Introduction: defining the problem and the source base
The Academy examines the abolition of the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classification systems alongside territorial records and the legal status of the RF. The lecture compares several distinct subjects: the geodetic systems SK-42 and SK-63, cadastral division procedures and Rosreestr’s activities, administrative and territorial classifications, and acts concerning maritime baselines. For the classification of territorial units, the author refers to the all-Union SAAT system approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973. Resolutions No. 1012 and No. 914 and Order No. 643 are considered in their respective contexts.
Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 1012 of 7 October 2016, ‘On Amendments to and the Repeal of Certain Acts of the Russian Federation’, marked the starting point of this legal dismantling. It was this document that abolished the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers, signalling the abandonment of an artificially created system for designating units of administrative and territorial division. This decision was no accident: it reflected recognition of the fact that the former trading company ‘Russian Federation’ had no lawful territory and could not establish its own rules for territorial division. The abolition of the classifiers with effect from 1 January 2019, confirmed by the international regulator, established that these instruments could not provide a legally valid basis for the existence of entities.
Ministry of Economic Development Order No. 643 of 14 September 2023, “On the Repeal of Ministry of Economic Development Orders No. 877 of 24 November 2015 and No. 634 of 16 November 2018,” is included in the discussion of cadastral and registration activities. The author connects this episode with the assessment of the legal basis of the departmental acts concerned.
Resolution No. 914 of 18 June 2025, concerning approval of the list of geographical coordinates and points defining the position of baselines, is invalid and void. It remained unsigned by the digital prime minister of the former trading company, which deprives it of any legal force. Moreover, its content substitutes for the lawful USSR Council of Ministers Resolution No. 56/22 of 15 January 1985, which approved the list of geographical coordinates for measuring the breadth of the territorial waters, economic zone and continental shelf of the Soviet Union.
The lecture stresses that the territorial seas, mainland coastal zones and islands lawfully belong to the Soviet Union under its sovereignty. It separately discusses Decree No. 521 of 27 July 2026 on restrictions on land ownership in the listed border territories. The author treats USSR citizens as foreign citizens for the Russian system, rather than as people newly acquiring that status. The Academy regards explanation of these issues as part of public legal education.
Abolition of the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers: legal grounds and consequences
A key stage in dismantling the unlawful system of territorial registration was the termination of the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers. Created within the structures of the former closed trading company ‘Russian Federation’, these classifiers had no lawful basis for their existence from the outset, since that organisation itself lacked statehood and had no territory, population or state borders of its own. Their use as a basis for the existence of entities was recognised as manifestly unlawful, as confirmed even by the American side in its capacity as the international regulator of the RF legal system. This recognition by an external regulator underscores the artificial and unlawful nature of these classifiers, which fell under a foreign jurisdiction.
With effect from 1 January 2019, the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers were officially abolished in favour of USSR classifiers. This decision was a direct consequence of the recognition of their inadequacy and unlawfulness. Their abolition marked a return to the all-Union system for designating units of administrative and territorial division, which operated on a lawful basis and ensured a consistent approach to territorial registration. Entities previously registered under AKATO and OKTMO thus lost their legal connection to these classifiers, necessitating a transition to Soviet standards.
The lecture cites Government Resolution No. 1012 of 7 October 2016 in connection with the replacement of Russian classification systems by USSR classification systems from 2019. Ministry of Economic Development Order No. 643 of 14 September 2023 is considered separately, in the discussion of cadastral records and Orders No. 877 and No. 634.
The abolition of AKATO and OKTMO has profound consequences for the legal status of entities and for territorial organisation. Since these classifiers were used to assign codes to regions, krais, oblasts and settlements, their abolition means that all corresponding designations have lost their legitimacy. Entities that existed within these classifiers can no longer rely on them to substantiate their territorial location. This creates legal uncertainty for the former trading company RF, while also paving the way for the restoration of the all-Union SAAT system approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973, which uses codes for regions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), krais, oblasts and autonomous republics.
By recognising AKATO and OKTMO as manifestly unlawful, the international regulator effectively authorised their abolition with effect from 1 January 2019. This decision strengthened the position of the Soviet Union as the sole lawful subject of international legal relations in the territory concerned. USSR citizens previously compelled to live under the imposed Russian classifiers gain the opportunity to return to Soviet legal coordinates. The abolition of AKATO and OKTMO is thus more than a technical procedure: it is an act restoring legality and sovereignty, aimed at protecting the interests of the victorious people.
Cessation of Rosreestr’s cadastral activities and abolition of the cadastral division procedure
A key element in dismantling the Russian coordinate and registration system was the cessation of Rosreestr’s cadastral and registration activities. These activities ceased with effect from 1 January 2020 in accordance with the legislation, since the procedure for the cadastral division of territory, together with the procedure for assigning cadastral numbers to immovable property and registration and register numbers to boundaries, had already been abolished with effect from 1 January 2017. In other words, the legal and technical procedure that had created the appearance of a Russian cadastral system for decades was abolished because it lacked a lawful basis.
