Border troops interesting facts for children. History of the Border Guard

On this day in 1918, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the Border Guard of the RSFSR border was established. At the same time, the Main Directorate of the Border Guard was created. The Day of the Border Guard of the USSR was established in 1958. AT modern Russia Border Guard Day - May 28 - was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 23, 1994 "in order to revive the historical traditions of Russia and its border troops." The Federal Border Service (FPS) of the Russian Federation was established by a presidential decree of December 30, 1993, and was directly subordinate to the president and government of the Russian Federation. By decree of the President of Russia dated March 11, 2003, the Border Guard Service was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia.

The history of the border service of Russia has its roots in the distant past. Fighting steppe nomads forced the Russian principalities to build heroic outposts on the approaches to their possessions, as well as border fortresses-cities. In the second half of the 14th century, in connection with the frequent raids of the Tatars on Russian territory, guard detachments (watchmen) and villages began to be set up in the southern and southeastern outskirts of the Moscow principality, which sent mounted observers. Later they began to erect serif lines and fortified border lines.

In 1571, the Code of Stanitsa Service appeared, which regulated the rights and duties of guards and the procedure for protecting borders. In 1574, a single chief was appointed over the guard and stanitsa service. With the growth of foreign trade in 1754, border customs were created. The border was guarded by dragoon regiments dispersed over outposts, and customs civilian patrolmen. In October 1782, by decree of Empress Catherine II, the institute of "customs chain and guard" was established to protect the borders and exercise border control.

In 1827, the "Regulations on the organization of border customs guards" came into force, which was subordinated to the department of foreign trade of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. In October 1893, the border guard was separated from the Department of Foreign Trade into a separate border guard corps of the Ministry of Finance (OKPS). The main tasks of the OKPS were the fight against smuggling and illegal border crossing.

With the outbreak of the First World War, most of the OKPS units were placed at the disposal of the military command and merged into the field armies. In 1918, OKPS was disbanded.

On March 30, 1918, the Main Directorate of the Border Guard was established under the People's Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR, which in 1919 was transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry. The border guard was entrusted with the fight against smuggling and violations of the state border. On November 24, 1920, responsibility for guarding the border of the RSFSR was transferred to the Special Department of the Cheka. On September 27, 1922, the protection of the border was transferred to the OGPU, a separate border corps of the OGPU troops was formed.

Since July 1934, the leadership of the border troops was carried out by the Main Directorate of the Border and Internal Guards of the NKVD of the USSR, since 1937 - by the Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops of the NKVD of the USSR, and since February 1939 - by the Main Directorate of Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR. In 1946, the border troops were transferred to the newly created Ministry state security USSR, and in 1953 - the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. In 1957, the Main Directorate of the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR was formed.

In December 1991, after the reorganization of the KGB of the USSR, the Main Directorate of the Border Troops was abolished and the Committee for the Protection of the State Border of the USSR was formed. In October 1992, the Border Troops were included in the Ministry of Security. On December 30, 1993, the Federal Border Service was established - the Main Command of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation (FPS - Glavkomat) as an independent federal executive body. In December 1994, the FPS - Glavkomat was renamed the Federal Border Service of the Russian Federation (FBS of Russia), since 2003 the Border Service - in the structure of the FSB of Russia.

The main tasks of the Border Guard Service of Russia are to ensure the implementation of the state border policy of the country in the field of protecting the state border, territorial sea, continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone of Russia, as well as the solution of tasks for the protection of their biological resources(sea, shelf and economic zone); organization (within the limits of its authority in cooperation with the relevant departments of federal bodies state power) fight against organized crime, smuggling, illegal migration, illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives, poisonous and radioactive substances, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as countering the activities of illegal armed groups within the border area.

The units and divisions of the Russian Border Service are armed with modern weapons, military, automotive and special equipment. In total, about 200,000 border guards are guarding and protecting the borders of Russia. Honor, courage, courage, high professionalism - these qualities are necessary when performing tasks to ensure the security of the Fatherland on the state border. In the spring of 2007, for the first time in many years, not a single recruit was recruited to the outposts. By 2009, the border troops will completely switch to the contract, and the soldiers remaining in the ranks last calls gradually replaced by professionals.

By tradition, on the Day of the border guard, all those who served in the border troops put on a uniform, green cap and gather in parks. In Moscow, these are Sokolniki, Izmailovo, Gorky Park and Poklonnaya Gora. One of the traditions of celebrating the Day of the Border Guard is bathing in fountains. They are also found at the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky or on Red Square. Those who served in the border troops back in Soviet times have their own clubs with traditions, flags and rituals.

On the Day of the Border Guard, festive fireworks are fired in the hero cities and in the cities where the departments of the border districts and groups of border troops are located. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Border Service, which is celebrated in 2008, by the Award Commission public awards and commemorative signs established the jubilee public medal "90 years of the Border Service."

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

On May 28, 2013, the country celebrated the 95th anniversary of the Russian Border Troops. In honor of the holiday, we want to recall 7 interesting facts from the history of our border service.

The ball won't go through!

