普京下令組建國民警衛隊 Putin creates new National Guard to cement authority

Vladimir Putin is moving to cement his Caesar-like authority over Russia with plans for a new, several hundred thousand-strong National Guard that one analyst described as a “Praetorian Guard on steroids.”

俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)正採取行動鞏固其在國內凱撒式的權威。他計劃組建一支新的兵力達數十萬的國民警衛隊，一位分析師將其稱爲“吃了興奮劑的禁衛軍”。

The creation of the National Guard, which was announced unexpectedly on Tuesday, marks a major shift in the structure of Russia’s domestic security forces at a time when the Kremlin is braced for rising social unrest amid economic woes. Interfax, a news agency, cited a source familiar with the matter as saying the new security force was likely to number 350,000-400,000.

俄羅斯出人意料地在週二宣佈成立國民警衛隊，這將標誌着在經濟陷入困境、克里姆林宮應對社會騷亂增加之際，俄羅斯國內安全部隊結構發生重大變化。俄羅斯國際文傳電訊社(Interfax)援引一位知情人士的話稱，國民警衛隊規模可能在35萬至40萬人之間。

At a meeting with his security chiefs on Tuesday, Mr Putin said that the new National Guard would “fight terrorism and organised crime”. An executive order that Mr Putin signed creating the body listed its functions as protecting the public order, countering terrorism and extremism, guarding government facilities and cargo, assisting with protection of borders, and controlling arms trade.

普京在週二與其安全官員開會時表示，新的國民警衛隊將“打擊恐怖主義和有組織犯罪”。普京簽署的創建國民警衛隊的行政命令列出了這支部隊的職能：維護公共秩序、打擊恐怖主義和極端主義、保護政府設施和物資，幫助保衛邊境以及控制軍火貿易。

But analysts say the National Guard — which would unify several different domestic security forces under a single command and bring them under the direct control of the president — seemed designed with an eye on domestic dissent.

但分析師表示，成立國民警衛隊的目的似乎是鎮壓國內異議。國民警衛隊將把國內幾支不同的安全部隊合併起來，由一個指揮部指揮，並受到普京的直接控制。

“There is no real reason for creating the National Guard out of the interior troops and other forces unless you have a serious worry about public unrest,” Mark Galeotti, an expert on the Russian security services at New York University, stated in a blog post.

紐約大學(New York University)研究俄羅斯安全部隊的專家馬克•加萊奧蒂(Mark Galeotti)在一篇博文中寫道：“除非你特別擔心公衆騷亂，否則沒有真正的理由在內務部和其他部隊的基礎上組建國民警衛隊。”

Dmitry Oreshkin, a Russian political analyst, agreed, saying the creation of the new force showed that Mr Putin “is feeling growing concern about his personal safety as a result of the deteriorating situation for the elites”.

俄羅斯政治分析人士德米特里•奧列什金(Dmitry Oreshkin)對此表示贊同。他說，創建新的安全部隊表明，“由於對精英們來說局勢惡化，普京日益擔心其個人安全”。

He added: “This is not the National Guard - it’s the Putin Guard, insomuch as no one other than him can command it.”

他補充稱：“這不是國民警衛隊，而是普京警衛隊，因爲除了他以外沒有人能指揮得動。”

Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, told reporters the new National Guard would “of course” take part in suppressing unauthorised protests.

普京發言人德米特里•巴斯科夫(Dmitry Peskov)向記者們表示，新的國民警衛隊“當然”會參與壓制未經批准的抗議活動。

While the Russian president’s approval ratings have remained at over 80 per cent since the annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Still, there are signs of growing dissatisfaction among ordinary Russians after two years of recession.

儘管自2014年3月俄羅斯吞併克里米亞以來，普京的支持率一直保持在80%以上，但有跡象表明，在兩年的經濟衰退之後，普通老百姓越來越感到不滿。

The proportion of Russians who think the country is moving in the right direction dipped below 50 per cent earlier this year for the first time in two years, according to Levada Centre, an independent pollster. Meanwhile, the number of labour protests in the country was up 40 per cent last year, according to research by the Centre for Economic and Political Reforms, a think-tank.

獨立的民調機構列瓦達中心(Levada Centre)表示，今年早些時候，認爲國家在正確方向上前進的俄羅斯人的比例跌至50%以下，這是兩年來的首次。與此同時，智庫“經濟和政治改革”(Economic and Political Reforms)的研究顯示，去年俄羅斯勞工抗議活動數量上升了40%。