Militsiya

Militsiya (Russian: милиция, IPA: [mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə], Serbian: милиција, romanized: milicija, lit. 'militia') were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The term Militsiya continues to be used in common and sometimes official usage in some of the individual former Soviet republics such as Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in the partially recognised or unrecognised republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. In Russian law enforcement, the term remained in official usage until 2011.