Soviet border guards successfully ensured not only the inviolability of the state border, but also the inaccessibility of football goals. After the end of the Tehran conference, a football tournament was held for the cup of the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The tournament was held on a round-robin basis, two Iranian teams, the English "Arsenal" and the team 131 took part in it. rifle regiment border troops of the NKVD of the USSR. The team of border guards and Arsenal reached the final. With a score of 1:0, the border guards won. The Soviet team took the Shah's Cup home. Interestingly, the Armenian diaspora in Tehran helped with providing the border guards with uniforms.

Everyone to the temple!

On May 28, 1918, the Border Guard of the RFSR was established by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, so today's border guards celebrate the holiday on this day. AT pre-revolutionary Russia there was no official secular holiday of this kind of troops and the guards of the borders celebrated the so-called temple holiday. For the border guards, the day of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple, December 4, according to the new style, was considered a temple holiday. Until now, in many churches on this day, a prayer service is performed for the border guards. December 4 is considered the day of foundation of the border guard corps.

Birds on the border

Until the 60s of the twentieth century, our border guards used carrier pigeons. It was a kind of "mobile connection". At the outposts there were pigeon houses with specially trained birds. Going out to guard the border, the border detachment always took two pigeons with them. In case of military necessity, one of the pigeons was sent with a report, the second was left for safety net. In order to preserve "valuable shots", pigeons were often repainted, disguising them as ravens and other birds.

Writer's son guarding the border

Among the first leaders of the Soviet border troops was Andrei Nikolaevich Leskov, the son of the great writer Nikolai Leskov. The son of the author of The Enchanted Wanderer devoted more than 30 years to the border service, was a colonel in the tsarist army and an excellent staff officer. At one time he even served as chief of staff of the Petrograd border district. In 1923, Andrei Leskov developed instructions for the protection of the northwestern borders. During the performance of official duties, Andrey Nikolayevich did not forget about family traditions: he is the author of his father's biography.

Legendary border guard

The most famous Russian border guard is deservedly Nikita Fedorovich Karatsupa. His combat experience commands legitimate respect. Karatsupa detained 338 border violators, participated in 130 armed clashes with saboteurs, personally destroyed 129 violators who did not want to surrender. During the service, the experienced border guard changed five dogs. A stuffed Hindu, one of the legendary dogs of Karatsupa, is on display at the Museum of the Border Troops. The legendary border guard wrote the book “Notes of a Pathfinder” about the experience of his service. In 1965, Nikita Fedorovich was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, the outpost where Karatsupa served was named after him.

Radiation boundaries

During the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the border guards were among the first who, in conditions of constant danger, did everything possible to prevent the consequences of the disaster. It was necessary to break through the route for about 200 km, install about 70,000 supports, stretch 4 million meters of barbed wire, lay communication and signaling lines, and much more. The frontier troops allocated from their reserves and funds signaling equipment, special insulators, anthracene oil for impregnating wooden poles, barbed wire, as well as specialists for the technical management of workers.

Shura Golubev. young hero border guard

The border guards were the first to take the fight with the forces of the Nazis. On the night of June 23, 1941, the soldiers of the combined 92nd border detachment, together with units of the Red Army, drove the Nazis out of the border Przemysl and occupied the city for several days until an order was received to retreat. In those days, the twelve-year-old son of the assistant commandant of the Rava-Russian border detachment, Shura Golubev, showed courage, he brought shells and even destroyed several Nazis himself, taking a machine gun from a dead soldier. For the feat the boy was awarded the order Red Star. At the age of 16, in the summer of 1945, as part of the 55th border detachment, Shura Golubev fought against Japanese samurai, for which he was awarded the second Order of the Red Star.

Alexey Rudevich

The history of the Border Guard Service of Russia is rooted in the distant past. The struggle with the steppe nomads forced the Russian principalities to build heroic outposts on their approaches, as well as border fortresses-cities.

One of the first known written references on the organization of border protection ("The Tale of Bygone Years") was an order Kyiv prince Vladimir on the arrangement of border towns along the rivers Sula, Trubezh, Osetra and the recruitment of "the best husbands" from the Slavic tribes for the "protection of the Russian land", the organization of frontier protection of the southern and southeastern limits of Russia (988). They settled them with "the best men from the Slavs: Novgorodians, Krivichi, Chud and Vyatichi." In the 30s of the XI century. the same line of 13 cities along the Ros River was added, and in the second half of the 11th century. the incessant raids of the Polovtsy on the southern outskirts of Russia forced the creation of a third line of 11 cities along the Dnieper.

Oral traditions that have survived to this day have preserved the name of one of the very first defenders of the Russian land - epic hero Ilya Muromets. He was a brave Russian knight, he defended the borders of his native land from enemies. He died not on the stove, but, as befits a warrior, from battle wounds, he was buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where his imperishable remains are miraculously preserved to this day. He is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and is the patron saint of Russian border guards.

Already under the first Russian princes, the forces of squads, militia and border population guarded the border, built fortress cities and defensive structures, smoke and fire lines of communication.

In the northwest and west of Ancient Russia, the cities of Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Staraya Ladoga, Koporye, and others reliably carried out border guards. Here the danger was relatively small, since there was a natural defense against attacks by neighbors in the form of impenetrable swamps, many lakes, dense forests. From the garrisons of the fortresses, special patrols were set up with the tasks of observing and reconnaissance of the sea, river and lake shores in order to prevent the penetration of uninvited guests.

