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Soviet Union [USSR] INTERNAL SECURITY TROOPS
The government of the Soviet Union had several bodies of troops
under its control for the purpose of ensuring internal security.
These troops included the Border Troops and Security Troops of the
KGB and the Internal Troops of the MVD.
Border Troops of the Committee for State Security
The Border Troops were organized under the KGB's unnumbered
Border Troops Directorate, which was headed in 1989 by Army General
Viktor Matrosov. He was assisted by one or more first deputy
chiefs, several deputy chiefs, and a chief of staff. Within the
directorate, a political administration provided political
indoctrination and surveillance on behalf of the party. Western
specialists reported that there was an intelligence administration
within the Border Troops Directorate, but this had not been
confirmed by Soviet sources.
The Border Troops strength was estimated in 1989 to be in the
range of 230,000 men. Although under the operational authority of
the KGB, the Border Troops were conscripted as part of the biannual
call-up of the Ministry of Defense, and their induction and
discharge were regulated by the 1967 Law on Universal Military
Service, which covered all armed forces of the Soviet Union.
The legal status, duties, and rights of the Border Troops were
set forth in the Law on the State Border, confirmed by the Supreme
Soviet on November 24, 1982. Article 28 defined the basic duties of
the Border Troops. Their duties included repulsing armed incursions
into Soviet territory; preventing illegal crossings of the border
or the transport of weapons, explosives, contraband, or subversive
literature across the border; monitoring the observance of
established procedures at border crossing points; monitoring the
observance by Soviet and foreign ships of navigation procedures in
Soviet territorial waters; and assisting state agencies in the
preservation of natural resources and the protection of the
environment from pollution. Border guards were authorized to
examine documents and possessions of persons crossing the borders
and to confiscate articles; to conduct inquiries in cases of
violations of the state border; and to take such actions as arrest,
search, and interrogation of individuals suspected of border
violations.
The Border Troops Directorate administered approximately nine
border districts (pogranichnye okruga), which covered the
nearly 63,000 kilometers of the state border. Border district
boundaries were distinct from civil or military district
boundaries. The nine border districts were subdivided into
detachments (otriady), covering specific sections of the
border, border command posts (pogranichnye komendatury),
passport control points (kontrol'no-propusknye punkty), and
border outposts (zastavy). The border area was divided into
a border zone, which included the territory of the district and
settlements adjacent to the state border, and the border strip,
which was approximately two kilometers in depth, running directly
along the border. Only permanent residents or those who had
obtained special permission from the MVD could enter the border
zone. Entry into the border strip was forbidden without special
permission from the Border Troops.
Soviet sources repeatedly stressed that a border guard was not
only a soldier but also a defender of Soviet ideology. His mission
entailed sensitive political tasks, such as detecting subversive
literature, and shooting citizens attempting to escape across the
border. Enlisted men were trained with their operational units,
whereas officers were trained in special Border Troops schools,
such as the Dzerzhinskii Higher Border Command School and the
Higher Border School in Moscow. Military-political officers
received training at the Voroshilov Higher Border MilitaryPolitical Academy, founded in the 1930s and located outside
Leningrad. In 1972 a higher border military-political school was
created in Golytsin, near Moscow. More recently, higher border
command faculties were set up at the Frunze Military Academy and
the Lenin Military-Political Academy. The period of instruction at
the Dzerzhinskii Higher Border Command School was four years.
Officer candidates, who were screened carefully by their local KGB
offices before admittance, took general higher education courses
along with specialized military and political studies.
To ensure a high level of discipline among personnel of the
Border Troops, much attention was devoted to political training and
indoctrination. For this purpose, a network of political organs,
the Political Directorate of the Border Troops, was established
within the Border Troops. It had political departments within all
the border districts, detachments, and education institutions, and
a network of full-time party political officers worked among all
troop units. They conducted political study groups, gave propaganda
lectures, and worked to increase the level of combat effectiveness
among the troops.
Data as of May 1989
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