Footage leaks of alleged secret training exercises by Russian police against a ‘Moscow Maidan’

The group Open Russia, founded by the former oil tycoon (now dissident) Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has published video footage of a massive police training exercise, apparently simulating the state's response to a large-scale demonstration. The event reportedly took place on Thursday, April 7. Open Russia says one of its correspondents happened upon the scene unexpectedly in the town of Lyubertsy, just outside Moscow. The group calls it a “secret training exercise for the National Guard.”

On April 5, Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of an entirely new police force called the National Guard. With roughly 400,000 interior troops at its disposal, Russia's National Guard would be tasked with fighting terrorism and organized crime, suppressing civil unrest, and much more. Russia's parliament is still reviewing Putin's proposal, which it's expected to approve quickly.