The Federal Protective Service, or the Federal Guard Service (russian: Федеральная служба охраны, ФСО, Federalnaya sluzhba okhrany, FSO) of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, official name in English Federal Guard Service of the Russian Federation, is a federal government agency concerned with the tasks related to the protection of several high-ranking state officials, mandated by the relevant law, including the

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federa ...

, as well as certain federal properties. It traces its origin to the USSR's

Ninth Chief Directorate The Ninth Chief Directorate (also nicknamed ''Devyatka'' (russian: девятка) of the KGB was the organization responsible for providing bodyguard services to the principal Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) leaders (and their families) ...

of the KGB and later Presidential Security Service (SBP) led by KGB general

Alexander Korzhakov Alexander Vasilyevich Korzhakov (russian: Александр Васильевич Коржаков; born 31 January 1950) is a Russian former KGB general who served as Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard, confidant, and adviser for eleven years. He was ...

. On May 27, 1996, the law "On State Protection" reorganized the GUO (Glavnoye Upravlenie Okhrani) into the FSO (Federal Protection Service). Under article 7 of the law, "the President of the Russian Federation, while in office, shall not be allowed to forgo state protection." FSO includes the

Russian Presidential Security Service The Presidential Security Service (SBP) (russian: Служба безопасности президента России) is a federal government agency concerned with the tasks related to the protection of the President of Russia and the Prime ...

. This president's personal security is directed by

Viktor Zolotov Viktor Vasilyevich Zolotov (russian: Ви́ктор Васи́льевич Зо́лотов; born 27 January 1954) is the current Director of the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya) and a member of the Security Council of Russia. Zolotov is ...

who, according to Sergei Tretiakov, also supervises the entire FSO.

Pete Earley Pete Earley (born September 5, 1951) is an American journalist and author who has written non-fiction books and novels. Career Born in Douglas, Arizona, Earley became a ''Washington Post'' reporter and also wrote books about the Aldrich Ames ...

. ''Comrade J.: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America after the End of the Cold War'', Putnam Adult (January 24, 2008), , pages 298–301. The FSO includes an estimated 50,000 troops and controls the "

black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

" that can be used in the event of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

.Earley, pages 161–177 It reportedly uses advanced domestic technical developments.

Structure and command

Since May 18, 2000 and until May 26, 2016 the agency was headed by General Evgeny Murov; since May 26, 2016 the head of the service is General Dmitry Kochnev. The FSO has roughly 50,000 uniformed personnel plus several thousand plainclothed personnel and controls the

Cheget ''Cheget'' (russian: Чегет) is a "nuclear briefcase" (named after in Kabardino-Balkaria) and a part of the automatic system for the command and control of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) named ''Kazbek'' (, named after Mount Kazbe ...

that can be used in the event of global

. It also operates a secure communications system for senior government officials. The FSO is a powerful institution with a range of rights and powers, including the right to conduct searches and surveillance without warrants, make arrests, and give orders to other state agencies. Private of Kremlin Regiment

The FSO is organized into the following services: * Management (Director, Deputies) * Presidential Security Service * Security Service * Commandant's Office of the Moscow Kremlin ** Kremlin Regiment *** Regiment HQ *** Presidential Band of the Russian Federation *** 1st Battalion *** 2nd Battalion *** 3rd Battalion *** Presidential Cavalry Escort Battalion *** 4th Operational Reserve Battalion * Special Communications Service of Russia * Engineering Support Service * Housekeeping Service ** Special Purpose Garage * Administrative service * Security service in the North-West Federal District ( St. Petersburg) * Security service in the Caucasus (

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...

) * Security service in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

(

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

) * Office of central subordination * Units of the FSO at official residences * Office of Special Communications and Information in the Federal Districts ** Centers of special communications and information * Special communications centers * Educational and research institutions, federal unitary enterprises ** Academy of the Federal Security Service of Russia (

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fe ...

) * Public Relations Center One of the FSO units is the Kremlin Regiment. A more recent addition to the FSO infrastructure is the Special Communications Service of Russia (Spetsviaz) which was incorporated as a structural sub unit on August 7, 2004.

History of the federal protective services

* Special department by VChK College * Special department of GPU * Special department by OGPU College – Dec 1929 * 5th department (special safeguard) of Operod, SOU OGPU, Jan 1930 – Mar 1931 * 5th department (special safeguard) of Operod, SOU OGPU, Mar–Jun 1931 * 4th department of Operod, OGPU, Jun 1931 * Operod of OGPU * Operative division (Operod) of GUGB NKVD USSR, Jul 1934 – Nov 1936 * Division of safeguard by GUGB NKVD USSR, Dec 1936 – Jun 1938 * Department of Moscow Kremlin's commandant, NKVD USSR * 1st division of 1st Department by NKVD USSR, Jun–Sep 1938 * 1st division of GUGB * 1st division of NKGB * Department of Moscow Kremlin's commandant, NKGB USSR * 1st division of NKVD * Department of Moscow Kremlin's commandant, NKVD USSR * Sixth department of NKGB USSR, Apr 1943 – Mar 1946 * Department of Moscow Kremlin's commandant, NKGB USSR * Sixth department of MGB USSR, Mar–Apr 1946 * Department of safeguard No. 1, MGB, Apr–Dec 1946 * Department of safeguard No. 2, MGB, Apr–Dec 1946 * Department of Moscow Kremlin's commandant, MGB USSR, Dec 1946 * Headquarters of safeguard, MGB USSR, Dec 1946 – May 1952 * Department of safeguard, MGB, May 1952 * Ninth department of MVD USSR, Mar 1953 – Mar 1954 * Tenth department of MVD USSR, Mar 1953 – Mar 1954 * Ninth department of KGB by SM USSR, Mar 1954 – * Tenth department of KGB by SM USSR, Mar 1954 – * Fifteenth department of KGB by SM USSR * Ninth department of KGB USSR * Fifteenth department of KGB USSR * Service of safeguard, KGB USSR * Department of safeguard by USSR President * Main Administration of Protection (GUO – Glavnoye Upravlenie Okhrani) (1992–1996) * Federal Protective Service (FSO) (1996–today)

List of leaders

Heads of the GUO/Directors of the FSO

* Vladimir Redkoborody (1991 – June 1992) * Mikhail Barsukov (12 June 1992 – 24 July 1995) * Yuri Krapivin (24 July 1995 – 18 May 2000) * Yevgeny Murov (18 May 2000 – 26 May 2016) * General

Dmitry Kochnev Dmitry Viktorovich Kochnev (; born 1 March 1964, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian Army general (Russia), army general. From June 2015 to May 2016, he was the head of the Russian Presidential Security Service (Russia), Presidential Security Ser ...

(since 26 May 2016)

Deputy Directors of the FSO

* Oleg Klimentyev (First Deputy Director since 2015) * Vladimir Belanovsky – Head of the Services of Special Communications and Information * Alexey Rubezhnoy – Head of the Presidential Security Service * Victor Tulupov * Major General Sergey Udovenko – Commandant of the Moscow Kremlin

References

External links

Official website

Protection of the president
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