Notorious ‘Black Marias’ of Soviet Times are Returning to Russia's Streets at Government Order

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 16 – In Soviet times, prisoners were collected and transported in unmarked black vehicles that came to be known as “Black Marias.” Now, at the order of the Russian government, such vehicles are returning, albeit with the one difference that they must have a reference to the FSB or its border service painted on them.

            “During the Great Terror, NKVD officers used such so-called ‘Black Marias’ to pick up those targeted for repression,” The Barents Observer notes. Now, they are back, a small but frightening aspect of Russia’s return under Putin to notorious Stalin-era practices (ru.thebarentsobserver.com/novosti/vozvrasenie-cernogo-voronka/454043).

            Such vehicles are likely to become ever more visible on the streets of Russian cities and towns because the FSB now has control of seven pre-trial detention centers, including Lefortovo in Moscow and Shpalerka in St. Petersburg and is increasingly involved in the detention, arrest and transport of migrants and others charged with various crimes.