Soviet Border Troops

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Soviet Border Troops
Пограничные войска СССР Pograníchnyye Voiská SSSR
Patch of the Soviet Border Troops
Founded	1918
Disbanded	1992
Country	Soviet Union (1918–1991)  CIS (1991–1992)
Allegiance	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (until 1990) President of the Soviet Union (1990–1991) Commonwealth of Independent States (1991–1992)
Type	Border guard
Size	220,000 (1991)
Colors	Green
Engagements	First World War Basmachi movement Operation Faustschlag Battle of Bakhmach Crimea Operation (1918) Chinese Civil War Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) Soviet–Japanese border conflicts Battle of Lake Khasan Second World War Winter War Operation Barbarossa Continuation War Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Soviet-Japanese War Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Sino-Soviet border conflict Soviet–Afghan War
Commanders
Current commander	See list
Notable commanders	Timofei Strokach Pavel Zyryanov

Soviet Armed Forces
Components
General Staff Strategic Rocket Forces Red Army Soviet Army Air Defence Forces Air Forces Navy Airborne Forces
Ranks of the Soviet Military
Military ranks of the Soviet Union
History of the Soviet Military
Military history of the Soviet Union History of Russian military ranks
v t e

The Soviet Border Troops (Russian: Пограничные войска СССР, romanized: Pogranichnyye voyska SSSR) were the border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to the Soviet state security agency: first to the Cheka/OGPU, then to NKVD/MGB and, finally, to the KGB. Accordingly, they were known as NKVD Border Security and KGB Border Troops. Unlike the border guards of many other countries, Soviet Border Troops also included the maritime border guarding units, and aviation units (i.e., a coast guard).

The mission of the Border Troops 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.

With the end of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Border troops remained under the command of the Commonwealth of Independent States but later were divided between the Union's constituent republics.