SECURITY SERVICES

Security services: translation

Since the tsarist era, the Russian security services have played an important part in the country’spolitics, social and cultural life, and—at times—economics. Under theRomanovs, the Third Department was established in 1825 as a secret organization charged withsurveillanceof aliens, combating enemies of the regime, and censorship. In 1880, the organization was disbanded and replaced with the Okhrana, or Department for Defense of Public Security and Order, which was a specialized subunit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). The Okhrana monitored the activities of Russian subjects, as well as Russians abroad, thus giving the Russian secret police an international as well as a domestic role. Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the Soviet leadership established the Cheka (or All-Russian Extraordinary Committee to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage) under the leadership of the Polish Bolshevik, Feliks Dzerzhinsky. In 1922, the organization was restricted and divided between the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) and the GPU (State Political Directorate). The latter was delinked from the NKVD a year later, and made into OGPU (Joint State Political Directorate). Following another series of name changes during World War II, the NKVD and other state security apparatus were merged into the Soviet MVD underJosephStalin’s ally Lavrenty Beria. In 1954, in conjunction with the purge of the Beria, theKGBwas created, and would last until shortly before thedissolution of the Soviet Unionin 1991.

During theYeltsinera, the KGB’s functions were assumed by the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK).However, in 1995, the FSK was reorganized into theFSB, or Federal Security Service. The FSB headquarters are located at Lubyanka Square in Moscow, which until 1991 was known as Dzerzhinsky Square (a monument honoring the Chekist known as “Iron Felix” was removed as part of the de-Sovietization process; it was placed on the outskirts ofMoscow, thoughYury Luzhkovhas proposed that it be returned to its original plinth).

In addition to the FSB, which managesespionageand internal surveillance, other security services include the MVD’s special forces (Spetsnaz) such as the Alfa, Vitiaz, and Vympelcounterterrorismunits, as well as internal troops that deal withmilitaryissues, such as guardingweapons of mass destruction(historically, the MVD also managed thegulagsystem). These troops often support the civilian police (militsiia) in crowd control and other politically sensitive activities. Russia’s Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON), originally formed to protect the 1980 Olympics from a potentialterroristattack, is also considered part of the security apparatus. Today, OMON is often deployed against antigovernment protestors, includingThe Other Russiaand theNational Bolshevik Party.

SinceVladimirPutin’s rise to power, members of the security apparatus have seen their political influence expand greatly. They form a key component in the so-calledsiloviki>, and have also enjoyed increased control over Russianindustryand natural resources.