Internal Security Service (Rossyiah)

The Internal Security Service of the Russian Empire (SVB RI; Russian: Служба Внутренней безопасности Российской Империи СВб РИ Sluzhba Vnutrenney Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Imperii) is the principal security agency of the Russian Empire. Its main responsibilities are within the country and include counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance as well as investigating some other types of grave crimes and violations. It is headquartered in Lubyanka Square, Moscow's center. Direction of the SVB is executed by the Tsar, who appoints, dismiss and directs the Director of the FSB.

Under Russian law, the SVB is a military service just like the Imperial Russian Armed Forces, the Politsyia, the Imperial Guard, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and civil defence, but its commissioned officers do not usually wear military uniforms.

The SVB is mainly responsible for the internal security of the Russian Empire, counterintelligence, and the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and drug smuggling, whereas overseas espionage is the primary responsibility of the Foreign Intelligence Service, as well as the GRU, a body within the Russian Ministry of Defence. All law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Russia work under the guidance of the SVB, if necessary.

The SVB employs about 75,000 uniformed staff, including about 5,000 special forces troops. It also employs Border Service personnel of about 160,000–200,000 border guards.

The SVB answers directly to the Tsar of Russia and the Director of SVB reports to the president only; the Director also, ex officio, is a permanent member of the Security Council of Russia presided over by the Tsar himself and chairman of the National Anti-terrorism Committee of Russia.

History

The first internal security organization in modern sense was the relatively short-lived Third Section of the Department of executive police of the Ministry of Police. The Third Section was entrusted for carrying out of the general audits of governorates and for the execution of security-related operations. After its disestablishment in 1819, the internal security matters were dealt with by the Special Corps of Gendarmes and by the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, established in mid-1820s. Both the Special Corps of Gendarmes and the Third Section did have severe shortcomings which resulted in the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in 1881.

Upon his accession to the throne, Emperor Alexander III established the Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order within the newly-formed Police Department. The Department was a decentralized organization, placed under the security chiefs of the major cities. Between 1906 and 1907 ten interprovincial Districts were created, but as of 1914 they were abolished except for three Districts.

SpeKo

The Russian Revolution of February 1917 and the October 1917 coup attempt sparkled the Russian Civil War and proved the inadequacy of the Okhrana and in late 1917 the Special Commission of Public Security (Russian: Специальная комиссия общественной безопасности, Spetsial'naya komissiya obshchestvennoy bezopasnosti, abbreviated into SpeKo) was formed.

In the first month and half after the October coup attempt, the duty of wiping out communists and liberals in Petrograd and in territories under the Tsar's control was assigned to the Petrograd Okhrana. It was a body completely reformed working under directives of General Vlasov. One of its most important functions was the security and the fight against revolutionary activity.

The obligations of the security commission were to eradicate all of the revolutionary and sabotage activities and all attempts to them in all of Russia, to hand over revolutionaries and saboteurs to the military tribunals, develop measures to combat them and relentlessly apply them in real-world applications. In theory, the commission had only to conduct a preliminary investigation. The commission should also observe the press and counterrevolutionary parties, sabotaging officials and other criminals. Three sections were created: informational, organizational, and a unit to combat revolution and sabotage.

In January 1918, a subsection of the anti-revolutionary effort was created to police bank officials. The structure of SpeKo was changing repeatedly. By March 1918, when the organization came to Moscow, it contained the following sections: against revolution, speculation, non-residents, and information gathering. By the end of 1918–1919, some new units were created: secretly operative, investigatory, of transportation, military (special), operative, and instructional. By 1921, it changed once again, forming the following sections: directorate of affairs, administrative-organizational, secretly operative and economical foreign affairs.

In the first months of its existence, SpeKo consisted of only 50 officials. It commanded a team of soldiers. Through the winter of 1917–1918, all activities of SpeKo were centralized mainly in the city of Petrograd.

All results of its activities, SpeKo had either to transfer to the Investigatory Commission of Military Tribunal, or to dismiss. The control of the commission's activity was provided by the MVD.

On 23 February 1918, SpeKo sent a radio telegram to all governatorates under Tsarist control with a petition to immediately organize emergency commissions to combat revolution, sabotage and speculation, if such commissions had not been yet organized. February 1918 saw the creation of local Special Commissions. The Special Commissions arose, usually in the areas during the moments of the greatest aggravation of political situation.

State Security Directorate

The State Security Directorate (Управление государственной безопасности, УГб; Upravleniye Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, OGB) under the MVD was established on 6 February 1922 afer the abolition of the SpeKo with the transfer of powers to the OGB under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The OGB was disestablished in 1941 by Prime Minister dzе Jughashvili and it was replaced by the Ministry of State Security.

Creation of the FSB

In 1995, the SGB was renamed and reorganized into the Intrnal Security Service (SVB) by Alexander IV. The decree made the tasks of the SVB more specific, giving the SVB substantial rights to conduct cryptographic work, and described the powers of the SVB director. Alexander IV appointed Colonel-General Mikhail Ivanovich Barsukov as the new director of the SVB. In 1998 the Tsar appointed Vladimir Putin, a SGB veteran, as director of the SVB.

The SVB is engaged in the development of Russia's export control strategy and examines drafts of international agreements related to the transfer of dual-use and military commodities and technologies. Its primary role in the nonproliferation sphere is to collect information to prevent the illegal export of controlled nuclear technology and materials.

Organization

Below the nationwide level, the SVB has regional offices in the Governorates of Russia. It also has administrations in the armed forces and other military institutions. Sub-departments exist for areas such as aviation, special training centers, forensic expertise, military medicine, etc.

Besides the services, departments and directorates, the territorial directorates of SVB in the Governorates are also subordinate to it. Of these, Petrograd and Leningrad Oblast Directorate of SVB and its predecessors have played especially important roles in the history of this organization.