Putin restores Soviet secret police founder Dzerzhinsky's name to FSB Academy

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has signed a decree restoring the name of Felix Dzerzhinsky to the FSB Academy. Dzerzhinsky founded the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka) in 1917, which carried out mass extrajudicial repression known as the "Red Terror".

Source: Putin's decree; Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta

Details: The document states that the decision was made in recognition of the "merits of the personnel" and Dzerzhinsky's "outstanding contribution" to state security.

The main educational institution of Russia's security services previously bore Dzerzhinsky's name for 30 years, from 1962 to 1992, when it was known as the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR. The name was later removed during the wave of de-Sovietisation.

Background:

• In autumn 2023, a monument to Dzerzhinsky was installed on the grounds of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service headquarters in Moscow – a smaller replica of the statue that once stood in front of the KGB building.
• In Ukraine, in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – formerly named Dniprodzerzhynsk until 2016 – utility services dismantled a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky the same year.

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