Journal section JURISPRUDENCE
On Crucial Tasks of the NKVD of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War
Kobets P.N. On crucial tasks of the NKVD of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Penitentiary Science, 2026, vol. 20, no. 2 (74), pp. 125–132. doi 10.46741/2713- 2811.2026.74.2.002.
the NKVD of the USSR made a significant contribution to the victory in the Great
Patriotic War. Purpose: to analyze key tasks of the NKVD of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.
Scientific cognition, comparative analysis, historical, and logical methods are used in the study. The
results of the conducted research indicate that despite a lack of resources and qualified personnel of
the NKVD of the USSR, a large number of tasks assigned to it by the country’s leaders were solved.
Sustainable performance of the NKVD of the USSR in wartime testifies to mobilization readiness and possibilities for effective execution of tasks. The author concludes that from the first months
of hostilities, the NKVD of the USSR was ready to fight the enemy. This was evidenced not only by
effective law enforcement practice, but also by a clear response to the solution of new functional
tasks assigned to the NKVD of the USSR, which arose in the conditions of military life. This law
enforcement experience needs to be further studied in order to be used in modern conditions, if
necessary.
Keywords: Great Patriotic War; law enforcement agencies; legislative bases; extermination battalions; evacuation; fighting crime; penitentiary practice; prisoner protection.
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Doctor of Sciences (Law), Professor, Chief Researcher at the Center for Organizational Support of Scientific Activities of the All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Intеriоr of Russia, Moscow, Russia
ORCID 0000-0001-6527-3788
, e-mail pkobets37@rambler.ru
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great patriotic war. Vestnik VIPK MVD Rossii = Vestnik Advanced Training Institute of the MIA of Russi, 2024, no. 3 (71),
pp. 160–168. (In Russ.).
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= Proceedings of the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2017, no. 3 (43), pp. 155–159.
(In Russ.).
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2. Resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of July 10, 1934 “On the formation of the All-Union People’s
Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR”. Izvestiya=News, 1934, July 11. (In Russ.).
3. Resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) dated February 3, 1941. “On the division of the
People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR into two People’s Commissariats”. In: Organy gosudarstvennoi
bezopasnosti SSSR v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine: sb. dok.: v 2 t. T. 1, kn. 2. Nakanune. 1 yanvarya – 21 iyunya 1941 g.
[State security agencies of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War: collection of documents: in 2 volumes. Vol. 1, book 2. On
the eve. January 1 – June 21]. Moscow, 1995. 169 p.
4. Kuz’minykh A.L. Evolution of the NKVD-MVD system of the USSR (1934-1956). Vestnik instituta: prestuplenie, nakazanie,
ispravlenie = Institute Bulletin: Crime, Punishment, Correction, 2010, no. 10, pp. 71–78. (In Russ.).
5. Lapanovich S.F. The activities of the OBKhSS service during the Great Patriotic War. Vestnik Akademii MVD Respubliki
Belarus’ = Bulletin of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, 2024, no. 1 (47), pp. 11–18.
(In Russ.).
6. Suchilkina E.V., Suchilkin A.V. Normative and legal regulation of the activities of internal affairs bodies during the Great
Patriotic War. Pravo i obrazovanie = Law and Education, 2015, no. 2, pp. 131–137. (In Russ.).
7. Panfilets A.V. The legal foundations of the Leningrad city militia in the early period of the Great Patriotic War (1941–
1944). Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta MVD Rossii = Bulletin of the Saint Petersburg University of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2013, no. 2 (58), pp. 35–40. (In Russ.).
8. Order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 00804 on June 25, 1941 “On measures to combat paratroopers and enemy saboteurs
in the frontline zone”. In: Organy gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti SSSR v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine: sb. dok. : v 2 t.
T. 2. kn. 1 (22 iyunya – 31 avgusta 1941 g.) [State security agencies of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War: collection of
documents: in 2 volumes. Vol. 2, book 1 (June 22 – August 31, 1941)]. Moscow, 2000. Pp. 77–79. (In Russ.).
9. Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del Rossii 1802–2002 [Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 1802-2002]. Moscow, 2004. 984 p.
10. Lelekov V.A., Borodin A.D. Criminal policy in the USSR in the pre-war, military and post-war years (1935-1960). Vestnik
Voronezhskogo instituta FSIN Rossii = Bulletin of the Voronezh Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, 2020,
no. 2, pp. 194–200. (In Russ.).
