FSBs Prison Network Returns: Russian Lawmakers Approve Detention Authority Amid Security Concerns

Russian legislators have passed a law granting the Federal Security Service (FSB) renewed control over its own network of pre-trial detention facilities.

This decision marks a reversal of a reform implemented in 2006 that transferred the management of these centers to the Federal Penitentiary Service, following recommendations from the Council of Europe.

The legislation was approved in its final reading by the lower house, the State Duma, on Tuesday, and empowers the FSB to detain individuals suspected or charged with treason, espionage, terrorism, and extremism in facilities directly overseen by the agency.

Before it can become law, the draft must also be approved in a single reading by the Federation Council, the upper house, prior to being signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Proponents of the new law emphasized its necessity, citing an uptick in foreign intelligence operations and terrorist threats following the escalation of conflict in Ukraine in 2022.

“The purpose of this legislation is to prevent individuals accused in national security matters from engaging in unauthorized communication with other detainees,” stated Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the Duma’s Security and Anti-Corruption Committee and one of the bill’s sponsors. “By isolating these individuals, authorities can obstruct attempts by foreign intelligence agencies and terrorist organizations to reach their operatives and draw them into further destabilizing acts.”

Piskarev claimed that incidents of treason, espionage, terrorism, and extremism have seen a threefold increase since 2015, with arrests in these cases increasing fourfold.

He remarked that these efforts, reportedly bolstered by extremist and terrorist networks, have led to a significant surge in related criminal investigations.

While the new legislation formalizes the FSB’s capacity to run detention centers, critics argue that the agency had never fully surrendered control over certain facilities even after the 2006 transition.

According to the exiled Mediazona news website, Lefortovo Prison in Moscow—a well-known pre-trial facility associated with Russia’s security services that has housed notable individuals such as U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich—remained effectively under FSB jurisdiction post-2006.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial has reported that SIZO-2 in Taganrog, used for detaining Ukrainian prisoners, is also managed by the FSB, with numerous allegations of torture and mistreatment emerging from that facility.

The adoption of this law is part of a broader trend of increasing internal controls and surveillance powers by Russian authorities, amid an expanding security framework that critics argue is aimed at stifling dissent, intimidating civil society, and reinforcing the Kremlin’s grip on power in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The FSB’s prison authority can be traced back to the NKVD from the Stalin era, which managed its own system of detention facilities and labor camps during the intense political purges of the 1930s and 1940s.

While many such prisons were closed after Stalin’s death, the Soviet KGB, the FSB’s predecessor, maintained special detention sites for dissidents and suspected spies, including Lefortovo.