A Border Security Zone (Russian: пограничная зона) in Russia is the designation of a strip of land (usually, though not always, along a Russian external border) where economic activity and access are restricted in line with the Frontier Regime Regulations set by the Federal Security Service (FSB). For foreign tourists to visit the zone a permit issued by the local FSB department is required.
The restricted access zone (generally 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) width, but running as much as 90 kilometres (56 mi) deep along the Estonian border) was established in the Soviet Union in 1934, and later expanded, at times including vast territories. In 1935–36, in order to secure the western border of the Soviet Union, many nationalities considered unreliable (Poles, Germans, Ingrian Finns, Estonians, Latvians) were forcibly transferred from the zone by forces of the NKVD.
