Border Guard Service of Russia
Encyclopedia
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
tasked with patrol of the Russian border. In English, the terms "Border Guards" and "Border Troops" are frequently used to designate this service. The Border service was a centralized force including the maritime border guard units (i.e., a coast guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
).
Imperial Russia
Border Guards were created in the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in the 18th century, however, the origin of the Russian border service can be traced to Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky and his Great Abatis Border
Great Abatis Border
Zasechnaya cherta is a chain of fortification lines, created by Grand Duchy of Moscow and later the Tsardom of Russia to protect it from the raids of the Crimean Tatars who, rapidly moving along the Muravsky Trail, ravaged the southern provinces of Russia during a series of the Russo-Crimean Wars....
in the 16th century.
In 1782 Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
created Border Customs Guards originally manned by Russian Cossacks as well as low-ranking cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
troops. General Mikhail Barklay de Tolly
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly
Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly , was a Russian Field Marshal and Minister of War during Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and War of the Sixth Coalition.-Early life:...
organized in 1810 numerous border posts consisted of 11 regiments of Don
Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks were Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don.- Etymology and origins :The Don Cossack Host was a frontier military organization from the end of the 16th until the early 20th century....
and Bug Cossacks
Bug Cossacks
The Buh Cossack Host was a Cossack host, which used to be located along the Southern Buh River.The Buh Cossack Host was formed in 1769 out of Ukrainians, Vlachs, and Bulgarians, who had taken the side of Russia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. After the war, the regiment was quartered...
along all Western Russian border. Within two years Russian Border Guards were first to fight the Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In 1832 Cossacks and cavalry were replaced by armed customs officials subordinate to the ministry of finance in peacetime (in wartime the border guards were automatically transferred to the army). In the same year the coast guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
was created, originally to observe Black sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and Azov sea coasts.
In 1893 Count Sergei Witte
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
Russian minister of finance in the Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
's government reformed the service into Separate Corpus of Border Guards a para-military rather than civilian organization headed by an army general.
In 1906 about 40 000 soldiers and officers served in the Separate Corpus of Border Guards responsible for the defence of the vast Imperial border.
Soviet period
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
border guard
Border guard
The border guard, frontier guard, border patrol, border police, or frontier police of a country is a national security agency that performs border control, i.e., enforces the security of the country's national borders....
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, subordinated to its subsequently reorganized state security
State Security
State Security can refer to:* general concepts of security agency or national security* Committee for State Security * State Security * State Security...
agency: first to Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
/OGPU
State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1934...
, then to NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
/MGB
Ministry for State Security (USSR)
The Ministry of State Security was the name of Soviet secret police from 1946 to 1953.-Origins of the MGB:The MGB was just one of many incarnations of the Soviet State Security apparatus. Since the revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong political police or security force to support and...
and, finally, to KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. Accordingly, they were known as NKVD Border Troops and KGB Border Troops (with Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
abbreviations - НКВД СССР/- КГБ СССР added on the end of official names). Unlike border guards of many other countries, Soviet Border Troops were a centralized force including also the maritime
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
border guard units (i.e., a coast guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
).
Modern period
Following the collapse of the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Federal Border Guard Service of Russia was created on December 30, 1993 and given a status of separate ministry. This organization retained some old traditions, most notably the green-colored uniform and "Border Guarder's Day" (an official holiday commemorated by celebrations of ex-servicemen). First minister of FBS (Federal Border Service) was Andrei Nikolayev, young and outspoken general who later became deputy of the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
. Russian Border Guards were also stationed outside of Russia most notably in southern Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, in order to guard the border with Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, until summer 2005. On Afghan-Tajik border on many occasions they were engaged in heavy fighting with drug-traffickers
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and Islamic extremists. Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
's border with Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
is also still guarded by the Russians. On March 11, 2003 Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
changed the status of Border Guard Service from a separate ministry into a branch of Russian Federal Security Service. The current head of Border Guard Service of Russia is General Vladimir Pronichev
Vladimir Pronichev
General of the Army Vladimir Yegorovich Pronichev is the current head of the Border Guard Service of the Russian Federation. Pronichev also holds the title of First Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service , the successor organization to KGB....
. Border Guard Service of Russia is still tasked with a defence of the longest national border in the world.
Mission
Responsibilities of Border Guard Service of Russia include:- defence of the Russian national border, prevention of illegal crossing of the land and sea border by people and goods (smugglingSmugglingSmuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
).
- protection of economic interests of the Russian Federation and its natural resources within land and sea border areas, territorial watersTerritorial watersTerritorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
and internal seas, including prevention of poachingPoachingPoaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
and illegal fishing.
