Very soon it will be twenty-seven years since the establishment of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense and Disaster Relief. This significant date will be celebrated two days after Catholic Christmas, but the history of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations dates back to the fifteenth century. It is believed that during this period of time there was an urgent need for the creation of a special government structure that would help the population cope with all kinds of disasters, including natural disasters. Of course, the created organization was far from a modern structure that effectively responded to all emergencies. But still, it marked the beginning of state protection of the population from all kinds of troubles. Since the history of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations system is very interesting, we dedicated this article to it. From it you will learn the background to the formation of this structure, its goals and objectives, as well as some interesting facts about it.
History of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations: the beginning
Every day people face fires, floods and other natural disasters. They have to cope with the consequences of destruction, as well as try to restore their normal lives. It is quite difficult to do all this alone, so employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are always ready to come to the aid of Russians. Today it is difficult to even imagine that this structure once did not exist, but historians believe that the history of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations began at the end of the fifteenth century.
Tsar Ivan III, in the middle of his reign, issued a decree on the formation of a fire service. Initially, it was a small team operating in an extremely limited space. But soon it grew, and with the light hand of the king it even acquired fire safety rules regulating its activities. The entire population of Russia was familiar with these rules and was obliged to adhere to them.
A little later, Peter I ordered the introduction of fire duty. It had to be carried by men, which significantly increased the number of fire brigades in Russia.
Over time, Russian industry began to reach a new level of development. Mining and processing enterprises and oil production complexes began to appear everywhere, and the maritime and chemical industries developed. This industrial explosion caused a large number of accidents, accidents and injuries. In this regard, specialized teams of rescuers began to appear, having experience only in narrowly focused activities. Gradually, these groups acquired various acts, rules and regulations that required unification and merging into one structure.
The history of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is closely intertwined with the process of formation in young Soviet Russia of such a concept as “civil defense”, a decree on which was issued in October of the thirty-second year of the twentieth century. It was on this date that a list of recommendations on the behavior of the population in conditions of bombing of regions by a potential enemy was developed, adopted and published. It seems that this decree began the large-scale development of a state project of measures to protect the population in emergencies.
This process finally ended in the early sixties, when a well-developed civil defense system, supported by regulations, appeared in the state. It has become a kind of guide for citizens in critical situations.
On December twenty-seventh of the ninetieth year of the twentieth century, a decree was issued on the formation of a small independent rescue team, which marked the beginning of the modern history of the creation of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The final stage of the formation of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense and Disaster Relief
If we talk briefly about the history of the creation of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, it can be noted that literally a few months later the new structure proved its effectiveness, taking upon itself the management of all incidents falling into the category of emergencies. In the spring of ninety-one, Sergei Shoigu became the head of the Rescue Corps (RCC).
After some time, he took the initiative to rename the existing structure due to the scale of the tasks assigned to it. As a result, the State Committee for Emergency Situations appeared. Over the following years, this division changed its name more than once. Gradually, it included various rescue and control points created back in Soviet times. Their effectiveness has been proven over years of work, which is why they became part of the new structure.
Literally four years after its creation, the organization grew to the size of an independent ministry, headed by the permanent Sergei Shoigu. You might think that this is the end of the history of the creation and development of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. However, in fact, in the ninety-fourth year of the last century, the next stage in the formation of this structure began, which became one of the most powerful and effective not only in Russia, but also among other countries.
Number of structure
Fifteen years ago, the number of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not exceed seventy thousand people, but the three hundred thousand firefighters who joined the ministry significantly expanded the capabilities of the unit and strengthened it. Today, Russian employees of the ministry have a very high level of training and often fly abroad to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters and extinguish fires.
The history of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations seems extremely simple, but in reality this structure is not static. It is constantly modified and improved to fully meet the needs of our time. We also want to tell our readers about this.
What is the Ministry of Emergency Situations today?
We have already told you about the history of the creation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Russian Federation, but many still have a rather poor idea of what exactly this structure does and how it functions.
From the very first moment of its formation, the unit reacts and goes to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, and man-made incidents. The last group includes energy emissions, explosions, fires and serious accidents in factories, factories and other production facilities.
A distinctive feature of the ministry, which was formed at the very first stages of the development of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Russia (the history of the creation and background of the appearance of this structure was already announced by us earlier), is joint and coordinated work with various organizations. In the event of an emergency, the governing bodies immediately switch to the Ministry of Emergency Situations and all other services available in the region follow its instructions. This allows you to solve the problem quickly and almost instantly respond to all difficulties that arise during the work process. However, this is precisely what Russian rescuers are famous for all over the world.
