I started hearing about OMON before I ever saw them. I’d only been in Moscow a few weeks when a bar debate erupted over the authenticity of a YouTube clip purporting to capture an OMON deathblow. During an arrest an OMON officer had unleashed a series of strikes that left his victim crumpled on the ground.

Some said the person died of internal bleeding. Others doubted it. In any case, I made a mental note of the word: OMON. (more…)

OMON’s first ever meet-the-press event, organized to change the special force’s image from brutal and incompetent to professional and deadly. (more…)