putin
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Klimenteev
President Vladimir Putin has ordered that a National Guard be created in Russia under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The guard will fight terrorism and organized crime.

"We have made a decision to create a new federal executive body within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, namely the National Guard," the president said Tuesday.

The National Guard "will be fighting terrorism, organized crime, all in close cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They will also continue to perform the functions which are currently carried out by riot police units, SWAT, etc.," he added.

The National Guard will be formed out of existing Interior Ministry troops.

"We thought about how to improve [the work of law enforcement] in all areas, including those related to fighting terrorism, to organized crime and illicit drug trafficking," Putin said.

The statement came as Putin met Interior Minister Viktor Kolokoltsev, head of the Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov, and the commander of the interior troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Viktor Zolotov.

Putin also said that the Federal Migration Service will now be subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The creation of the National Guard was first rumored in 2012. At that time, media reports were deemed "absolutely untrue" by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's office.