The building of the central office of the Federal Customs Service of Russia
In the western part of Moscow, on Novozavodskaya Street, stands a modern complex of buildings that today serves as one of the key facilities of the Federal Customs Service. Yet few people know that this territory, formerly the village of Pervomaisky at number 4, preserves the memory of dramatic events from the Great Patriotic War, of legendary military academies, and of the fates of outstanding graduates. During the war, the building became a center for training army intelligence personnel. From 1940 to May 1943, advanced training courses for senior and mid-level command staff operated here under the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army. It was from this place that officers skilled in sabotage and reconnaissance departed on their missions. Later, in May 1943, the courses were transformed into the Higher Red Banner Academic Advanced Training Courses for Intelligence Officers and relocated to a new site, but this building’s connection to military intelligence remained forever. Simultaneously, in November 1941, the 306th Artillery Regiment of the 155th Rifle Division was formed here. A commemorative plaque on the façade recalls how recruits left these walls to defend Moscow, only to march through battles for thousands of kilometers from the capital all the way to the Austrian Alps. The combat biography of the division deserves its own narrative. Formed from the remnants of the first formation and of the 4th Moscow Rifle Division, it moved to the Kalinin Front in January 1942, and by the spring of 1943 it found itself at the epicenter of the Battle of Kursk. For the liberation of the western Ukrainian city of Stanislav, the division received the honorary name “Stanislavskaya,” and the 306th Artillery Regiment was awarded the title “Drogobychsky” for its valor in liberating Drohobych. The roads of Hungary and Austria marked the soldiers’ final chapter of the war: they took part in the battles near Lake Balaton, stormed Budapest, and ended their journey on May 2, 1945, near the town of Vorau. In the summer of that year, the division was disbanded, but its feat was forever inscribed in history. The postwar fate of the building proved no less remarkable. In August 1956, the renowned Suvorov Military School was transferred here from Gorky, becoming the Moscow Suvorov School. The history of the Suvorov schools began in 1943, when the government decided to establish a network of military schools for the children of fallen soldiers. By the mid-1950s, this system had spread across the entire country, and the Moscow branch occupied a special place. Over several decades, the school produced 63 graduating classes, educating more than 11,000 pupils, 384 of whom completed their studies with gold and silver medals. The walls of this building remember future generals such as Kochkin, Strelnikov, and Egorov, as well as the diplomat Igor Ivanov, a former Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs. A particular source of pride for the school is its graduate Sergey Kozlov, who was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage in holding a mountain pass in Afghanistan. The Suvorov students invariably took part in parades on Red Square, and the school itself became a forge of officer cadres and of the intellectual elite. A new chapter in history began in 1991, when the State Customs Service was established in the country. To house its central apparatus, the government decided to transfer the complex of the former Suvorov school to the customs committee. In 1993, large-scale reconstruction began, during which the building was raised to four floors with an attic. On the site of former barracks and classrooms, a modern business center with an area of about 65,000 square meters rose. On June 15, 2000, the grand opening of the renovated complex took place, and since then, the management of radio-electronic security for customs infrastructure has been concentrated here. Thus, having traveled the path from intelligence courses and artillery positions to the Suvorov brotherhood and a modern government agency, the Filyovsky building has become a symbol of the continuity of generations. Today it continues to serve the state, preserving within its walls the memory of war, of young cadets, and of those who now protect the nation’s economic borders.
Address: Moscow, Novozavodskaya str., 11/5, building №3