11. Directive No. 221 of the People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the Prosecutor of the USSR of June 22,
1941 “On the transfer of camps, prisons and colonies to martial law and other measures in connection with the outbreak of
war”. In: Organy gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti SSSR v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine: sb. dok.: v 2 t. T. 2, kn. 1. Nachalo.
22 iyunya – 31 avgusta [State security agencies of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War: collection of documents: in 2
volumes. Vol. 2, book 1. The beginning. June 22 – August 31]. Moscow, 2000. 1941. 272 p.
12. Isakov V.M., Mel’nik E.V. The NKVD and the militia of the Soviet state in the conditions of the war and post-war period
(1941-1950). Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta MVD Rossii = Bulletin of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Russia, 2015, no. 9, pp. 14–17. (In Russ.).
13. Miner V.L. Istoriya politsii Rossii: v 3 t. T. 2 [The history of the Russian police: in 3 volumes. Volume 2]. Moscow, 2019.
353 p.
14. Lazareva S.S. The activities of the Soviet police during the Great Patriotic War. Glossa: Vestnik studencheskoi nauki.
Izdanie kafedry teorii i istorii gosudarstva i prava Kurskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Glossa: Bulletin of Student
Science. Publication of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of Kursk State University, 2019, no. 3,
pp. 92–98. (In Russ.).
15. Rychkov Yu.A. Participation of the NKVD of the USSR and its subordinate institutions in solving national economic
problems. Zhurnal pravovykh i ekonomicheskikh issledovanii = Journal of Legal and Economic Research, 2018, no. 3,
pp. 91–96. (In Russ.).
16. Zemskov V.N. GULAG (historical and sociological aspect). Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological Research,
1991, no. 6, pp. 10–27. (In Russ.).
17. Kuz’minykh A.L. The war and the GULAG. Istoriya v podrobnostyakh = History in Detail, 2010, no. 1, pp. 65–79. (In
Russ.).
18. Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina 1941–1945: entsikl. [Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: encyclopedia]. Moscow, 1985.
832 p.
19. Kirichenko Yu.N. Legal bases of activity of the all-Union passport service of the Soviet militia during the Great Patriotic
War. Izvestiya Yugo-Zapadnogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya i pravo = Proceedings of the Southwestern
State University. Series: History and Law, 2015, no. 4 (17), pp. 12–18. (In Russ.).
20. Gusak V.A. The main directions of the transformation of the police system during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945).
Vestnik instituta: prestuplenie, nakazanie, ispravlenie = Institute Bulletin: Crime, Punishment, Correction, 2010, no. 10,
pp. 79–82. (In Russ.).
21. Khruleva V.V., Khrulev A.V. Ensuring legal order during the Great Patriotic War. Sinergiya = Synergy, 2021, no. 5-6,
pp. 5–12. (In Russ.).
22. Nevskii S.A. Internal affairs bodies in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Vestnik Vserossiiskogo instituta povysheniya
kvalifikatsii sotrudnikov MVD Rossii = Bulletin of the All-Russian Institute for Advanced Training of employees of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2015, no. 4 (36), pp. 105–111. (In Russ.).
23. Kokoev Kh.M. The feat of police officers during the Great Patriotic War. In: Podvig sotrudnikov i voennosluzhashchikh
organov i voisk NKVD SSSR v gody fashistskoi blokady Leningrada: materialy mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf., Sankt-
Peterburg, 25 yanvarya 2024 g. [Feat of employees and military personnel of bodies and troops of the NKVD of the USSR
during the fascist blockade of Leningrad: materials of the International scientific and practice conference, Saint Petersburg,
January 25, 2024]. Saint Petersburg, 2024. Pp. 336–341. (In Russ.).
24. Panfilets A.V. Organy i voiska NKVD na Severo-Zapade SSSR v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny [Bodies and troops of
the NKVD in the North-West of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War]. Saint Petersburg, 2016. 216 p.
25. Nevskii S.A. Activities of the NKVD troops of the USSR to protect the rear of the existing of the red army during the
great patriotic war. Vestnik VIPK MVD Rossii = Vestnik Advanced Training Institute of the MIA of Russi, 2024, no. 3 (71),
pp. 160–168. (In Russ.).
26. Mulukaev R.S. On guard of order (on the 100th anniversary of the Soviet militia). Trudy Akademii upravleniya MVD Rossii
= Proceedings of the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2017, no. 3 (43), pp. 155–159.
(In Russ.).