A little about the term “emergency”
Since the history of the creation of the modern EMERCOM system is connected with the occurrence of emergency situations on the territory of Russia, we would like to give this term the clearest possible definition.
By looking in the dictionary, you can find out that an emergency means the occurrence of conditions that disrupt the normal way of life in a certain territory, causing damage to public and private property, causing a threat to the life and health of people, as well as changing the ecosystem. In general, these processes are reversible, but in cases where an emergency situation arose as a result of a man-made disaster, it may be practically impossible to eliminate its consequences.
We think that now it has become more clear to our readers what the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations face every day and what complex tasks they solve. However, we will return to the main tasks of this government structure a little later.
Characteristics of the work of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations
Since the ministry is a state structure, it embodies precisely the state’s vision of the necessity and expediency of certain reactions. All information about emergencies and measures to eliminate them flows into the information center of this structure. You can imagine the Ministry of Emergency Situations as a huge think tank that receives, analyzes and classifies information. At the same time, decisions are made on the need for ministry employees to intervene in resolving situations, because often the problem can be solved at the local level by the rescue units available in the region.
If necessary, when large-scale disasters occur, EMERCOM employees arrive at the scene within four hours. This time is spent preparing equipment, instructing rescuers regarding the situation and traveling to the site of the fire, accident or disaster. In many cases, helicopters are used as transport.
It is considered quite normal if the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrives at the scene after the police, regional rescue services and medical workers. This specificity is known to everyone who has collaborated with this ministry.
Organizational structure
I would like to note right away that the Ministry of Emergency Situations has a fairly extensive structure, which has shown itself to be very effective for many years. We present it as a list:
1. Central office.
This includes the administrative apparatus that manages the entire structure. This group includes the minister, his deputies, secretaries, as well as a military expert and the chief fire inspector.
2. Departments that are part of the ministry.
There are ten of them. Each performs its own functions and assigned tasks. For example, the information department is responsible for the timely provision of disaster data and their analysis.
3. Departments.
There are nine departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations throughout Russia. Among them are, for example, the management and financial and economic departments.
This organizational structure has been formed over several years and is considered a complete version.
Research institutions
Such a powerful structure as the Ministry of Emergency Situations must have a significant scientific base, which is why the ministry includes several institutions conducting serious research work.
Currently there are five such institutes.
Education
In the modern world, the prestige of the Ministry of Emergency Situations has risen very high and many young people see their future in this structure. According to the results of sociological surveys, not only boys, but also a considerable number of girls would like to connect their lives with the work of a rescuer or firefighter.
To date, training for future employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is carried out in eight higher educational institutions. They are located in different cities of Russia. For example, there is an institute in St. Petersburg, Ivanovo and the Far East.
It is interesting that in this structure there is also an Institute of Culture of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, consisting of six departments.
Commercial services
For more than two years, there has been a special list of services provided on a commercial basis. Today it is quite wide and includes a lot of points. For example, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations can assist in extinguishing a fire on private property or set up fire-fighting posts.
It is worth noting that these services are in great demand among the population, so their list is planned to be further expanded in the near future.
EMERCOM of the Russian Federation: main tasks
The history of the creation of the structure is already well known to us, but it is also important to familiarize yourself with the list of implemented tasks of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which has remained unchanged for several years. Minor adjustments are made to it from time to time, but in general it does not undergo any significant changes:
- solving fire safety issues;
- protection in case of emergency;
- assistance to all citizens in the disaster zone;
- responding to situations outside the country;
- regulation of all organizational and regulatory issues of the structure;
- coordinating the actions of different organizations in the process of resolving the problem;
- collection, classification and exchange of information about the situation in different regions of the country.
Conclusion
Today we tried to tell readers in as much detail as possible about the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. The history of creation, structure and function of this government department will no longer be a secret to you. And most importantly, now you know exactly why Russians celebrate Rescuer Day on December twenty-seventh.
On May 21, 2018, Evgeny Nikolaevich Zinchev was approved for the post of Minister of Emergency Situations. The prime minister did not name the reason for the resignation of the former head of the structure, but this was predictable due to the Kemerovo tragedy in Winter Cherry. The new minister is called Putin’s successor, because for some time he even managed to work in the presidential security service. Zinchev began his duties responsibly, and has already managed to make several fundamental changes.
Among professional firefighters, Zinchev’s statement was treated ambiguously. The main concerns are the lack of experience. However, there are experts who are more positive in their forecasts, since Evgeniy Nikolaevich can make sensible proposals with a new, uncluttered look.
