Infolinks

January 12, 2010

Federal Security Service (Russia)


The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) (Russian: ФСБ, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации; Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the main domestic security service of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet-era Cheka, NKVD and KGB.

The FSB is involved in counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance. Its headquarters are on Lubyanka Square, downtown Moscow, the same location as the former headquarters of the KGB.

The Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) was the predecessor of the FSB. A bill calling for the reorganization, expansion and renaming of FSK passed both houses of the Russian parliament and was signed into law on April 3, 1995 by Boris Yeltsin. It was made subordinate to the Ministry of Justice by presidential decree on March 9, 2004. These events marked the creation of the FSB.

Contents
1 Overview
2 History
3 Initial reorganization of the KGB
4 Post-2000
5 Role
6 Counterintelligence
7 Counter-terrorism
8 Anti-corruption and organized crime
9 Border protection
Export control

Overview

Lubyanka, headquarters of the FSBThe FSB is engaged mostly in domestic affairs, while espionage duties were taken over by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (former First Chief Directorate of the KGB). However, the FSB also includes the FAPSI agency, which conducts electronic surveillance abroad. All law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Russia work under the guidance of FSB if needed. For example, the GRU, Spetsnaz and Internal Troops detachments of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs work together with the FSB in Chechnya.

The FSB is responsible for internal security of the Russian state, counterespionage, and the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and drug smuggling. The FSB is a very large organization that combines functions and powers similar to those exercised by the United States (FBI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Protective Service, the Secret Service, the National Security Agency (NSA), United.State. Customs and Border Protection, United States Coast Guard, and Drug Enforcement Administration. FSB also commands a contingent of Internal Troops, spetsnaz, and an extensive network of civilian informants. The number of FSB personnel and its budget remain state secrets, although the budget was reported to jump nearly 40% in 2006.

History:

During the late 1980s, as the Soviet government and economy were disintegrating, the KGB survived better than most state institutions, suffering far fewer cuts in its personnel and budget. Following the attempted coup of 1991 (in which some KGB units participated) against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the KGB was dismantled and formally ceased to exist from Nov 1991.

In late 1991 the domestic security functions of the KGB were reconstituted as the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK), which was placed under the control of the president. The FSK had been known initially for some time as the Ministry of Security. In 1995, the FSK was renamed and reorganized into the FSB by the Federal Law of April 3, 1995, "On the Organs of the Federal Security Service in the Russian Federation", granting it additional powers, enabling it to enter private homes and to conduct intelligence activities in Russia as well as abroad in cooperation with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

The FSB reforms were rounded out by decree No. 633, signed by Boris Yeltsin on June 23, 1995. The decree made the tasks of the FSB more specific, giving the FSB substantial rights to conduct cryptographic work, and described the powers of the FSB director. The number of deputy directors was increased to 8: 2 first deputies, 5 deputies responsible for departments and directorates and 1 deputy director heading the Moscow City and Moscow regional directorate. Yeltsin appointed Colonel-General Mikhail Ivanovich Barsukov as the new director of the FSB.

In 1998 Yeltsin appointed as director of the FSB Vladimir Putin, a KGB veteran who would later succeed Yeltsin as federal president. Yeltsin also ordered the FSB to expand its operations against labor unions in Siberia and to crack down on right-wing dissidents. As president, Putin increased the FSB's powers to include countering foreign intelligence operations, fighting organized crime, and suppressing Chechen separatists.

Post-2000:

On June 17, 2000, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, according to which the FSB was supposed to have a director, a first deputy director and eight other deputy directors, including one stats-secretary and the chiefs of six departments (Economic Security Department, Counterintelligence Department, Organizational and Personnel Service, Department of activity provision, Department for Analysis, Forecasting and Strategic Planning, Department for Protection of the Constitutional System and the Fight against Terrorism). On June 11, 2001, the President introduced one more deputy director position.

According to a decree signed by Putin on March 11, 2003, by July 1 Border Guard Service of Russia had been transferred to FSB while FAPSI, agency of government telecommunications, had been abolished, granting FSB with a major part of its functions.

