid response along key population, industrial, and transport corridors. Facilities commonly include headquarters and staff buildings, vehicle parks and maintenance depots, small-arms ranges, training complexes for urban operations and riot-control drills, detention/holding infrastructure for operations, and secure storage for weapons and special equipment. Specific site addresses, storage protocols, and protected facility lists are not publicly available.
Equipment and Mobility
District units employ standard Rosgvardiya inventories documented in public imagery and procurement releases: individual weapons (AK-74M/AK-12-series rifles, RPK-74 light machine guns, PKM/PKP Pecheneg general-purpose machine guns, SVD designated marksman rifles, service pistols); riot-control gear (shields, helmets, body armor, less-lethal launchers); and mobility platforms including Ural- and KamAZ-family trucks, GAZ Tigr-M and similar armored utility vehicles, Rosgvardiya-configured MRAP-type vehicles (e.g., Ural-VV; KamAZ K-53949 Typhoon-K), and, in some units, BTR-80/82-series armored personnel carriers. Exact holdings and distribution by unit within the Ural District are not officially published.
Aviation Support
Rosgvardiya maintains its own aviation component for air mobility, surveillance, and support. Public sources indicate operation of Mi-8-family medium helicopters and light utility types procured for internal security tasks. Aviation support to the Ural District is provided through Rosgvardiya’s aviation command structure using regional airfields and helipads; specific basing locations, aircraft counts, and alert postures in the Urals are not consistently detailed in open sources.
Interagency Coordination
District operations routinely coordinate with: the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) for public order and policing; the Federal Security Service (FSB) and its National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) for CT operations; the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) under the Unified State System for Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations; and, as required, with Ministry of Defense (MoD) territorial bodies for territorial defense contingencies. These relationships are mandated in federal legislation and interagency statutes governing emergency, counter-terrorism, and territorial defense frameworks.
Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Urals
The district’s area includes dense energy and industrial infrastructure: oil and gas fields and trunk pipelines in KhMAO and YNAO; metallurgical and machine-building enterprises in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk Oblasts; and major logistics hubs. Facilities of strategic importance in Sverdlovsk Oblast include enterprises such as the Ural Electrochemical Integrated Plant in Novouralsk (Rosatom sector), alongside regional power generation and fuel transport nodes. Under Federal Law No. 226-FZ and government lists of important state facilities, Rosgvardiya units are authorized to protect designated sites and special cargo; the specific roster of protected sites in the Ural District is not publicly disclosed.
Lines of Communication and Mobility Corridors
Operational reach leverages major east–west and north–south corridors: Trans-Siberian and Sverdlovsk Railway lines; federal highways including M-5 (Ural), R-351 (Yekaterinburg–Tyumen), and R-254 (Irtysh) linking Chelyabinsk–Kurgan–Omsk; and seasonal routes into arctic areas of YNAO. Proximity to Yekaterinburg’s rail junctions and Koltsovo International Airport facilitates strategic movements and rotations. These networks enable reinforcement across the industrial south and energy-producing north within the district.
Training and Readiness
District formations conduct firearms proficiency, small-unit tactics, riot-control drills, convoy and facility-protection procedures, and winter/arctic operations relevant to northern sectors. OMON/SOBR personnel receive specialized training for high-risk arrests, building entry, and counter-terrorism support. Unit training commonly uses dedicated Rosgvardiya ranges and, by agreement, regional training areas. Readiness cycles and detailed training syllabi are not comprehensively published, but regular rotations and joint drills with MVD/FSB/EMERCOM are publicly reported at the federal level.
Open-Source Visibility and Information Gaps
Core facts—district existence, HQ in Yekaterinburg, mission set, and general regional coverage—are corroborated by official decrees, federal law, and Rosgvardiya’s public communications. However, specific garrison addresses, unit numeric designations, personnel strengths, protected-facility lists, aircraft inventories, and detailed readiness postures are not publicly released or are inconsistently reported. Where such information is classified or unpublished, it cannot be provided.