Zinchev's candidacy for the post of Minister of Emergency Situations was nominated by the current Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. Head of State Vladimir Putin supported the choice, thereby approving the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers.
There is little available information about who Evgeny Nikolaevich Zinchev is. It is only known that he was an employee of the FSO and is Vladimir Putin’s adjutant. He headed the FSB department of Kaliningrad and the region. Prior to his position in the capital's ministry, he was deputy director of the FSB.
The new minister faces many tasks - this includes checking the financial side and general reform of the security structure. According to experts, Zinchev should cope well with the direction entrusted to him, because he has enough experience and skills in the field of management.
The first decisions of the new Minister of Emergency Situations Evgeny Zinchev
As soon as Evgeny Zinchev began his duties, he immediately managed to make several important decisions. Information was published in the Russian media that he ordered changes to the rules for wearing uniforms.
At the moment, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations wear an orange beret, which, by the way, the employees are not happy with; it has been proposed to replace it with a previously approved cap. At the beginning of June, it became known about another decision that was made by the new head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
We are talking about the abolition of supervisory holidays for SMB and SSB. Since the fall of 2016, the previous minister signed an order banning inspections of business entities. Starting in 2019, fire safety inspections for this category will resume. The main reason for such drastic changes was the tragedy in Kemerovo.
After the fire
When Sergei Shoigu was head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the ministry had the so-called first department - a unit that dealt with security within the department and was responsible for protecting the minister. It was staffed by employees seconded from law enforcement agencies. Under Shoigu, Vladimir Ganeev, who later became one of the defendants in the case of “werewolves in uniform,” held the position of head of the security department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for a long time. Under Vladimir Puchkov, the number of the first department was significantly reduced, to about ten people.
Evgeniy Zinichev (Photo: Dmitry Astakhov / TASS)
The new head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Evgeny Zinichev, was deputy director of the FSB from October 2016 until his appointment as minister in May 2018. The first thing he did when he joined the department was to announce a comprehensive audit and strengthen internal security in the department.
A change in leadership in the Ministry of Emergency Situations followed, where in March a fire killed 60 people, including 41 children. Relatives of the victims filed complaints with the Kemerovo prosecutor's office about the work of the firefighters. In their opinion, the participants in the rescue operation acted ineffectively. The decision to resign Minister Vladimir Puchkov was made in mid-April - the fire “became the last claim” of the federal leadership against the minister, RBC sources said.
In total, the staffing table of the central office provides for 817 employees. Of these, 480 are civilian government employees, 96 military personnel and 241 employees of the federal fire service. Thus, the staff is not increasing: according to the presidential decree of 2016, the maximum number of employees of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is set at 825 people.
“With the appointment of a new minister, the administrative weakness that was observed after the departure of Sergei Shoigu will be overcome,” says Artem Kiryanov, first deputy chairman of the Public Chamber commission on public control. “Today the ministry is being separated into a separate significant unit with enhanced functionality and an increased level of readiness.”
Not long ago, the names of those who will join the new Government of the Russian Federation, formed by the new-old Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, were announced. Many ministers lost their posts in the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov was no exception. Who came to replace him? The new Minister of Emergency Situations of Russia in 2018: who is this person, biography, what is he known for, why exactly did he head the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Vladimir Puchkov headed the Ministry of Emergency Situations from May 21, 2012, replacing Sergei Shoigu, with whom the Ministry of Emergency Situations was inextricably associated for a long time in the minds of the vast majority of Russian residents. Over the years that Puchkov headed the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the population accumulated a considerable number of complaints against him, and therefore his resignation from the post of minister did not come as a surprise.
The first emergency that Puchkov faced was the flood in Krymsk, which killed 170 people in July 2012. Then, as a result of the investigation of the Investigative Committee, it turned out that the organization of notification was almost completely absent. No more than fifty people were able to hear the automated system, but it was too late.
The media also accused Puchkov of the death of the rescue squad at the Severnaya mine in Komi, the crash of the Il-76, which was putting out fires near Irkutsk, and general systemic errors in the leadership of this ministry. There were even proposals to return fire protection to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and transfer civil defense to the Ministry of Defense.
The last straws for Puchkov were the fires in Rostov-on-Don and the Kemerovo shopping center “Winter Cherry”. After them, film director Nikita Mikhalkov seriously criticized the Ministry of Emergency Situations, saying that for 2017, about 30% of the personnel in the Ministry of Emergency Situations had been reduced, and in the guards - up to 50%. The result, according to Mikhalkov, was that the ministry simply did not have enough workers to put out fires. Puchkov then disagreed with Mikhalkov’s opinion, saying that this was nonsense.
