Russian Elite Forces Led By Former Guard Vladimir Putin Receive New Modular Weapons

Russian National Guard. (TASS/Valery Sharifulin)

JAKARTA - Russia's elite National Guard troops soon received a 'new toy', to support their basic daily tasks. The 'toy' in question is the latest Lebedev modular pistol.

Kalashnikov Group CEO Dmitry Tarasov explained, this modular pistol was developed by his party, the Kalshnikov Group, part of the state-owned technology company, Rostec.

"Experimental models of the Lebedev 9 mm modular pistol (MPL) and the special-duty Lebedev 9 mm modular pistol (MPL-1), developed under the technical assignment of the National Guard as part of the 'Rys' experimental design work, have been put into service with the Guard National," Tarasov said, launching TASS, Monday, May 24.

Two months ago the Kalashnikov press office announced that the Lebedev modular pistol, developed by the Kalashnikov design and technology center, would be manufactured at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, the factory that makes the legendary Russian pistol, the Makarov.

Lebedev modular pistol illustration. (Wikimedia Commons / Vitaly V. Kuzmin)

The use of this modular pistol will be implemented immediately, following the completion of trials conducted by the Kalashnikov Group on March 9.

Intended as a modular pistol, the Lebedev was developed in a standard configuration and in a special-duty version equipped with a silencer, an additional barrel with a seat for a silencer and elements for placing the gun on a soldier's uniform.

This pistol has great upgrade potential, in particular allowing the use of multiple attachments, a larger capacity magazine and a trigger mechanism with an automatic fire mode.

To note, the Russian National Guard is an elite unit formed by President Vladimir Putin in 2016. According to the BBC, the force was created to combat terrorism and organized crime, under the Ministry of the Interior and led by Putin's former head of bodyguard, Viktor Zolotov.