Putin Restores Felix Dzerzhinsky’s Name to the FSB Academy

Putin has restored Felix Dzerzhinsky’s name to the FSB Academy

The academy has been given the name of the founder of the Cheka, “taking into account the merits of its personnel in the professional training of staff in the interests of the FSB agencies” and “taking into account the outstanding contribution of F.E. Dzerzhinsky to ensuring state security,” according to the presidential decree.

The educational institution bore Dzerzhinsky’s name from 1962 to 1993. At the time, it was called the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR.

Journalist Farida Rustamova notes that this is likely the first time Putin has “publicly assessed the figure of ‘Iron Felix,’ a symbol of Soviet-era repressions.” She points out that previously Putin had only several times expressed regret over the demolition of the Dzerzhinsky monument on Lubyanka Square in 1991.

@meduzalive