Vladimir Puchkov worked as Sergei Shoigu’s deputy when he was head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but after he became head of the ministry, it became clear that Puchkov did not reach Shoigu’s level.
Just a few days ago, Evgeny Zinichev was appointed to the post of Minister of Emergency Situations, who was proposed for this role by the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Dmitry Medvedev. President Vladimir Putin approved Zinichev in this position.
Thus, Yevgeny Zinichev became a member of the new government. If we talk about the politician’s biography, there is no very detailed information about him on the Internet. It is only known that Zinichev in 1987-2015. worked in various positions in the field of state security.
Evgeny Zinichev was born on August 18, 1966 in Leningrad. In the mid-1980s, he served for 2 years in the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation, including on Novaya Zemlya.
Zinichev graduated from higher education in economics and law and has a number of diplomas in economics and finance. The politician received his education in St. Petersburg. In the late 1980s - early 1990s, Evgeniy Nikolaevich was an employee of the KGB of the USSR. Then he worked in the FSB apparatus. Since the early 90s, Zinichev was registered in the FSO. For some time he was one of those who provided personal security for President Putin.
For some time, Yevgeny Zinichev often accompanied the president on working trips. There are a number of photographs in the public domain showing that Zinichev was next to the president. But he was indicated as an employee of the FSB or FSO. This fact is also not part of his official biography. Since 2014, Evgeny Zinichev has worked as deputy head of the FSB Counter-Terrorism Service. In 2015, he became the head of the FSB department in the Kaliningrad region, replacing Alexander Kozlov in this position.
In 2017, Evgeny Zinichev was appointed to the position of acting governor of the Kaliningrad region. However, already in October, Zinichev left this post of his own free will. The reason for leaving was stated to be family reasons. In total, Zinichev worked in this position for 70 days. And the very next day the politician received the post of Deputy Director of the FSB of Russia, from where he came to the post of Minister of Emergency Situations.
As for the personal life of Evgeny Zinichev, the public knows that he has a wife, a son and 3 grandchildren.
The resignation of Vladimir Puchkov from the post of head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations was predictable; under the next minister, reform of the agency is not excluded, said Alexander Gofshtein, Honored Rescuer of the Russian Federation.
Reasons for the dismissal of the Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov
On Friday, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, made a proposal to appoint Evgeny Zinichev to the post of head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations instead of Vladimir Puchkov. In 2016, he headed the Kaliningrad region, and before that he headed the regional department of the FSB.
“Everything was leading to the fact that Puchkov’s powers would not be renewed; the only question was when. They expected him to still be away from the World Cup. The surname Zinichev is completely unfamiliar to me, but the tendency of the state is quite transparent - security officials are appointed to positions that are considered important, that is, loyal people who are accustomed to carrying out orders without regard to outside opinions,” said Gofshtein.
In his opinion, when Sergei Shoigu was minister, the ministry “developed creatively,” but later the course was lost.
“After Shoigu left, a man with an office education arrived in his place, the secretary of state is the head of the chancellery. And it turned out that at the head of the ministry, not questions of professionalism, but connections began to prevail. A large number of wonderful people were fired who did not fit the principle of personal loyalty. The president, most likely, decided to put a siege to all this - visible failures, obvious discord, forest fires - in his usual way, by appointing a security official. “(Zinichev) must be a strict, strong-willed person, but strictness alone will not get you here, because the Ministry of Emergency Situations is a multifaceted job, a complex and fascinating structure,” the expert believes.
According to Gofshtein, the need to reform the ministry appeared a long time ago.
Gofshtein indicated that under the new leader, reform of the ministry is not excluded.
“My forecast and aspirations are that these three services need to be separated a long time ago, and in this case the Ministry of Emergency Situations will become a harmoniously functioning structure. Rescuers need to be left as rescuers, probably the status of the ministry should be downgraded to an agency or service, the overgrown bureaucratic apparatus should be reduced to zero and the division of professions should begin,” concluded the agency’s interlocutor.
Achievements of Vladimir Puchkov
Vladimir Andreevich Puchkov – ex-head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation (2012-2018), lieutenant general in reserve, holder of the class rank “actual state adviser 1st class” and the first-level academic degree “candidate of technical sciences”, inventor.
In the ranking of popularity among the top government leadership, according to a sociological study by the domestic center for the study of public opinion, in 2015 he took third place (after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Ministry head Sergei Lavrov).
Citizens of the Russian Federation rated the quality of his work as 3.94 points on a five-point system. For comparison, in 2013 it took third position in the rating with 3.48 points out of 5.
