In 1782 the Empress Catherine II of Russia established Border Customs Guard units, originally manned by Russian Cossacks as well as by low-ranking cavalry troops.

In 1832 Cossacks and cavalry were replaced by armed customs officials subordinate to the Ministry of Finance in peacetime (in wartime the border guards were automatically transferred to the army).

Count Sergei Witte, the Russian Minister of Finance (1892–1903) in the government of Alexander III (reigned 1881–1894), reformed the service on 13 October 1893 into the Independent Border Guards Corps (IBGC – a para-military rather than a civilian organization) headed by an army general and reporting directly to the ministry.

Soviet Border Troops, (Russian: Пограничные войска СССР, romanized: Pogranichnyie voiska SSSR) were the military border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to its subsequently reorganized state security agency: first to Cheka/OGPU, then to NKVD/MVD/MGB and, finally, to KGB.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Federal Border Service of Russia (Russian: Федеральная пограничная служба, romanized: Federal'naya pogranichnaya sluzhba, a.k.a.

The agency retained some old traditions, most notably the dark green-coloured uniform and Border Guards Day (an official holiday commemorated by celebrations of ex-servicemen).

The First minister of the FPS was Andrei Nikolayev, a young and outspoken general who later became deputy of the State Duma.

[citation needed] In April 2012 Vladimir Pronichev announced that the country was planning to build 20 frontier posts in the Arctic region.

[3][4][5] Vladimir Kulishov claimed in May 2024 that about 70% of the weapons and equipment used by his service is "modern" (100% in the "operationally difficult" directions).