So, in 1240, the head of the patrol at the mouth of the Neva River, Pelgusy, gave a signal to Novgorod about the approach of the Swedish fleet. This allowed Prince Alexander to suddenly attack the landed enemy troops and destroy them.

The formation of the Moscow state created the prerequisites for the organization of border protection. Then Metropolitan of All Russia Alexy, in his letter to Christians living on the Khoper and Don rivers, mentioned secret guards and hidden dens in the places of service of watchmen and stanitsa, who were obliged to observe the movement of the Tatars and deliver the message to Moscow. Moreover, in the annalistic story about the Battle of Kulikovo there is a message confirming the presence of a conspiratorial network of intelligence officers-border guards.

When driving around the army of Mamai, who was moving towards Moscow, "strong watchmen Rodion Zhidovinov, Andrey Popov, Fedor Melik and other 50 people of remote people" were captured by the Horde patrols. Andrei Popov managed to escape from captivity and on July 23, 1380, he was the first to report to Prince Dmitry about the enemy who had come to the Voronezh River. According to the results of reconnaissance of sentinel groups, the prince received timely information about the direction of movement and the composition Tatar troops. On September 8, 1380, having full intelligence about the enemy and having provided favorable conditions for the battle, Prince Dmitry carried out the “Mamaev Battle” and was nicknamed Donskoy.

The words of the chronicle that the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III "established his land with outposts" (1512) have also come down to us. From the second half of the 14th century, during the period of strengthening of the great Moscow principality along the rivers Khoper, Voronezh, Don, a guard border line was specially equipped. Activities for the direct protection of the border of the Russian state began to be called the border service. The troops settled here served at posts and villages, which received the name "Moscow Watchmen".
During the development of the Muscovite state, Siberia and the Far East were actively developed.

Back in 1483, Ivan III organized a large campaign of "ship rati" under the leadership of Prince Fyodor Kurbsky and governor Saltyk-Travkin. Having passed along the rivers Tobol, Irtysh and Ob, the expedition ensured the vassal dependence of the Vogul and Ugra princes on Moscow. In 1582, the famous campaign of Yermak was undertaken.

The fortress-cities of Tobolsk, Berezov, Obdorsk, Surgut, Narym, and others are being built. The protection of the front lines of the colonized lands by the forces of the Cossacks and army units is being consistently formed. AT late XVII century in Siberia, there were already 10 thousand service people. However, there was not enough military protection, and local authorities involved the townspeople in the border service. In the settlements and prisons, they often armed all the combat-ready inhabitants, entrusted them with guard duty, and sent them to "outgoing guards."

Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the Russian state increased, its borders moved south and east. On January 1, 1571, Ivan the Terrible appointed the "most famous warrior of his time" boyar M.I. Vorotynsky, who distinguished himself in campaigns against the Swedes, Volga and Crimean Tatars, as well as in the capture of Kazan, being the governor of the Big Regiment, as the head of the village and guard service. In February of the same year, under the guidance of "this most famous warrior of his time," one of the first most important documents for frontier history was developed and approved by the tsar - the verdict "On the stanitsa and guard service in sovereign Ukraine and in the steppe." The royal decree, which was a kind of first border charter, in fact, determined for many decades the order of service for protecting the borders of the Moscow state.

Two main types of attire were used: the village and the watchmen. The village was put forward according to the schedule for two weeks and was responsible for a certain area of the area. Composition - 4-6 riders. Overcame an average of 400 miles, the routes of the villages intersected, covering the entire southern border. The watchmen guarded on average up to 40 kilometers of the border, and up to 10 kilometers in the directions of a probable invasion. Composition - 4-5 watchmen, in important areas - 10 people or more.

The service of outfits was organized according to murals, in which the time of leaving and returning from service, the number of shifts and the personal composition of the outfits, places and routes of service were noted.
When serving, the soldiers were required to exercise constant vigilance, observe their own security measures, and not arbitrarily leave the site without changing to their places.

Disciplinary and financial responsibility of border guards was envisaged. For unauthorized departure from the site without a shift in the conditions of the raid of the steppes - the death penalty. For negligent performance of service and failure to reach the established places - beating with a whip. For being late to the place of duty - a fine for each extra day in favor of those being replaced. For damage to or loss of someone else's hired horse - payment according to price lists. It is important that no punishment was provided for false news about the enemy, although the Judgment forbade the submission of unverified data.
Another important historical document has also been preserved - the Synodikon of the Assumption Cathedral. It contains the names of the dead Russian warriors in German, Lithuanian and southern borders. Orthodox Church she prayed for the "Christ-loving Russian army", wishing him victory over the enemy.
Legends were made about the first Russian border guards, which then became epics.

There are many significant dates in the history of Russia's border protection, which, like bright milestones, mark the stages of its glorious and long journey. One of them is October 27, 1893. On this day the Russian Emperor Alexander III signed a decree on the creation of a separate corps of the border guards. October 15 (27), 2003 marked the 110th anniversary of the Separate Corps of Border Guards.

