A Border Security Zone (Russian: пограничная зона) 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).
[citation needed] In 1935–36, 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 the 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.
[4] In 2004, the law was amended, the 5 km restriction was removed, and the FSB was legally authorised to draw the zone's limits on its own without coordination with local authorities.
[4][5] In 2006, FSB Director Nikolai 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.