Okhrana

Okhrana

The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (Russian: Отдѣленіе по Охраненію 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. It was created in 1880 to replace the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery.