Wayward protesters could feel the electrodes of new stun shields from Russia’s National Guard and other law enforcement officials starting next year, the device’s manufacturer says.
MART Group unveiled its “electroshock shield” at the Interpolitex arms show in Moscow on Tuesday.
In a promotional video on its website, the company shows riot police officers being pelted with burning objects, supposedly in a scene depicting the Maidan protests against then-president Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine. Members of the Berkut riot police have been accused of killing dozens of protesters in the demonstrations.
“This how the Ukrainian Berkut burned,” a caption for the promotional video reads. “But we know how to fight it."
The “Skala” (Rock) shield features removable and built-in electric shock delivery devices. It offers self-extinguishing coating as an additional option.
Yekaterina Stolyarevskaya, MART Group’s general director, told reporters that the non-lethal stun shields are expected to undergo trials soon, and “then it’s all pure paperwork from there.”
“We hope that by late 2018, they will enter operational service,” the Interfax news agency cited Stolyarevskaya as saying.
She said that the National Guard, the OMON riot police and agencies within the Interior Ministry have expressed interest in the shields.
Stolyarevskaya clarified that the stun shields will be deployed “not for fieldwork at this or that rally, but more for special operations.”