In the history of our state, including its constituent part - the border history, there are events, the significance of which we, contemporaries, can hardly be overestimated. A special place in this series is occupied by the date of February 16, 1571. On this day, Ivan the Terrible approved the "Sentence on the Stanitsa and Guard Service" - a document that became the first border charter. In it, on the basis of centuries of experience, the requirements for organizing the protection of the state border were formulated, which have become classic.

A feature of this stage in the construction of the border service was that it was formed within the framework of the military organization of the Russian centralized state. It should be emphasized that this feature was preserved almost until the end of the 18th century.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves! 18th century became, in many respects, decisive for the construction of the substation. The birth and formation of a new state formation is associated with it - Russian Empire(1721), and more importantly for us border guards, the appearance new threat state security - smuggling.

Solving a new task - the fight against smuggling, the military department continued to apply the old approaches. First of all, it sought to create sufficient high density military forces and means. So, in the XVIII century. garrison troops were involved in the service on the border, garrisoned in border fortresses, units regular army, Cossacks, landmilitia (settled troops), hussar regiments of mercenaries, mostly Serbs, the local population, etc. This made it possible to create an average force density of about 11-18 people/km in the most threatened areas. AT individual cases it reached 55 people/km. On secondary routes, these figures were much lower and ranged from 2 to 5 people/km. But a simple increase in the number of troops on the border did not give the desired effect, and the state did not have the necessary financial resources to maintain them on the border.

Thus, the objective processes that took place on the border showed that the military department was not prepared for action in the new conditions. And the state was forced to look for new ways to combat economic threats to its security.
In 1714, zemstvo fiscal officers appeared on the border - the prototype of modern operational agencies that carried out intelligence activities in the interests of border security Russian state.

In 1754, a decree was adopted on the abolition of internal customs and their transfer to the border. This actually meant that another entity appeared in the protection of the state borders - the Customs Department. Customs officers and guards were posted at the border. It was a very progressive, for that time, step, although not without flaws. Their paucity, recruitment from local residents and others did not allow to provide the required reliability of the protection of the state borders.

Therefore, on October 27, 1782, by decree of Catherine II, a special customs chain and guards were established. A new Customs Border Guard was established in each province where there were port and border customs. The number of guards and overseers increased, but the main drawback was never eliminated - the guards continued to be civilians.

The next changes in the evolution of PS were associated with the imminent war with Napoleon. In 1810, Minister of War M.B. Barclay de Tolly inspected the western border and concluded that its protection was unsatisfactory. In the context of the impending military danger, it was impossible to protect Russian borders small sidings of civilian Customs border guards. Foreign merchants continued to freely enter the territory of Russia with their goods, depriving the state treasury of income. This state of affairs could not but worry Russian government. Barclay de Tolly's proposals to strengthen the protection of the border were accepted and formed the basis of the "Regulations on the organization of border guards" approved on January 4, 1811. The regulation provided for the division of the border from Palangen (Palanga) to Yagorlyk (more than 1600 versts) into 150 versts sections. They were guarded by 8 regiments of the Don and 3 regiments of the Bug Cossacks. The border from Yagorlyk on the Dniester to the mouth of the Dnieper was covered by cordon guards.

Fully justified itself on the eve and during Patriotic War 1812 Cossack guards turned out to be unsuitable in peacetime. Here one should take into account the fact that the Cossacks have always been indispensable in the protection of the border, when the main thing was the solution of the military-defensive task. If the fight against economic threats to the security of the state came to the fore, then the Cossacks not only failed to cope with this task, but often themselves were one of the participants in smuggling activities. And the state was forced to remove him from participating in the protection of the border.

August 5, 1827 became a new frontier in our border history. On this day, the "Regulations on the organization of border customs guards" were approved. The author of this document, the Minister of Finance of Russia, General of Artillery Kankrin, justifying his position, wrote to the emperor: “The main changes are: in a firm military division of the guard, in the appointment of military commanders, in exact definition uniforms and other equipment.

In accordance with the Regulations, the Border Customs Guard was founded as a military organization and was divided into brigades, semi-brigades, companies and detachments. The command of these units and subunits was entrusted to officers, who in turn were subordinate to the heads of the customs districts.

Guards took under guard the entire western border. It was entrusted with the tasks of averting the secret transportation of goods across the entire land and sea borders, as well as carrying out quarantine service.

In 1835, the Border Customs Guard was renamed the "Border Guard", although it should be noted that the brigades that carried out the quarantine service began to be called the "Border Guard" as early as 1832.

Developing as a military organization, the Border Guard began to increasingly attract the attention of the military department, which wanted to see it as part of the armed forces of the state.

On July 13, 1882, the "Regulations on the organization and use of border guards in case of war" were approved. The consequences of this phenomenon were also ambiguous. On the one hand, attention to drill training, the study of combat techniques was necessary and justified. On the other hand, it diverted forces from the immediate task of protecting the border.

