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Separate Operational Purpose Division
Отдельная орденов Жукова, Ленина и Октябрьской Революции Краснознамённая дивизия оперативного назначения Войск национальной гвардии Российской Федерации им. Ф. Е. Дзержинского ODON
Active	June 17, 1924 – present
Country	Russia
Branch	Internal Troops(until 2016) National Guard(since 2016)
Type	Motorized infantry
Role	Protection of public order
Size	~18,000
Part of	Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (until 1991) Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (until 2016) National Guard of Russia (since 2016)
Garrison/HQ	Reutov Balashikha
Nickname	Felix Dzerzhinsky Division
Mottos	"At any time, any place - any task!"
March	"My Division"
Anniversaries	June 17
Engagements	World War II Winter War Tbilisi tragedy 1991 Soviet coup attempt Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 First Chechen War Second Chechen War Peace enforcement Sumgait pogrom Baku pogrom Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Osh riots First South Ossetian War War in Abkhazia Wagner Group rebellion
Decorations	Order of Lenin Order of the October Revolution  Order of the Red Banner  Order of Zhukov  Order of Suvorov
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Nikolai Kuznetsov

TheSeparate Operational Purpose Division (ODON;Russian:Отдельная дивизия оперативного назначения,romanized: Otdel'naya diviziya operativnogo naznacheniya) orOMSDON (a.k.a.Dzerzhinsky Division), is a rapid deploymentinternal securitydivision of theInternal Troops of theMinistry of Internal Affairs of theUSSR and then theInternal Troops of RussiaRussian Federation, currently part of theNational Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation.^[1]

The precursor to the ODON was the 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment of theVTsIK (Russian:1-й автобоевой отряд) which was created in February 1918. The detachment was tasked with guarding the members of the VTsIK and theSovnarkom and providing them with passenger cars. After the relocation of the government toMoscow in March 1918, it was assigned to guarding theKremlin, along with theRed Latvian Riflemen and later the "Kremlin cadets" (Russian:Кремлёвские курсанты). The detachment was renamed1st Armored Car Detachment'Ya. M. Sverdlov' in 1919, and was transferred toVChK in 1921. At the peak of its strength, the detachment had over 400 troops.

In April 1921, VChK created the OSNAZ battalion which consisted of 1st Armored Car Detachment, three rifle platoons, a cavalry squadron, and various auxiliary units, with a total strength of some 1,100 men. VChK became OGPU in 1922, and the OSNAZ was renamed accordingly.

On 17 June 1924, the OSNAZ battalion, an OGPU rifle battalion and an OGPU rifle regiments formed the Special-Purpose Division (DON) of theOGPU Troops. The DON included 4 rifle regiments with an Armored Car detachment. In August 1926, the division was renamedSpecial-Purpose Division'F. E. Dzerzhinsky' of the OGPU Troops. Throughout 1926, one more regiment and five more battalions joined the DON, raising its total strength to some 4,500 troops.

In 1929, the DON was reorganized as a full army division. In 1931, the Armoured Car detachment was reorganized into an armoured regiment. In 1934, OGPU was transferred to thePeople's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (the NKVD). The division fought on the front lines of theWinter War againstFinland.

With the onset ofWorld War II, parts of the division participated in theBattle of Moscow; the remaining unit guarded particularly important installations of the capital, patrolled the streets, and were involved in efforts to liquidate enemy infiltrator groups near the front and in the city.

Along with participation in hostilities, division elements in Moscow detained 485 enemy intelligence agents, 69,753 deserters, and over 320,000 offenders of the established regime.^{[citation needed]}

The division took part in the1941 October Revolution Parade on Moscow'sRed Square.

In the battle against German troops, thesnipers of the 4 Cavalry Regiment (later four motorized infantry) distinguished themselves. On the first deployment of the two sniper Regiments in 1942, they killed 853 German soldiers and officers. In total, in 1942 sniper division has killed 6,440 German soldiers and officers.^{[citation needed]}

The OMSDON units protected the Allied leaders during theYalta Conference.

In preparation for the1980 Moscow Olympics, an elite group of OMSDON troops was trained with special forces tactics; the core of this group later became theVytyaz unit. The final USSR designation of the division wasOMSDON (Independent Special-Purpose Motorized Rifle Division of theInternal Troops of the MVD of the Soviet Union'F. E. Dzerzhinsky',Russian:ОМСДОН, Отдельная мотострелковая дивизия особого назначения ВВ МВДим. Ф. Е. Дзержинского).

