Destruction battalions, colloquially istrebitels (истребители, "destroyers", "exterminators") abbreviated: istrebki (Russian), strybki (Ukrainian), stribai (Lithuanian), were paramilitary units under the control of NKVD in the western Soviet Union, which performed tasks of internal security on the Eastern Front and after it. After the Fall of the Soviet Union the battalions were deemed by the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) to be a criminal organisation. Background As Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, a state of war was declared in the western regions of the country. Vladimir Tributs the Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Union issued an order on 24 June 1941 warning of the paralysing actions of enemy paratrooper squads aided by the "capitalist-kulak" portions of the populations, which allegedly had a large number of weapons that had not been turned in. The officers ordered the strengthening of defences of headquarters, army units and communications. Attacking "bandits" were to be shot on the spot. The struggle against saboteurs was the responsibility of the border guard units subordinate to the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union). Authority The battalions were created in the territories near the front line during Operation Barbarossa, with the missions of securing the Red Army rear, assuring the operation of strategically important enterprises and destroying the valuable property that could not be evacuated. The units received authority to summarily execute any suspicious person. Their tasks accounted for the implementation of a scorched earth policy. Formation The destruction battalions were formally voluntary while actually a number of troops were forcibly recruited. They were augmented by personnel considered ideologically solid, like members of the Komsomol and kolkhoz managers. There were no other requirements, so the ranks were socially varied, including a significant proportion of felons. The battalions were commanded by head managers of the regional committee level. The Chief-of-Staff of Moscow was Dmitry Kramarchuk. The training of the fighters took place according to the 110-hour program of Vsevobuch, with the addition of another 30 additional hours under the special program of the Headquarters of the Destruction battalions of the NKVD of the USSR. Each fighter battalion had to be armed with two light machine guns, rifles, revolvers and, if possible, grenades. But due to a lack of weapons, everything that could be used came into service - rifles (Arisaka Type 38, Lebel M1886) and machine guns (Lewis gun) of obsolete models