AT late XIX- early XX centuries. there is an increase in the length of the border, which is the responsibility of the Border Guard. This can be explained by the fact that at this boundary, the southern and southeastern borders of the Russian Empire were mainly determined. They were secured by relevant bilateral agreements with neighboring countries and marked on the ground. The situation in these regions was characterized by increased activity of various robber groups, roving gangs. In addition, with the strengthening of trade relations with neighboring states, some goods were prohibited from being imported into Russia, which caused them to be smuggled. The emerging situation required the organization of reliable protection of the Caucasian and Central Asian borders.

The formation of border guard brigades in Transcaucasia began in 1882 with the development of a regulation on the Black Sea brigade, "highest" approved on June 15, 1882. By the end of 1896, the entire border was guarded by five border guard brigades. The length of the border was 1502 versts.

Border supervision in the Trans-Caspian region and on the right bank of the Pyanj and Amu-Darya rivers (Bukhara-Afghan border) was established in accordance with the "Highest Opinion" State Council dated June 6, 1894 "On the organization of border supervision in Central Asia". He was assigned to two brigades of the PS: the Trans-Caspian and the Amu-Darya. In total, they took under the protection of 1875 miles of the border.

Thus, from the foregoing, it is clear that the Border Guard has gone through a long and difficult path of its development, which is inextricably linked with the history of the Russian state. The formation of the Border Guard was a completely objective and natural phenomenon, dictated by the need for a comprehensive fight against military, economic and political threats to the security of the Fatherland. The evolution of the structure of the Border Guard in the 18th - early 19th centuries. clearly demonstrated that it should be based on a military organization.

By the decree of Emperor Alexander III of October 15 (27), 1893, a Separate Corps of Border Guards (OKPS) was established. In accordance with this decree, the Border Guard was separated from the Department of Customs Duties, but remained part of the Ministry of Finance as a department.

To ensure the unity of the OKPS and better harmonize activities with the customs institutions, their management was concentrated in one hand - the Minister of Finance, who became the head of the OKPS.

To manage the protection of the border, the OKPS Directorate was created, which included:

Corps commander (aka head of department),

his assistant,

Orders for orders;

Corps headquarters (4 departments: 1st - drill, inspection and mobilization; 2nd - border supervision; 3rd - weapons, equipment and infirmary unit; 4th - economic);

Parts: medical, ship, marine, construction, executor, magazine and printing.
In addition, the headquarters of the corps included: a headquarters or chief officer of the naval department.

The corps commander was given all military disciplinary, command, inspection and drill rights and duties.
The formation of an independent body of control of the border guard had great importance for its further formation and development. The border guard has become an independent branch of the military, controlled by competent military people on the basis of a clear military organization. From now on, all issues of staffing, training, logistics of the border guards were in charge of the headquarters of the OKPS. He also developed all the necessary official instructions, documents and regulations that clearly regulated the activities of the border guards, their rights and obligations. A prerequisite was created for more effective actions of the border guards in solving the problems of protecting the border.

A certain duality in the management of the Border Guard, as well as the large length of the state border line with border units and subunits located on it, necessitated the decentralization of the management of the Border Guard, increasing its flexibility and efficiency.

Based on the decision of the State Council in February 1899, the "Sovereign of All Russia" Nicholas II approved a decree on the establishment of border guard districts with the corresponding headquarters. In total, 7 districts were established with locations in St. Petersburg, Tiflis, Vilna, Warsaw, Berdichev, Odessa and Tashkent. During this period, the OKPS included 31 brigades and 2 special departments. The number of personnel reached 36709 people, including: 1033 generals and officers, 12101 patrolmen, 23575 guards.
In accordance with the same decision, new positions of district chiefs of the OKPS were established with the rights of division chiefs - an intermediate authority between the corps commander and brigade commanders. Parts of the border guards were subordinated to the heads of the districts, not only in military command, disciplinary and economic relations, but also in border supervision.
In addition to the district chief, the district administration included: the chief of staff, the staff officer for assignments, senior adjuncts and the architect.

In the 80s years XIX century, the foreign policy activity of the tsarist government was reoriented to the East. In an effort to strengthen the position of the Russian bourgeoisie in the Chinese market, in 1896 an agreement was signed between Russia and China on the construction and operation of the Chinese Eastern railway, as well as the maintenance of its security guards on it. In 1901, this security guard was assigned to the Separate Border Guard Corps with the formation of a special Zaamur border district.

The Zaamursky border guard district was formed according to a special staff: district headquarters, four brigades with headquarters, twelve detachments with headquarters, fifty-five companies with twelve training teams, six foot-horse batteries. In total, the district included: generals and officers - 495 people; lower ranks - 25,000 people. with 9466 combat horses. This was due to the peculiarities of the situation in this region, characterized by the actions of various bandit formations (khunhuz); remoteness of the district from the borders of the country, as well as the importance of the tasks to be solved. It should be emphasized that during Russo-Japanese War(1904-1905) such organizational structure county justified itself. The personnel of the district showed itself brilliantly during this war.

This last major organizational measure completed the process of building the OKPS as a single military organization with a coherent control system. She finally eliminated civil officials from the Customs Department from participating in the affairs of the border guards on border supervision. A separate corps of the border guards became a special force designed to carry out border surveillance to prevent the smuggling of goods and illegal border crossings by both civilians and military personnel.

