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On December 20, 1917 the Council of People's Commissars, i.e. the then Soviet Russian government, passed its resolution on establishing the All-Russian Special Commission for Fighting Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (Russian acronym, VChK). This event was celebrated as Cheka Operative Day until 1995. The Security-Service Operative Day is being marked as an official professional holiday since 1995 in line with a decree by Russia's first president Boris Yeltsin. As of today, Russia has several secret services, including the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Body Guards Service (FSO), as well as the main presidential special-programs department. All these secret services used to be part and parcel of the Soviet KGB (State Security Committee), boasting main-department status. On March 11, 2003 President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation signed his decree aiming to streamline state administration in the field of exposing, preventing and thwarting tax-related crimes and violations, preventing illegal drug and psychotropic-substance sales and purchases, protecting, defending and guarding the state border, as well as ensuring the safety of special contacts and data-exchange operations. Russian law-enforcement ministries and departments were overhauled in line with this presidential decree. Among other things, the Russian Interior Ministry's state committee for preventing illegal sales and purchases of drugs and psychotropic substances was reorganized as the Russian Federation's state committee for controlling drug and psychotropic-substance sales and purchases. This country's Federal Frontier Service (FPS), as well as the Russian President's Federal Government Communications and Information Agency (FAPSI), were also abolished. The FPS remained virtually unchanged, becoming a component part of the FSB. Meanwhile the FSB, the Federal Body Guards Service and the national Defense Ministry obtained specific FAPSI functions. The first Russian secret services were established centuries ago. Chronicles dating to the reign of tsar Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) imply that a special unit was established in order to guard the Russian ruler. However, a system for guarding Russian princes, grand dukes and tsars was based on tradition and precedents until the mid-17th century, rather than a solid normative-legal base. The normative-legal base of Russia's secret services was first formalized in tsar Alexei Mikhailovich's 1649 code of laws. (Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the Russian throne in 1645 - Ed.) The Russian empire's state security was subsequently ensured by the Preobrazhensky prikaz (department), Peter the Great's Secret Office, as well as the Third Imperial Office Department under emperors Nicholas I and Alexander II. FSB director Nikolai Patrushev met top officials of leading Russian mass-media bodies, naming those FSB officers, who were awarded the title of Hero of Russia posthumously for conducting special operations this year. The list of awarded operatives includes Maj. Georgy Trofimov, who was killed, while defusing a homemade explosive device on Moscow's First Tverskaya-Yamskaya street; that bomb was planted by a female terrorist, who tried to blow up a local cafe. Lt.-Col. Igor Fursa also received this high title posthumously. Fursa was traveling with a federal convoy in Chechnya. That convoy was subsequently blasted by terrorists; Fursa stayed behind to cover the retreat of his group's main forces and other wounded people, saving them at the cost of his life. Patrushev also spoke about the heroic feat of Maj. Vadim Gordeyev, who was mortally wounded during a hostage-release operation. Gordeyev prevented a dangerous criminal, who had seized the hostages, from exploding a hand-grenade. Other human lives were saved as a result. Full Text of President Putin's Speech at Function Held to Mark Security Services' Professional Holiday
Below is the full text of President Putin's speech: "In the first place, I would like to congratulate you and the security services you represent on your professional holiday. For many generations of security professionals this day has become a symbol of courage, devotion to the cause and whole-hearted service to the benefit of Motherland. "Epochs succeeded one another, stereotypes got shattered and political views changed, but security of Fatherland, protection of its sovereign interests, and, the main thing, the security of our citizens have always remained the principal objectives of your work. Yours is responsible and sophisticated work requiring supreme professional competence, personal integrity and courage. "The professional experience as well as the intellectual and technical potential of Russian special services have been building up for decades. Many operations conducted by our special services are by right acknowledged as models of operational courage and elaborate analytical work not only in Russia but throughout the world. "In the twenty-first century, the security services have to meet exceptionally high requirements as well. This necessity stems from the magnitude and character of the contemporary challenges, primarily, those posed by the international terrorism. "As you know, new efforts have been made this year to optimize the country's system of security services. The chief objective of these efforts was to enhance the special services' efficiency, consolidate the intradepartmental coordination, and concentrate resources and capabilities in order to ensure that in the end the country's defense becomes more effective and powerful, capable of dealing with the real threats, both internal and external, confronting our country. I am satisfied to say that we have already registered the first positive results yielded by the above restructuring. "Thanks primarily to the work done by the Federal Security Service (FSB), its Border Guards service and other agencies of the country's security sector, it became possible to enhance law and order in the Caucasus, in the Chechen Republic. It was made possible to implement such major political initiatives in Chechnya as the referendum and presidential elections. Finally, prevention and exclusion of new raids and provocations on the part of bandits must be regarded as a top priority objective by all security agencies. "It is evident that in this area we must employ preemptive tactics and engage in extensive analytical and information-gathering work. You are well aware of the price we have to pay when we drag our feet or lose the initiative. The price is exceptionally high. We pay in blood, with the lives of our comrades and the lives of civilians. "The work done by the foreign intelligence agencies is a major factor in enhancing Russia's stability as well as its competitive strength in the world. Information obtained by these agencies has always been and remains an important component in the mechanism of making top-level state decisions. "Work is under way in other areas as well, such as activities carried out by the Federal Guards Service, the fight against corruption and organized crime, etc. Russian people expect you to score effective achievements in the fight against drug dealers. In general, Russian society awaits tangible results in the work aimed at ensuring quiet, safe and trouble-free life for Russian citizens. "In conclusion, I will again say that the main objective of the Russian special services is to ensure security of the state and protection of citizens. Protection of their legitimate rights and freedoms exercised with unequivocal observance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and principles of democracy. Protection attained in strict compliance with legal standards and with proper consideration of Russian citizens' legitimate interests and needs. "The country must be convinced that its security is in the hands of true professionals." |