Russian legislators have passed a bill that reinstates the Federal Security Service (FSB)’s authority to manage its own pre-trial detention facilities.
This action aims to undo a reform from 2006 that had placed the oversight of these facilities under the Federal Penitentiary Service, aligning with recommendations from the Council of Europe.
The legislation, which was finalized in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday, empowers the FSB to detain individuals suspected of treason, espionage, terrorism, and extremism in centers directly under its jurisdiction.
The bill now awaits a single reading in the upper house, the Federation Council, before it can be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.
Proponents of the new law contend that establishing FSB-operated detention centers is warranted due to what they describe as increased foreign intelligence activities and terrorist threats since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The law seeks to prevent individuals involved in national security cases from having unsanctioned communications with other detainees,” said Vasily Piskarev, head of the Duma’s Security and Anti-Corruption Committee and a co-author of the bill. “By segregating these individuals, authorities can hinder foreign intelligence services and terrorist organizations from contacting their assets and engaging them in disruptive actions.”
Piskarev claimed there has been a threefold increase in treason, espionage, terrorism, and extremism cases since 2015, with the number of arrests in these matters quadrupling.
He noted that these cases are allegedly supported by terrorist and extremist networks, leading to a significant rise in related criminal investigations.
While the law officializes the FSB’s ability to manage detention centers, critics point out that the agency never completely gave up control of certain facilities, even after the 2006 transition.
For example, Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, a well-known pre-trial facility closely linked to Russia’s security services and housing individuals like U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, has reportedly remained under FSB oversight since 2006, according to the exiled news outlet Mediazona.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial stated that SIZO-2 in Taganrog, where Ukrainian detainees are held, is also operated by the FSB. There have been numerous allegations of torture and mistreatment coming from this facility.
The passage of this law occurs amid a broader crackdown on internal governance and surveillance authority by Russian officials, contributing to an expanding security framework that critics argue is employed to stifle dissent, intimidate civil society, and solidify the Kremlin’s power during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The FSB’s authority to run detention centers has roots in the Stalin-era NKVD, which managed its own system of detention facilities and labor camps during the intense political purges of the 1930s and 1940s.
Although many such facilities were closed after Stalin’s death, the Soviet KGB, the FSB’s predecessor, maintained special detention centers for dissidents and suspected spies, including Lefortovo.