Thus, until 1914 OKPS consisted of 7 districts, 31 border brigades, 2 special border departments, a cruising flotilla consisting of ten sea cruisers, the Zaamur border district consisting of 6 horse and 6 foot regiments, 6 horse batteries and 6 railway battalions.

At the forefront of the tasks facing OKPS was the fight against smuggling. Moreover, earlier, and even after the creation of the corps, persons detained in the border strip were sent not to the police station, but to customs offices, which testified to the prevalence of economic interests over political ones. A new task has also appeared - the protection of the border line, that is, the border, which was not even mentioned in previous documents. This task was ranked third in importance, but in a few years it will come to the fore in the service of the border guards.

As for another new task - the implementation of quarantine supervision, it should be noted: all quarantine institutions were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the immediate supervision of them was assigned to the governor and mayor according to their affiliation. It was carried out in those places of the maritime border where there were no quarantine institutions, and only here the ranks of the border guards were supposed to ensure that foreign ships did not land on the shore, and the population did not communicate with the crews of the ships.

Early 20th century was the time active search ways to further improve border supervision based on an analysis of past experience and the intensification of theoretical thought, the introduction into practice of border protection of everything advanced that has been achieved in this matter. At this time, all legal documents regulating the activities of OKPS were re-developed.
The most important of them were:

- "Draft instructions to the ranks of the Separate Corps of the Border Guard on the introduction of secret agents for smuggling", published in 1910, and

- "Instruction for the Service of the OKPS Officials", approved in 1912.
These two documents developed the fundamental new concept border protection. For the first time in the entire centuries-old history of the border service, covert methods of combating smuggling and border violators (intelligence service) were put in the first place.

All commanders and commanding officers of the corps were to be engaged in the intelligence service. The head of the district oversaw the intelligence and organization of intelligence work and sent subordinates to collect information. The staff officer for assignments under the head of the district was responsible for setting up the specific work of the smuggling agents. The brigade commander led the reconnaissance. And it was directly led by the commanders of departments, detachments, senior sergeants and assistant chiefs of posts. So, the commander of the detachment was obliged to know the name, surname and local nickname of each smuggler in the area of his detachment and, above all, the leaders of the smugglers.

The intelligence service in the border zone was conducted in close contact with the ranks of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, who were not forbidden to walk along the border strip in the performance of their duties, while the border guards were supposed to provide them "if necessary, according to their statements, possible assistance." Moreover, detachment officers were obliged to report all information about smuggling, importation or storage of political literature without any delay "to the appropriate gendarmerie officers for joint action and taking measures to arrest such smuggling and its installation."

In June 1908, the interdepartmental commission of the OKPS, the Department of Customs Duties and the Police Department developed proposals for joint action these departments in the management of the capture of persons involved in the smuggling of weapons and goods. Among these proposals was such a measure: the leadership of the district offices of the secret search, which was conducted by the border guards.

However, the corps commander opposed the subordination of guard officers in the conduct of a secret search to the chiefs district offices, considering it quite sufficient to conduct a joint search for criminals, a meeting of representatives of the OKPS, the Separate Corps of Gendarmes and the Customs Department, where the gendarmes would give their advice and solve practical issues.

In fact, it is clear what the combat artillery general Svinin was afraid of. In this proposal, he saw the actual weakening of border protection, and here's why. The subordination of border guard officers to the heads of security departments would force them to put the interests of undercover work in the first place, to the detriment of the guard service. In addition, guard officers who graduated from the cadet corps and cadet schools and came from the military department always felt hostility towards those who were engaged in denunciation.

It should be emphasized that in order to put "intelligence work on a solid basis," the Ministry of Finance in 1913 turned to State Duma with a special report "On the organization of agents for reconnaissance on smuggling in the Separate Corps of the Border Guard". It substantiated the need to introduce the positions of chief officers to the states of the corps 21 to work with agents, and also requested the amount of 12,000 rubles. per year for these purposes.

Despite the unequivocal attitude to undercover work, its underestimation can be traced right up to the liquidation of the corps. The chiefs of the corps and districts were forced to constantly remind their subordinates of the need to improve the intelligence service and even punish them for omissions, and sometimes even neglect of it. So, the head of the 6th border district, Major General Orlov, in his order noted that intelligence activities were not developed in parts of the 3rd department, "such an attitude towards one of the important branches of border surveillance is reproached to the commander of the 3rd department and all officers , which is part of this department, and I urge you to immediately take care of finding reliable and useful agents and work tirelessly in the fight against smuggling."

The adoption of the "Instructions for the Service of the OKPS Officials" was a very big step in streamlining the entire border service. It defined the state border as a line separating the territory of the Russian state from neighboring countries. The purpose of protecting the state border, the rights and obligations of the border guards, the procedure for managing it, the types and methods of actions of the guards, as well as the types of outfits are disclosed. The concept of "strengthened border protection" was introduced.

Enhanced border security was introduced in different situations. Depending on their nature, the strengthening of security was extended to all districts of the border guard (during the coronation of the emperor, on Christmas holidays, when the political situation in the country worsened) or to its individual sections - in the event of a real threat of illegal smuggling a large number weapon, explosives, banned political literature, etc.

