FSB Special Equipment Center (11th FSB Center)
Identification
The supplied placemark best matches FSB military unit 68240 at Prospekt Vernadskogo 12, building 2/structure 1 in Moscow. Agentura identifies unit 68240 as the FSB Center for Special Equipment, also rendered in English sanctions material as the Special Technology Center, and mirrored procurement records for unit 68240 use the same address. ([agentura.ru](https://agentura.ru/profile/federalnaja-sluzhba-bezopasnosti-rossii-fsb/centr-specialnoj-tehniki-fsb/)) U.S. and UK sanctions notices from 2021-2022 identify Vladimir Mikhaylovich Bogdanov as head of this parent center, but I did not locate a current official FSB page confirming the incumbent as of March 12, 2026. ([home.treasury.gov](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0328))
Mission
Open sources portray the site as a technical-development and support node rather than a maneuver-force base. RIA reported the center publicly showing a portable explosive detector at Interpolitex 2009, while Agentura’s profile says the center developed screening technologies for people, baggage, cargo, and vehicles and publicly presented an unmanned helicopter platform at VTTV-Omsk 2005. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20091028/191016483.html?utm_source=openai))
R&D footprint
Open technical and intellectual-property records show a substantial research role for unit 68240. Rospatent data assign multiple integrated-circuit topologies to the unit, including gas-sensor, MEMS microphone, band-pass filter, and SoC-related designs from 2015-2017, and a 2020 technical journal article lists the deputy head of unit 68240 as co-author on spin-tunnel magnetoresistance research. ([rospatent.gov.ru](https://rospatent.gov.ru/opendata/tims?utm_source=openai)) A 2024 conference program also lists personnel from unit 68240 among organizers/editors, which indicates continuing scientific activity in Moscow. ([icp.ac.ru](https://www.icp.ac.ru/media-store/FILES/Pokostina/Dokumenty/Conferences/2024/HEMs-2024.pdf?utm_source=openai))
Criminalistics sub-site
The second placemark is consistent with the FSB Criminalistics Institute, military unit 34435, a subordinate element of the same parent center. OFAC lists the institute, also known as NII-2 and the Criminalistics Institute of the Center for Special Technology of the FSB of Russia, at Akademika Vargi Street 2 in Moscow, and U.S./UK sanctions notices state that Bogdanov’s Special Technology Center is the parent entity overseeing it. ([sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov](https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/Details.aspx?id=32739&utm_source=openai)) Historical FSB/RIA reporting describes NII-2 as a major forensic center conducting identification, explosive, toxic, narcotics, and handwriting examinations and maintaining round-the-clock bomb-disposal/criminalistics support for the Moscow region. ([ria.ru](https://ria.ru/20020926/232349.html))
Site character
The Vernadsky location appears to be an urban research-administrative site inside Moscow’s scientific/government belt, not a large field training area or depot. Public procurement mirrors for unit 68240 use 119331 Moscow, Prospekt Vernadskogo 12 k2 str1, and the official Academy of Cryptography site uses the same address for journal and laboratory functions; combined with the unit’s patent and publication footprint, this suggests a secure campus optimized for laboratories, offices, and technical coordination. ([tenderguru.ru](https://www.tenderguru.ru/tender/48821338?utm_source=openai))