In 1994, the OMSDON was renamed as theIndependent Operational Purpose Division orODON. The unit has been once again named afterF. E. Dzerzhinsky on October 22, 2014,^[2] returning therefore to the full title of theIndependent Medals of Zhukov, Lenin and October Revolution Red Banner Operational Purpose Division of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia'F. E. Dzerzhinsky' (Russian:Отдельная орденов Жукова, Ленина и Октябрьской Революции Краснознамённая дивизия оперативного назначения Внутренних войск МВД Россииим. Ф. Е. Дзержинского). As always, they form the first line of security during important events held in Russia, and represented the Internal Troops during the yearlyMoscow Victory Parade and the MoscowNovember 7 Anniversary Parade (the latter because they attended that veryOctober 1941 Revolution Day parade which was the only parade held in the midst of the Great Patriotic War).

With the formation of theNational Guard of Russia, the ODON was officially, in April 2016, retitled as theIndependent Orders of Zhukov, Lenin and October Revolution Red Banner Operational Purpose Division of the National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation named after'F. E. Dzerzhinsky' (Russian:Отдельная орденов Жукова, Ленина и Октябрьской Революции Краснознамённая дивизия оперативного назначения Войск национальной гвардии Российской Федерацииим. Ф. Е. Дзержинского).

During the2018 FIFA World Cup, the division's units simultaneously provided public safety protection inMoscow andKaliningrad. In accordance withdecree of thePresident of Russia dated March 27, 2024 No. 215, the division was awarded theOrder of Suvorov.^[3] The Division marked its Centennial in 2024.

The division includes the following military units (as of 1 January 2013):

• Headquarters
• 604th Special Purpose Center, Military Unit 3179 formed in 2008 combining (Vityaz andRus)
• 2nd Operational Duties Regiment,w / h 3186
  • Honor Guard Company^[4]

• 4th Operational Duties Regiment,w / h 3419
• 5th Operational Duties Regiment,w / h 3500
• 16th Training Center,w / h 3421
• 319th Battalion for the protection and security training centers (Novaya andNoginsk,Moscow Oblast),in / hr 3058
• 344th Command Battalion,a / h 6771 (ORRiKSin / hr 3486)
• Communications Battalion,a / h 3128
• Repair and Refurbishment Battalion,w / h 3187
• Selected Medical Battalion,w / h 3532
• 4th Separate Company forradiation, chemical and biological protection,w / h 3401
• Garrison quarters and operations area,a / h 3492
• 441st Security Battalion,in / hr 6909 (formed in November–December 2012)
• 752nd Engineering Battalion,w / h 6923
• Band of the Dzerzhinsky Division

Therefore, the entire division employs more than ten thousand personnel, hundreds of armoured vehicles, and divisional artillery (mortars and anti-aircraft guns).

On the territory of the division are:

• Main Military Clinical Hospital
• Central Communication Center
• Main Center of the Automated Control System
• Center for Engineering and Technical Support
• Garrison Officers' House "Reutovo"

• Sergei Filippov (1921–1923)
• Pavel Kobelev (1923–1928)
• Mikhail Frinovsky (1928–1930)
• Commander Sergey Kondratiev (1930–1936)
• Commander Pavel Toroshchin (1936–1938)
• Lieutenant General Pavel Artemyev (1938–1941)
• Major General Mikhail Marchenkov (1941–1943)
• Major General Andrei Golovko (1943)
• Major General Ivan Piyashev (1943–1953)
• Major General Alexander Epanchin (1953–1956)
• Major General Pavel Korzhenko (1956–1965)
• Major General Andrey Kozlov (1965–1968)
• Major General Yevgeny Pozhidaev (1969–1974)
• Major General Dmitry Nalivalkin (1974–1982)
• Major General Yuri Bogunov (1982–1987)
• Major General Vitaly Bosov (1987–1991)

• Major General Igor Rubtsov (1991–1993)
• Major General Alexander Budnikov (1993–1995)
• Major General Gennady Tikhonov (1995–1998)
• Colonel Vladimir Manyuta (1998–1999)
• Major General Nikolai Turapin (1999–2002)
• Major GeneralSergey Melikov (2002–2008)
• Major General Pavel Bobkov (2008–2010)
• Major General Igor Poddubny (2010–2013)
• Major General Sergey Zakharov (2013–2016)
• Major General Dmitriy Cherepanov (2016–2021)
• Major General Nikolai Kuznetsov (since 2021)

• Spetsnaz
• SOBR
• OMON

• Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution
• Military units and formations of the NKVD
• Military units and formations established in 1924
• Reutov
• Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union)
• Law enforcement in Russia
• Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War
• Units and formations of the National Guard of Russia
• Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Gendarmerie divisions
• Divisions of Russia

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