- combat any threats to national securityNational securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
in the border area, including terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and foreign infiltration.
Command
- The head of the Border Service - Army General Vladimir Egorovich Pronichev (Deputy Director of Russia's FSB)
- First Deputy Head of the Border Service - Lieutenant-General Vladimir Rozhkov
- First Deputy Head of the Border Service - the head of the Organizational Department, Colonel-General Mansur Masgutovich Valiev
- Deputy head of Russia's FSB Border Service - the chief international treaty management Lieutenant-General Alexander L. Manilov
- Deputy Chief of the Border Service - Lieutenant-General Victor Trofimovich Trufanov
- Deputy Chief of the Border Service - Maj. Gen. Alexander O. Mizon
- Deputy Chief of the Border Service - Maj. Gen. Nikolai Nikolaevich Rybalkin
- Deputy Chief of the Border Service - Lieutenant General Gennady Semenovich Simuhin
Structure
FPS Russia is headed by a single centralized system, which includes:- border control;
- foreign intelligence corps;
- operational entities engaged in intelligence, counter, operational investigative activities, to ensure its own security system FPS Russia;
- border guards and other organs of the Border Service, provided by federal law;
- border troops FPS Russia;
- military educational institutions, vocational education,
- enterprises, institutions and organizations in Russia under the FPS (hereinafter referred to authorities and troops FPS Russia), according to federal law
Lineup
Changes in the regional structure of the Border Service, instead of ten regional border (see the old structures FPS) for the new scheme includes regional offices of the border (in the federal districts) and 30 border offices. Includes the Maritime Border Guard.Regional border districts:
- Regional Border Directorate of the Central Federal District
- Regional Border Management for the Southern Federal District
- Regional Border Directorate of the Ural Federal District
- Regional Border Directorate of the Volga Federal District
- Regional Border Directorate for the Siberian Federal District
- North West Regional Border Management
- Arctic regional border management on
- Regional Border Directorate for the Far Eastern Federal District
The military educational institutions, vocational education:
As adopted by presidential decree dated 23 April 2001, № 457
- Border Academy of Russia's FSB;
- Military Medical Institute, the Border Service of Russia's FSB in the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy;
- Golitsynsky Military Institute of the Border Service;
- Kaliningrad Military Institute of the Border Service;
- Kurgan Military Institute of the Border Service;
- Moscow Military Institute of the Border Service;
- Khabarovsk Military Institute, the Border Service;
- The First Cadet Corps of the Border Service.
Enterprises, institutions and organizations which are subordinate to the Border Service:
- medical and health institutions of the Border Service;
- Repair Plant;
- parts logistics, technical and other support.
Index rename and time-frame structural units of the Border Service
- Пограничные и внутренние войска (охрана) ВЧК-ОГПУ-НКВД-МВД СССР The border and internal troops (Guard) VCHK-OGPU-NKVD-USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
- С 29 сентября 1918 г. - Штаб корпуса войск (внутренней охраны) ВЧК From 29 September 1918 - The headquarters of the hull forces (internal security) VCHK
- С 1 апреля 1921 г. - Управление войск ВЧК-ОГПУ From 1 April 1921 - The Office of troops VCHK-OGPU
- С 1 декабря 1922 г. - Штаб войск ОГПУ In December 1, 1922 - The headquarters of the troops OGPU
- С 3 октября 1923 г. - Инспекция войск ГПУ - ОГПУ 3 October 1923 - Inspektsiya troops GPU - OGPU
- С 6 ноября 1926 г. - Главное управление пограничной охраны и войск ОГПУ 6 November 1926 - The Directorate of Border Guard Troops and OGPU
- С 10 июля 1934 г. - Главное управление пограничной и внутренней охраны (ГУПВО) НКВД СССР 10 July 1934 - General Directorate of Border and internal security (GUPVO) Soviet NKVD
- С 29 сентября 1938 г. - Главное управление пограничных и внутренних войск (ГУПВВ) НКВД СССР With 29 Sept., 1938 - General Directorate of Border and Interior Troops (GUPVV) Soviet NKVD
From 1938 to 1957:
- Главное управление пограничных войск (ГУПВ) The Directorate of Border Troops (GUPV)
- Главное управление войск по охране железнодорожных сооружений The Directorate of troops for the protection of railway facilities
