| State Security Service | |
|---|---|
| Служба Государственной Безопасности | |
| Sluzhba Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti | |
| |
| Emblem of the SGB | |
| |
| SGB HQ in Moscow, Lubyanka Square | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1 July 2015 |
| Preceding agencies | 1918-1929 Cheka 1929-1954 NKVD 1954-1991 KGB (USSR) 1991-1992 (KGB (Russia) 1992-2015 FSB 1992-2015 SVR |
| Jurisdiction | President of the Russian Federation |
| Headquarters | Lublyanka Square, Moscow, Russia |
| Employees | ~ 250,000 |
| Annual budget | Classified |
| Child agencies | Federal Geospatial Intelligence Program Federal Reconnaissance Agency |
The SGB, an initialism for Sluzhba Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti (ru: Служба Государственной Безопасности), translated in English as the State Security Service, is the main security agency of the Russian Federation since 2015. It is the successor to the preceding agencies the Cheka, the NKGB, the NKVD and MGB, the committee attached to the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Main responsibilities of the new agency include counter-intelligence, foreign military intelligence gathering, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance as well as investigating some other types of grave crimes and federal law violations.
The SGB is defined as a military service and is governed by extraconstitutional regulations, under the authority of the President of the Russian Federation.
Much information on the exact operations and activities of the SGB is classified and accessible only to persons possessing the highest security clearance.
Mode of operation[]
Main responsibilities of the new agency include counter-intelligence, foreign military intelligence gathering, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance as well as investigating some other types of grave crimes and federal law violations.
The Russian government has repeatedly denied revealing any information on how exactly some of these responsibilities are being fulfilled by the SGB, to Russian politicians as to both domestic and foreign media alike. Operations carried out by the SGB has an automatic classification as state secret for 50 years, a period which can be prolonged if deemed necessary on the grounds of state security.
Estimates of number of foreign agents varies depending which source consulted from a couple of hundreds to highest estimates being in the thousands.
The SGB co-operates with the Russian military in the operation of three radio stations, one of which is the shortwave radio station UVB-76, that broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz. It broadcasts a short, monotonous buzzing tone, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per day. On very rare occasions, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. In 2014 its origins were traced to Russia, and although several theories with varying degrees of plausibility exist, its actual purpose has never been officially confirmed and remains a source of speculation, yet the Russian government has confirmed that the station exists somewhere in Russia.