Kremlin provides heavy weapons to Rosgvardia after Prigozhin's mutiny - British intelligence
This was reported on Twitter by the British Ministry of Defense, citing intelligence data, according to Ukrinform.
On 4 August 2023, President Putin signed into law a measure which will allow Rosgvardia, the Russian National Guard, to be equipped with heavy weaponry.
A sprawling organisation of up to 200,000 frontline personnel, Rosgvardia was created in its modern form in 2016 and is led by Putin's former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov. The decision to strengthen the force follows the abortive Wagner mutiny of June 2023, the report says.
“Despite Zolotov's claim that his force performed 'excellently' during the mutiny, there is no evidence that Rosgvardia carried out any effective action against Wagner: exactly the sort of internal security threat it was designed to repress”, The British Ministry of Defense believes.
The intelligence report also states that with Zolotov previously suggesting that heavy equipment should include artillery and attack helicopters, the move suggests that the Kremlin is doubling down on resourcing Rosgvardia as one of the key organisations to ensure regime security.
As reported, in a previous report, British intelligence said that Russian air forces continue to deploy significant resources to support ground operations during their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but without decisive operational effect.
