Video control over tests for maroon berets follows scandal with Chechen law enforcers

In Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), tests were held for the right to wear maroon berets, which for the first time were accompanied by video broadcast. This novelty is explained by an attempt to avoid frauds when passing tests after the incident with candidates from Chechnya, the military analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier this October, a conflict broke out among "Rosgvardiya" (Russian National Guard) servicemen during a speed march as part of the tests for obtaining maroon berets held in the Stavropol Territory. The "Vityaz" special fighters claimed that law enforcers from Chechnya had received their maroon berets undeservedly.

On October 28, the "Rosgvardiya" (Russian National Guard) branch in the Southern Federal District (SFD) reported about another series of tests for the right to wear maroon berets held in the Krasnodar Territory; 43 "Rosgvardiya" fighters took part in the speed march.

The tests were monitored by experts from the Kuban "Rosgvardiya" Branch, who used a high-altitude video surveillance complex based on the "Oko" (Eye) tethered balloon, the Branch has explained.

The broadcast was watched at the special-purpose mountaineers' training centre in the Krasnodar Territory in order to assess the applicants, the press service of the SFD's "Rosgvardiya" Branch told reporters. The broadcast was used for the first time in the history of passing tests for the right to wear maroon berets, the TASS reported on October 28.

The use of the high-altitude video surveillance complex based on the "Oko" balloon could have been applied in order to exclude frauds while passing the route of the speed march, Police Colonel Amir Kolov has suggested.

The use of surveillance technologies was a consequence of the conflict at the Stavropol training ground with the participation of law enforcers from Chechnya, said Alexander Perendjiev, a military political analyst and a member of the expert council of the NGO "Russian Officers". "Thus it was shown that lawlessness will not work here," he has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 29, 2021 at 10:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.