Overview
It was formed to combat political terrorism and left-wing revolutionary activity. The Okhrana operated offices throughout the Russian Empire and in a number of foreign satellite agencies concerned primarily with monitoring the activities of Russian revolutionaries abroad, most notably in Paris, where Pyotr Rachkovsky was based (1884–1902).
The task was performed by any means, including covert operations, undercover agents, and "perlustration" — reading of private correspondence. Even the Foreign Agency served this purpose. The Okhrana is 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, the practice known as zubatovshchina. Of note is the Bloody Sunday event, when imperial guards killed hundreds of unarmed protesters who were marching during a demonstration organized by Father Gapon, who collaborated with the Okhrana, and Pyotr Rutenberg.
Other controversial activities included fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion hoax (many historians maintain that Matvei Golovinski, a writer and Okhrana agent, compiled the first edition on the instructions of Pyotr Rachkovsky) and fabrication of the antisemitic Beilis trial.
Suspects captured by the Okhrana were passed to the Russian judicial system.
The Okhrana never received more than 10% of the police budget, the most it ever received being five million rubles in 1914.
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