So, for example, in 1896, all the forces of the border guards, police, gendarmerie and a number of other departments were mobilized on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II. On March 27, the Customs Department sent a top secret directive to all customs chiefs, in which he drew the attention of the chiefs to the fact that "by the time of the coronation celebrations" all sorts of intruders would attempt to transport political contraband, so it was necessary to pay attention " Special attention from the beginning of next April, the baggage of persons arriving from abroad and inspiring any doubts or suspicions. "It was recommended" to pay special attention to the Russian youth of both sexes "and to those persons who will be pointed out by the gendarmes.

At the beginning of 1905, it became necessary to strengthen the protection of the border in the sector of the St. Petersburg brigade. Moreover, the general pre-revolutionary situation of those years forced the country's leadership, in agreement with the Chief of the Border Guard, the Ministries of the Military, Maritime and Railways, to form a special body - the Conference. It was through him that the issues of coordinating the actions of various departments involved in the enhanced protection of the border were resolved.

But, unfortunately, it was not possible to fully implement these innovations - the first World War, which made adjustments to the development of OKPS.

With the announcement of mobilization on the eve of the First World War, all border brigades became part of the active army, forming cavalry regiments and foot battalions. Moreover, the border brigades and departments of the European and Transcaucasian borders were to be disbanded, and the sums of money and accounting books were handed over to the headquarters of the corps.

On January 1, 1917, the OKPS was renamed the Separate Border Corps (OPK), border guard districts and brigades - into border districts and brigades, guards - into border guards.

On March 30, 1918, the Department of the Defense Industrial Complex was liquidated. Instead, the Main Directorate of the Border Guard (GUPO) of the Soviet Republic was formed under the People's Commissariat of Finance.

Thus ended the history of the Separate Corps of the Border Guard.

At the end of our story, we can say that the complexity of the tasks of ensuring the security of the state borders, the need for their comprehensive solution predetermined the allocation of OKPS to a relatively independent structure. OKPS in its form represented military organization, but, in essence, had its own original (border) structure: corps administration - border district - border brigade - department - detachment - post. The corps commander in one person united the military and operational chief. The intelligence service, which was singled out as the main one and reinforced by the guard service, was actively introduced into the practice of protecting the border.

Given the lessons historical development, we make it much easier for ourselves to solve the current problems. This is the story that we must remember and know.

Day of the Border Guard.

On May 28, Russia celebrated the Day of the Border Guard. One of the most revered and untouched by the political conjuncture of military holidays.

May 28, 1918 By a decree of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), the Border Guard of the RSFSR Border was established. Then it was created.

Officially, the Day of the USSR Border Guard was established in 1958.

In modern Russia, the Day of the Border Guard was established by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 23, 1994 "in order to revive the historical traditions of Russia and its Border Troops."

The Federal Border Service (FPS) of the Russian Federation was established by Decree of the President of Russia of December 30, 1993, and was directly subordinate to the President and the Government of the Russian Federation. By the Decree of the President of Russia dated March 11, 2003, the Border Guard Service was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia.

historical roots.

The history of the Border Guard Service of Russia is rooted in the distant past. The struggle against the steppe nomads forced the Russian principalities to build heroic outposts on the approaches to their possessions, as well as border fortresses-cities.

In the second half of the XIV century, in connection with the frequent raids of the Tatars on Russian territory, on the southern and southeastern outskirts of the Moscow principality, guard detachments (watchmen) and villages began to be set up, which sent mounted observers. Later they began to erect serif lines and fortified border lines.

In October 1782, by decree of Empress Catherine II, the institute of "customs chain and guard" was established to protect the borders and exercise border control. In 1827, the "Regulations on the organization of border customs guards" came into force, which was subordinated to the department of foreign trade of the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

In October 1893, the border guard was separated from the Department of Foreign Trade into a separate border guard corps of the Ministry of Finance (OKPS). The main tasks of the OKPS were the fight against smuggling and illegal border crossing. With the outbreak of the First World War, most of the OKPS units were placed at the disposal of the military command and merged into the field armies. In 1918, OKPS was disbanded.

On March 30, 1918, under the People's Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR, the Main Directorate of the Border Guard was established, which in 1919 was transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry. The border guard was entrusted with the fight against smuggling and violations of the state border. On November 24, 1920, responsibility for protecting the border of the RSFSR was transferred to the Special Department of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK).

On September 27, 1922, the protection of the border came under the jurisdiction of the United State Political Administration (OGPU), and a separate border corps of the OGPU troops was formed.

Since July 1934, the leadership of the border troops was carried out by the Main Directorate of the Border and Internal Guards of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR, since 1937 - by the Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops of the NKVD of the USSR, and since February 1939 - by the Main Directorate of Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR.

In 1946, the border troops were transferred to the newly created Ministry of State Security of the USSR, and in 1953 - to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of the USSR.

In 1957, the Main Directorate of the Border Troops of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR was formed.

Guardians of the borders of the new Russia.

In October 1992, the border troops were included in the Ministry of Security.

On December 30, 1993, the Federal Border Service - the Main Command of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation (FPS - Glavkomat) was established as an independent federal executive body.