On Aug 12, 2003 Putin allowed the FSB to have three first deputy directors, including the Chief of the Border Guard Service (Vladimir Pronichev), and specified that a deputy director position must be assumed by the Chief of the Inspection Directorate. On July 11, 2004, the President reorganized FSB again. It was prescribed to have a director, two first deputy directors (Sergei Smirnov and Vladimir Pronichev, one of whom should be the Chief of the Border Guard Service (Pronichev).

On Dec 2, 2005, Putin authorized FSB to have one more deputy director. This position was assumed by Vladimir Bulavin on March 3, 2006.

In the beginning of 2006 the Italian news agency ANSA reported the publication on the FSB website of an offer, open to Russian citizens working as spies for a foreign country, to work as double agents.

In Sep 2006, the FSB was shaken by a major reshuffle, which, combined with some earlier reassignments (most remarkably, those of FSB Deputy Directors Yury Zaostrovtsev and Vladimir Anisimov in 2004 and 2005, respectively), were widely believed to be linked to the Three Whales Corruption Scandal that had slowly unfolded since 2000. Some analysts considered it to be an attempt to undermine FSB Director Nikolay Patrushev's influence, as it was Patrushev's team from the Karelian KGB Directorate of the late 1980s – early 1990s that had suffered most and he had been on vacations during the event.

Counterintelligence:

Then-FSB Director Nikolay Kovalev said in 1996: "There has never been such a number of spies arrested by us since the time when German agents were sent in during the years of World War II." The FSB reported that around 400 foreign intelligence agents were uncovered in 1995 and 1996. In 2006 the FSB reported about 27 foreign intelligence officers and 89 foreign agents whose activities were stopped.

An increasing number of scientists have been accused of espionage and illegal technology exports by FSB during the last decade: researcher Igor Sutyagin, physicist Valentin Danilov, physical chemist Oleg Korobeinichev, academician Oskar Kaibyshev, and physicist Yury Ryzhov. Some other widely covered cases of political prosecution include investigator Mikhail Trepashkin and journalist Vladimir Rakhmankov. All these people are either under arrest or serve long jail sentences.

Ecologist and journalist Alexander Nikitin, who worked with the Bellona Foundation, was accused of espionage. He published material exposing hazards posed by the Russian Navy's nuclear fleet. He was acquitted in 1999 after spending several years in prison (his case was sent for re-investigation 13 times while he remained in prison). Other cases of prosecution are the cases of investigative journalist and ecologist Grigory Pasko, Vladimir Petrenko who described danger posed by military chemical warfare stockpiles, and Nikolay Shchur, chairman of the Snezhinskiy Ecological Fund.

Other arrested people include Viktor Orekhov, a former KGB officer who assisted Soviet dissidents, Vladimir Kazantsev who disclosed illegal purchases of eavesdropping devices from foreign firms, and Vil Mirzayanov who had written that Russia was working on a nerve gas weapon.

Counter-terrorism:

Over the years, FSB and affiliated state security organizations have killed all "presidents" of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria including Dzhokhar Dudaev, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, Aslan Maskhadov, and Abdul-Khalim Saidullaev. Just before his death, Saidullaev claimed that the Russian government "treacherously" killed Maskhadov, after inviting him to "talks" and promising his security "at the highest level."

During the Moscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school hostage crisis, all hostage takers were killed on the spot by FSB spetsnaz forces. Only one of the suspects, Nur-Pashi Kulayev, survived and was convicted later by the court. It is reported that more than 100 leaders of terrorist groups have been killed during 119 operations on North Caucasus during 2006.

On July 28, 2006 the FSB presented a list of 17 terrorist organizations recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, to Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, which published the list that day. The list had been available previously, but only through individual request. Commenting on the list, Yuri Sapunov, head of anti-terrorism at the FSB, named three main criteria necessary for organizations to be listed.

Anti-corruption and organized crime:

The FSB cooperates with Interpol and other national and international law enforcement agencies. It has provided information on many Russian criminal groups operating in Europe.
Border protection:


The Federal Border Guard Service (FPS) has been part of the FSB since 2003. Russia has 61,000 kilometers of sea and land borders, 7,500 kilometers of which is with Kazakhstan, and 4,000 kilometers with China. One kilometer of border protection costs around 1 million rubles per year. Vladimir Putin called on the FPS to increase the fight against international terrorism and "destroy terrorists like rats".

Export control:

The FSB 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.

No comments:

Post a Comment

ONLINE TRAFFIC COUNTER