NKVD fighter battalions of the Armenian SSR during the Great Patriotic War (July 1941 – July 1942)

This article is devoted to the study of the NKVD fighter battalions of the Armenian SSR in the first year of the Great Patriotic War. The activities of the NKVD extermination units of the USSR served to protect internal order in the territory of Soviet Armenia. The object of the study are the extermination battalions and detachments of the NKVD of the USSR. The subject of the study is the functioning of the NKVD fighter battalions of the Armenian SSR in the first year of the Great Patriotic War (from July 1941 to July 1942). The research methodology is based on general scientific research methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, content analysis), as well as on special historical research methods (historical-typological, historical-genetic, narrative). The scientific novelty of the work consists in attracting archival materials from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and introducing them into scientific circulation for the first time. A special contribution of the authors to the study of the topic is a detailed description of the functioning of the NKVD fighter battalions of the Armenian SSR, as well as data on the deployment of battalions and individual detachments, the number of personnel and available weapons of the fighter battalions in the period from July 1941 to July 1942. Separately, the authors provide data on the process of combat training of personnel of the NKVD ASSR fighter battalions. In conclusion, the authors note that the extermination battalions and detachments of the NKVD of the Armenian SSR have been actively involved in the fight against banditry and the elimination of groups of armed deserters since the first days of the Second World War. However, the functioning of the fighter battalions was complicated by a number of problems.