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Russian Guards

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Guards (Template:Lang-ru) or Guards units (Template:Lang-ru) were and still are elite military units of Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the a chieftain's druzhina of medieval Kievan Rus' and the Marksman Troops (Стрелецкое Войско), the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550. The exact meaning of the term "Guards" varied over time.

Imperial Russian Guard

Badge of the Imperial Russian Guard Izmaylovsky Regiment.
Main article: Imperial Russian Guard

In the Russian Empire, Imperial Russian Guard units ("Leib-Guards", [лейб-гвардия, leyb-gvardiya] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), derived from German 'Leibwächter' (body-guards), were intended to ensure the security of the sovereign, initially, that of Peter the Great in the 1690s. These were based on the Prussian Royal Life Guards. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Imperial Guards consisted of 13 infantry, 4 rifles and 14 cavalry regiments and a few other support units, they were abolished in 1918.

The Imperial Russian Guard units were not exclusively composed of Russian troops, they also included Lithuanian, Finnish and Ukrainian personnel.

Russian Revolution

Main articles: Red Guards (Russia) and White Movement

The Red Guards (Template:Lang-ru) were armed groups of workers formed during the Russian Revolution of 1917. They were the main strike force of the Bolsheviks, and were created in March 1917 at industrial enterprises by Factory and Plant Committees and by Bolshevik party cells. When the Soviet Red Army was formed in 1918, the Red Guards became the Army Reserve and the basis for the formation of regular military detachments.

The White Guard (Template:Lang-ru) or White Army ([Belaya Armiya] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), whose members were called [belogvardeytsy] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), comprised both the political and military forces of the Russian White Movement, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.

Soviet Guards

Main article: Guards unit
Badge of the Soviet Guards (1941).

The Guards units (Template:Lang-ru) were again awarded to units and formations which distinguishing themselves during the second world war by the order of People's Commissar for Defence of USSR No.303 on the 18 September 1941, and were considered to have elite status. However, the Guards badge was not introduced until 21 May 1943.

There were total 11 Guard Armies and 6 Guard Tank Armies:

Russian Federation Guards

Main article: List of guards units of Russia

The Guards distinction was retained as designations of units and formations in the armed forces of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

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