A Border Security Zone in Russia is the designation of a strip of land (usually, though not always, along a Russian external border) where economic activity and access are restricted in line with the Frontier Regime Regulations set by the Federal Security Service (FSB).^[1] For foreign tourists to visit the zone a permit issued by the local FSB department is required.^[2]

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (May 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Пограничная зона]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|ru|Пограничная зона}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The restricted access zone (of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) width generally, but e.g., running as much as 90 kilometres (56 mi) deep along the Estonian border) was established in the Soviet Union in 1934, and later expanded, at times including vast territories.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[3]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the borders of the new Russian Federation were dramatically different, but the zone was not corrected accordingly and hence effectively ceased to exist. In 1993, the Law on the State Border was adopted and reestablished a border strip with restricted access, which should not exceed 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) (although in fact it became much wider in some places).^[4] In 2004 the law was amended, the 5 km restriction was removed, and the FSB was legally authorized to draw the zone's limits on its own without coordination with local authorities.^[4][5] In 2006 FSB Director Nikolay Patrushev and his deputy Sergei Smirnov issued decrees delimiting the zone, which expanded greatly and included many large settlements, important transport routes and resort areas, especially in the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast, and Primorsky Krai.^[4][6][7] In 2007, pressured by the public, FSB curtailed the zone in some places.^[6][7]

• Border Guard Service of Russia
• Soviet Border Troops