Okhranka
| Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1881 |
| Dissolved | 1917 |
| Jurisdiction |
 Russian Empire
|
| Headquarters | Petrograd |
The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (Russian: Отделение по Охранению Общественной Безопасности и Порядка), usually called "guard department" (okhrannoye otdelenie) and commonly abbreviated in modern sources as Okhrana or Okhranka in Russia, was a secret police force of the Russian Empire and part of the police department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) in the late 19th century, aided by the Special Corps of Gendarmes.
Formed to combat political terrorism and left-wing revolutionary activity, the Okhrana operated offices throughout the Russian Empire and satellite agencies in a number of foreign nations. It was concerned primarily with monitoring the activities of Russian revolutionaries abroad, including Paris, where Pyotr Rachkovsky was based (1884–1902).
The task was performed by multiple methods, including covert operations, undercover agents, and "perlustration"—reading of private correspondence. Even the Foreign Agency served this purpose. The Okhrana was notorious for its agents provocateurs, including Dr. Jacob Zhitomirsky (a leading Bolshevik and close associate of Vladimir Lenin), Yevno Azef, Roman Malinovsky and Dmitry Bogrov.
The Okhrana tried to compromise the labour movement by creating police-run trade unions, a practice known as zubatovshchina. The agency was blamed by the Communists in part for the Bloody Sunday event, when imperial guards killed hundreds of unarmed protesters who were marching during a demonstration organized by Father Gapon, who was alleged by the Bolsheviks to have collaborated with the Okhrana (though in fact this was unproven), and Pyotr Rutenberg.
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