Commanders (in chief) – in the meaning of chief, commander, commanding general, supreme commander, or manager, etc. – of the border troops and organs of state security of the USSR and the RF were as follows.
| List of the Commanders (in chief) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Name | Rank | Designation of the assignment |
| 1918-1919 | Sergey Grigorevich Shamshev | Polkovnik | Chief Main directorate Border troops |
| 1919 | Aleksandr Leontevich Pevnev | General-mayor | Military leader Directorate border protection, Secretary Border troops RSFSR |
| 1919-1920 | V.A. Stepanov | Chief Directorate border inspection | |
| 1920-1921 | Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky | Chief Special division VCheKa (Border protection) | |
| 1922-1923 | Artur Khristyanovich Artuzov | Corps commissar (1935) | Chief division Border troops, division Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate |
| 1923-1925 | Yan Kalikstovich Olsky | Chief division Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate | |
| 1925-1929 | Zinovy Borisovich Kantselson | Commissar stat security 2nd rank | Chief Main directorate Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate |
| 1929 | Sergdey Georgievich Velezhev | Chief Main directorate Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate | |
| 1929-1931 | Ivan Aleksandrovich Vorontsov | 
|
Chief Main directorate Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate |
| 1931-1933 | Nikolay Mikhaylovits Bystrykh | Commissar stat security 3rd rank | Chief Main directorate Border protection to Joint State Political Directorate |
| 1933-1937 | Mikhail Petrovich Frinovsky | Komandarm 1st rank | Chief Main directorate Border protection (from 1934 Border and Internal troops) to Joint State Political Directorate (from 1934 NKVD USSR) |
| 1937-1938 | Nikolay Kuzmich Krutsinskin | Komdiv | Chief Main directorate Border and Internal troops to NKVD USSR |
| 1938-1939 | Aleksandr Antonovich Kovalyev | Komdiv | Chief Main directorate Border and Internal troops to NKVD USSR |
| 1939-1941 | Grigory Grigoryevich Sokolov | General-leytenant | Chief Main directorate Border troops to NKVD USSR |
| 1942-1952 | Nikolay Pavlovich Stakhanov | General-leytenant | Chief Main directorate Border troops to NKVD USSR (from 1946 MVD USSR, from 1949 MGB USSR |
| 1952-1956 | Pavel Ivanovich Zyryanov | General-leytenant | Chief Border troops to MGB USSR (from 1953 MVD USSR) |
| 1956-1957 | Timovey Amvpocievich Strokach | General-leytenant | Chief Main directorate Border and Internal troops to MVD USSR |
| 1957-1972 | Pavel Ivanovich Zyryakov | General-polkovnik | Chief Border troops to KGB USSR |
| 1972-1989 | Vadim Aleksandrovich Matrosov | General armii | Chief Border troops to KGB USSR |
| 1989-1992 | Ilya Yakovlevich Kalinichenko | General-polkovnik | Chief Border troops to KGB USSR, from 1991 Commander in chief Border troops of the CIS |
| 1992-1993 | Vladimir Ivanovich Shlyakhtin | General-polkovnik | Commanding general Border troops of the RF |
| 1993-1997 | Andrey Ivanovch Nikolaev | General armii | Commander in chief Border troops, from 1994 Director Border Service of the FSB of the RF |
| 1998 | Nikolay Nikolayevich Bordyuzha | General-polkovnik | Director Federation Border Service |
| 1998-2003 | Konstantin Vasilyevich Totsky | General armii | Director Border Service of the FSB |
| 2003-2013 | Vladimir Yegorovich Pronichev | General armii | 1st Deputy director of the Russian FSB, head Border service to Russian FSB |
| April 10, 2013- | Vladimir Grigoryevich Kulishov | General armii | 1st Deputy director of the Russian FSB, head Border service to Russian FSB |