"In 2017, in the course of joint filtering operations and checks, over 1,400 people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities have been identified as well as 50 foreign citizens planning to move in transit through Russia into the areas of international conflict. More than 6,500 people who were on Russian and international wanted lists were detained," Kulishov, who is also the deputy director of FSB, said.
The head of the FSB border service explained that militants pushed out of the armed conflict zones were attempting to use international transport to enter Russia and some of the nearby countries.
"Because of this, the Border Service and regional security forces have worked out and keep perfecting the joint activities for identifying such people among passengers," Kulishov said in an interview, ahead of the day marking the 100-year anniversary of the Russian Border Service.
"Every year, the Border Service puts an end to about 45,000 breaches of the state border regulations, detains between 2,500 and 3,000 people who breach the border," Kulishov, who heads the agency's Border Service, said.
According to the deputy director of the FSB, more than 100,000 Russians and foreigners have to face criminal or administrative charges.
Meanwhile, In 2017, the security forces seized 237 different guns, more than 200 pounds of explosives and over 20,000 of different munitions in the course of operations targeting cross-border criminal activities.
"In 2017, in the course of joint filtering operations and checks, over 1,400 people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities have been identified as well as 50 foreign citizens planning to move in transit through Russia into the areas of international conflict. More than 6,500 people who were on Russian and international wanted lists were detained," Kulishov said.
"Because of this, the Border Service and regional security forces have worked out and keep perfecting the joint activities for identifying such people among passengers," Kulishov added.
In addition, the FSB Border Service detained over 600 undocumented migrants from Asia and Africa in transit through Russia in 2017, Vladimir Kulishov told Sputnik.
"In 2017, the Border Service detained over 600 transit migrants, citizens of India, Morocco, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, most of whom were trying to illegally cross the border at the northeastern and western stretches of the border," Kulishov, who is a deputy director of the FSB, said.
The head of the Border Service also emphasized that most foreign citizens attempting to cross the border in Russia on their way to Northern or Western Europe were from Northern Africa, Southeastern Asia, the Middle East.
Moreover, nearly 20,000 munitions and almost 50 pounds of explosives have been seized on the Russian-Ukrainian border over the past two years, Vladimir Kulishov told Sputnik.
"Since 2015, the Ukrainian side has begun to actively use unmanned aircraft to protect its borders. Their flight routes usually lie along the state border. At times, deliberate breaches of the Russian airspace are registered," Kulishov said.
The head of the FSB Border Service noted that such situations were against the law and damaging Russia's security interests.
The Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service is also developing partnership with the US Coast Guard on maritime security, open to mutually beneficial relations, Deputy Director of FSB Gen. Vladimir Kulishov told Sputnik.
According to the FSB deputy director, the information from the US Coast Guard helped the Russian Border Service to seize a boat carrying large amounts of living blue crab, illegally caught in Russia's exclusive economic zone in January 2017.
In January of this year, the United States and Russia carried out a joint operation to capture Sea Breeze, the ship under the flag of Sierra Leone, which was also fishing illegally in the Russian exclusive economic zone.
