On that very day in 1918 the Soviet government signed the decree On Establishing the Border Guard, effectively laying the foundation of an agency which eventually evolved into the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.
Russia has one of the longest borders in the world, with a total length of over 60,000 kilometers (with nautical borders' length of about 38,000 kilometers).
Above: Soviet border guards on duty pursue a trespasser.
Above: Soviet border guards on duty pursue a trespasser.
Border Guards of the 11th Border Post, Moskovsky District.
Soviet border guards patrol the country's far reaches.
Earliest mentions of Russian retainers tasked with tracking enemy movements along the country's borders date back to 14th century.
Above: Patrolling the border in the Tien Shan mountains.
Above: Patrolling the border in the Tien Shan mountains.
Line up of the Russian Border Guard detachment at the town of Sebezh.
A detachment of Russian Border Guard Troops stationed at the Tadzhik-Afghan border.
In 1782 Catherine the Great established border guard units subordinated to the customs service.
Above: Soviet border guard deploys from a helicopter via a rope ladder.
Above: Soviet border guard deploys from a helicopter via a rope ladder.
Artist Yevgeny Dutnov paints a portrait of a border guard.
Russian border guard at the Russian-Georgian border.
In 1893 the Border Guard service was reformed into the Independent Border Guards Corps.
Above: Mounted Soviet border guards chase a tresspaser.
Above: Mounted Soviet border guards chase a tresspaser.
Russian naval Border Guard serviceman checks a mounted machine gun during a raid aimed at curbing sturgeon poaching in the Caspian Sea.
The Border Guards' Day was officially established by the Soviet government in 1958.
Above: Soviet border guards on a mountain path by a waterfall.
Above: Soviet border guards on a mountain path by a waterfall.
In June 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR, soldiers of the Soviet Border Guard bore the brunt of the German offensive, desperately fighting to stall the attackers and buy the Red Army more time to regroup.
A Border Guard lookout tower of the Russian FSB Border Guard Directorate in the Republic of Altai, in the village of Aktash.
Crimean border guards detain a "trespasser" during an exhibition performance involving armed personnel carriers.
The Federal Border Guard Service of Russia was established on December 30, 1993.
A frontier guard near a coastal searchlight at the frontier station.
Russian Border Guard serviceman patrolling the border area with Mongolia in the Dzhazator valley.
Russian border guard stationed at the Nagurskoye station of the Federal Border Guard Service of Arkhangelsk region, located on Alexandra's Land island of Franz Josef Land archipelago.
