Border Security Zone of Russia

The Border Security Zone in Russia is a strip of land (usually, though not always, along the state border) where economic activity and access are restricted without permission of the FSBПриказ Федеральной службы безопасности Российской Федерации от 28 сентября 2006 г. N 452 г. Москва [http://www.rg.ru/2006/11/22/pogran-dok.html Об утверждении Правил пограничного режима] .] . In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. The restricted access zone (of 7.5 km. width generally, but e.g. running as much as 90 km deep along the Estonian border) was established in the Soviet Union in 1934, and later expanded, at times including vast territoriesFact|date=July 2007. In 1935-1936 in order to secure the western border of the Soviet Union many nationalities considered unreliable (Poles, Germans, Ingrian Finns, Estonians, Latvians) were forcibly transferred from the zone by forces of NKVD. Martin, Terry (1998). [http://www.jstor.org/view/00222801/di000017/00p0286a/0 The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing] . "The Journal of Modern History" 70.4, 813-861.] In 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed and the state borders changed dramatically, the zone was not corrected accordingly and hence effectively ceased to exist. However, in 1993 the Law on the State Border was adopted and reestablished border strip with restricted access, which should not exceed 5 km (although in fact it became much wider in some places). In 2004 the law was amended, the 5 km restriction was excluded, and FSB was legally authorized to draw the zone’s limits on its own without coordination with local authoritiesФедеральный закон от 01 апреля 1993 г. N 4730-1 в редакции от 7.03.2005 " [http://www.tamognia.ru/laws/law_1195.html О Государственной границе Российской Федерации] ", Статья 16.] [http://www.around.spb.ru/guide/steelcurtain/steelcurtain.php Пограничная зона и пограничный режим на территории Ленинградской области и Республики Карелия] . 2006.] In 2006 FSB Director Nikolay Patrushev and his deputy Sergei Smirnov issued decrees delimiting the zone, which now expanded much and included many large settlements, important transport routes and resort areas, especially in the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Primorsky Krai. [http://www.regnum.ru/news/838160.html Погранзона в Карелии сокращена почти втрое] , June 42007.] [http://www.regnum.ru/news/fd-fareast/primorie/835484.html В Приморье окончательно определены пограничные зоны] , May 302007.] . In 2007, pressured by the public, FSB curtailed the zone in some places

References

ee also

*Border Guard Service of Russia
*USSR Border Troops
*Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation

External links

* [http://chekist.ru/article/1292 News from Border Security Zone of Russia (Russian)]
* [http://www.mccme.ru/putevod/Border/border.html Приказы ФСБ об установлении пограничной зоны]