MVD

MVD stands for Ministerstvo Vnutrennih Del - Ministry of Interior Affairs, in the USSR and nowadays Russia.

In the Soviet era, the Minstry of Interior Affairs also functioned as a secret police. In March 1946 the NKVD was renamed to MVD. (All People's Commissariats (NK) were redesignated Ministries (M). Thus the NKVD became the MVD and the NKGB[?] became the MGB[?].)

In March 1953 Lavrenty Beria united the MVD and MGB[?] into one body, the MVD. Within a year Beria's execution caused the MVD to be split up. The reformed MVD retained its internal security functions while the new KGB took on state security functions.