In December 1994, the FPS - Glavkomat was renamed the Federal Border Service of the Russian Federation (FBS of Russia), since 2003 the Border Service - in the structure of the FSB of Russia.

Border Guard today.

Border Service of the FSB of Russia - structural subdivision the FSB of Russia, which deals with the organization of the activities of the bodies of the federal security service in the implementation of the protection and protection of: the state border of Russia; economic and other legitimate interests of Russia within the border territory, the Russian exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, as well as the protection outside the exclusive economic zone of Russia of stocks of anadromous fish species that form in Russian rivers.

According to the First Deputy Director of the FSB - Head of the FSB Border Service, General of the Army Vladimir Pronichev, today one of the main tasks of the Border Service is the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration and smuggling at the state border. If earlier the border security system was focused on detaining border violators, now the main efforts are aimed at suppressing cross-border illegal activities at the border. Every year, more than 100 organized criminal groups engaged in illegal activities on the border are detected and suppressed.

In 2009, more than 6 thousand border violators were detained, about 40 thousand violators of the border regime and the regime at checkpoints. Goods and items smuggled across the border and in violation of customs rules were detained for an amount exceeding 900 million rubles. The border authorities inspected over 30,000 vessels, detained more than 180, of which about 1,000 tons of fishery products were seized.

The units and divisions of the Russian border service are armed with modern weapons, military, automotive and special equipment.

Military personnel on conscription to the border authorities are no longer recruited. In 2008, the last soldier was fired military service. The border troops have been completely transferred to contract service, since special studies of scientists and the situation on the ground itself have shown that a professional service makes it possible to more effectively and at lower economic costs carry out the task of protecting the state border.

In the future, the leadership of the border service plans to completely abandon the private and non-commissioned officers of the contract service. The initial rank for service on the border will be ensign. For this purpose, appropriate courses are already being created at border universities.

In 2008, the border service celebrated its 90th anniversary. The Commission for the awarding of public awards and commemorative signs established the jubilee public medal "90 years of the Border Service".

By tradition, on the Day of the border guard, all those who served in the border troops put on a uniform, always a green cap and gather in parks. these are Sokolniki, Izmailovo, Gorky Park and Poklonnaya Gora.

On the Day of the Border Guard, festive fireworks are fired in the hero cities and in the cities where the departments of the border districts and groups of border troops are located.

History of the border troops

Specialized border troops appeared in Russia during the formation and strengthening of the Moscow principality in the XIV-XV centuries. Since 1512, the protection of the borders of the Russian state was called the "border service", in 1571 the "Boyar verdict on the village and guard service" was established - the first charter of the border guards. In the Russian Empire, these units were called customs, since 1832 - border guards.

After the October Revolution of 1917, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of May 28, 1918, a border guard was created (since 1958 this date was celebrated in the USSR as the Day of the Border Guard), on February 1, 1918, renamed the border troops. Until 1920 they were under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs.

In 1920, the Soviet government, restoring the protection of the state border, entrusted this task to the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK, later GPU and OGPU) and its Special Department. The formation of the structure of the troops and their leadership was completed by 1924-1926. From August 1937, the protection of the state border of the USSR was assigned to the Border Troops of the NKVD (from February 1946 the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from October 1949 the Ministry of State Security, from March 1953 the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from March 28, 1957 the KGB under the Council of Ministers, from July 1978 KGB) USSR.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. border guard troops participated in battles as part of the army, navy and air force. More than 17 thousand border guards were awarded orders and medals, 158 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On December 3, 1991, by decree of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, the border troops were withdrawn from the KGB and subordinated to the Committee for the Protection of the State Border of the USSR.

On June 12, 1992, by decree of the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, the border troops of the Russian Federation were formed on the basis of the border troops of the USSR.

In 1993, by decree of President Boris Yeltsin, the Federal Border Service (FPS) of Russia was created - the main command of the border troops. By decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin dated March 11, 2003, the FPS was abolished from July 1, 2003, its functions were transferred to Federal Service Security Service (FSB), within which the Border Guard Service was created.

At present, employees of the 41st Directorate of the PS of the FSB of Russia control almost 61 thousand km of the state border of Russia.

In service coast guard The PS of the FSB of Russia are located:

about 100 ships (patrol ships of projects 1135 Burevestnik, 22460 Rubin and 22120 Purga, patrol boats Commander, Uragan, etc.),
about 80 aircraft and helicopters (Il-76, An-26, An-72, Mi-8, etc.).

By order of the FSB of Russia, ice-class patrol ships of project 22100 "Ocean" are being built.

According to the interstate agreement of September 30, 1992, Russian border guards stationed on the territory of Armenia guard the border of this state with Turkey and Iran. In addition, the basing point for patrol ships of the coast guard of the PS of the FSB of Russia operates in the city of Ochamchira (Abzakhia).

The training of personnel for the service is carried out by the Border Academy of the FSB of Russia in Moscow, Moscow, Golitsyn, Kaliningrad, Kurgan and Khabarovsk border institutions FSB of Russia, as well as the Coast Guard Institute of the FSB of Russia in Anapa ( Krasnodar region) and the First Border cadet corps FSB of Russia (St. Petersburg).