- Главное управление войск по охране особо важных предприятий промышленности The Directorate of troops for the protection of critical business industry
- Главное управление конвойных войск (ГУКВ) The Directorate escort troops (GUKV)
- Главное управление военного снабжения (ГУВС) General Directorate of Military Supplies (GUVS)
- Главное военно-строительное управление The main military construction management
- С 9 июня 1956 г. - ГУПВВ МВД СССР 9 June 1956 - GUPVV USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Со 2 апреля 1957 г. - ГУПВВ МВД СССР было расформировано в связи с передачей погранвойск из ведения МВД СССР в ведение КГБ при СМ СССР From 2 April 1957 - GUPVV USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was disbanded in connection with the transfer of border troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Soviet KGB when the Soviet Union SM
The border troops (Guard):
- С 28 мая 1918 г. - пограничная охрана при Наркомате финансов (позднее - в военном ведомстве и Наркомате внешней торговли) May 28, 1918 - Border Guard when Narkomate Finance (later - in the military and Narkomate Foreign Trade)
- С 24 ноября 1920 г. - функции в ОО ВЧК-ГПУ, затем в КРО ГПУ и в штабе отдельного пограничного корпуса (пограничный отдел) Штаба войск ОГПУ 24 November 1920 - features in the GS VCHK-GPU, then to the CGB GPU and the headquarters of a frontier corps (Border Division) headquarters troops OGPU
- С 28 июля 1923 г. - Отдел пограничной охраны ГПУ-ОГПУ 28 July 1923 - Department of Border Guard GPU, OGPU
- С 6 ноября 1926 г. - Главное управление пограничной охраны и войск ОГПУ 6 November 1926 - The Directorate of Border Guard Troops and OGPU
- С 10 июля 1934 г. - ГУПВО НКВД СССР 10 July 1934 - Soviet NKVD GUPVO
- С 29 сентября 1938 г. - ГУПВВ НКВД СССР With 29 Sept., 1938 - Soviet NKVD GUPVV
- С 8 марта 1939 г. - ГУПВ НКВД СССР Since 8 March 1939 - Soviet NKVD GUPV
- С 17 октября 1949 г. - ГУПВ МГБ СССР With 17 Oct., 1949 - GUPV MGB USSR
- С 14 марта 1953 г. - ГУПВ МВД СССР With 14 March 1953 - GUPV USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
- 9 июня 1956 г. - на базе ГУПВ, ГУВКО и ВСУ МВД СССР было организовано ГУПВВ МВД СССР 9 Jun, 1956 - based GUPV, GUVKO and MAT USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was organized by the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs GUPVV
- Со 2 апреля 1957 г. - ГУПВ КГБ при СМ СССР From 2 April 1957 - GUPV KGB when the Soviet Union SM
- С 5 июля 1978 г. - ГУПВ КГБ СССР On 5 July 1978 - GUPV KGB
- From December 1991 - after the reorganization of KGB, the General Directorate of Border Troops were abolished and formed the Committee for the Protection of the State border of the Soviet Union with the Joint Command of the border forces led by was assigned to the post of chairman of the Committee - Chief of Soviet border troops.
- В 1992 г. - созданы Пограничные войска Российской Федерации, которые были подчинены Министерству безопасности. In 1992 - a Border troops of the Russian Federation, which have been subordinated to the Ministry of Security.
- В 1993 г. - образована Федеральная пограничная служба - Главное командование Пограничных войск Российской Федерации со статусом федерального министерства. In 1993 - Federal Border Service - General Command of Border Troops of Russian Federation with the status of federal ministries.
- С 1994 года - переименована в Федеральную пограничную службу (ФПС России). Since 1994 - renamed the Federal Border Service (FPS Russia).
- С 4 мая 2002 г. Since May 4, 2002 - ФПС России переименована в Пограничную службу Российской Федерации, которая состоит из специально уполномоченного федерального органа исполнительной власти по пограничной службе (ФПС России), войск, органов и других организаций. - FPS Russia renamed the Border Service of the Russian Federation, which consists of specially authorized federal executive body for the Border Service (FPS Russia), troops and other organizations.
- 11 марта 2003 года - Владимир Путин упразднил передал функции ФПС в ведение ФСБ. ФПС России переименована в ПС ФСБ России 11 Mar., 2003 - Vladimir Putin abolished the function of FPS conveyed to the FSB. FPS Russia renamed PS Russia's FSB
Source
Лубянка. Lubyanka. Органы ВЧК-ОГПУ-НКВД-НКГБ-МГБ-МВД-КГБ 1917-1991. Справочник, документы (Международный фонд Демократия, Москва 2003) - Authorities VCHK-OGPU-NKVD-NKGB-MGB-MVD-KGB 1917-1991. Reference documents (International Fund for Democracy, Moscow 2003)External links
- Official website - in Russian.
- Border Guard profile on agentura.ru -in Russian.
- Russian non-military security forces