RUSSIAN FEDERATION Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON) sleeve patch, subdued, 1990s

OMON (Russian: ОМОН—Отряд милиции особого назначения, Special Purpose Police Unit) was a system of special police units of Federal Police within the Russian, and previously Soviet, Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was created as the special forces of the Soviet Militsiya in 1988, and then played major roles in several armed conflicts during and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In modern context, the OMON were used more like riot police, or as a gendarmerie-like paramilitary force. On 5 April 2016, the functions of OMON were taken over by the newly established National Guard of Russia.