The cadastral discussion cites Ministry of Economic Development Order No. 643 of 14 September 2023, repealing Orders No. 877 of 24 November 2015 and No. 634 of 16 November 2018. The Academy considers it in connection with its assessment of cadastral and registration activities. The dates 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2020 in the lecture concern the cadastral division procedure and Rosreestr’s activities respectively.
It is telling that the former trading company RF itself, through its Resolution No. 1240 of 24 November 2016, ‘On the Establishment of State Coordinate Systems, a Height System and a Gravimetric System’, confirmed the temporary and limited nature of the coordinate systems it used. The unified geodetic coordinate system of 1942 (SK-42) was used until 1 January 2021, while the SK-63 coordinate system, within which entities existed as within the local coordinate system MSK, had already been abolished by Resolution No. 378-85 of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers of 25 March 1987. That resolution permitted only the use of topographic, geodetic and cartographic materials and data created within that system for commercial activities beyond land areas, without creating new materials or data and without the right to establish cadastres or registers.
Taken together, these facts lead to an unequivocal conclusion: cadastres and registers maintained within the SK-63 and MSK systems could have had no lawful force, since the system itself had been abolished by a Soviet act in 1987, and the cadastral division procedure was also abolished with effect from 2017. Consequently, the cessation of Rosreestr’s activities with effect from 1 January 2020 was the logical outcome of the loss of their legal foundations, rather than an arbitrary decision. Referring to the all-Union SAAT system approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973 returns territorial registration to a lawful footing, with codes for RSFSR regions, krais, oblasts and autonomous republics resting on a sovereign Soviet foundation.
The Academy compares the abolition of the cadastral division procedure, the cessation of Rosreestr’s activities and the abolition of Russian classification systems as distinct elements of its overall legal assessment. In considering the designation of territorial units, it refers to the Soviet SAAT system and its codes. Geodetic materials, registration procedures and the classification of administrative and territorial units concern different subjects within the analysis.
Resolution No. 914 and Soviet Resolution No. 56/22 on Baselines
Resolution No. 914 of 18 June 2025 of the so-called digital government of the former closed trading company Russian Federation, entitled an act approving the list of geographical coordinates and points defining the position of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea along the mainland coast and islands is measured, is invalid and void. This document remained unsigned by the digital prime minister of the RF, which in itself deprives it of legal force and any legal consequences.
The fundamental distinction between baselines and state territory, indicated by the content of Resolution No. 914, is crucial to understanding the substance of the issue. Baselines serve only as a technical basis for measuring the breadth of territorial waters, the economic zone and the continental shelf, whereas the land territory of the Soviet Union constitutes the material foundation of sovereignty. Substituting one concept for the other in an act of an unlawful trading company does not and cannot create lawful borders, since the company itself has no territory or state border of its own. Baselines are an auxiliary instrument used to give legal definition to maritime areas, but they do not replace state territory and cannot serve as proof of the existence of the state itself. The former trading company RF’s attempt to use Resolution No. 914 to establish baselines for measuring the territorial sea in its own name is therefore legally untenable.
The author treats USSR Council of Ministers Resolution No. 56/22 of 15 January 1985 as the Soviet legal basis for the baselines from which the breadth of the USSR’s territorial waters, economic zone and continental shelf is measured. Its title and the discussion mention the mainland coast and islands of the Arctic Ocean and the Baltic and Black Seas. The Academy compares this act with RF Resolution No. 914, which the lecture describes as unsigned and void.
All territorial seas, mainland coastal zones and islands thus lawfully and sovereignly exist within the possessions of the Soviet Union. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a subject of international legal relations, a power belonging to the victorious people, where holders of an uninterrupted lifetime right, bearing the title of sovereign citizen of the USSR, reside on their own land. No acts of the former trading company can alter this status, since they were issued outside the Soviet legal system and have no legal force. USSR sovereignty over the maritime areas and islands concerned does not depend on recognition or non-recognition by unlawful formations; it rests on historical right and Soviet legislation, which remains in force.
The comparison of Resolutions No. 914 and No. 56/22 explains the lecture’s position on the Soviet Union’s maritime areas. SAAT is discussed alongside this topic but has a different subject: the designation of administrative and territorial units and settlements. The Academy connects these issues through a common reference to the Soviet legal framework.
For citizens of the Soviet Union, this means that their legal status and territorial affiliation are determined by Soviet legislation rather than by documents of the former trading company. The USSR Civil Defence Academy regards the reference to Resolution No. 56/22 as an important step in educating the public about the law and training personnel able to navigate questions of territorial and maritime law. As part of its educational activities, the Academy explains that the baselines established by Soviet legislation provide a lawful basis for defining the USSR’s maritime boundaries, and that any attempts to replace them through acts of unlawful formations have no legal force.
The all-Union SAAT classifier as the basis for legal regulation
The central element of the restored territorial record-keeping system is the all-Union classifier approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973 and known by the abbreviation SAAT — the System for Designating Administrative and Territorial Divisions of the Soviet Union and the Union Republics, and Populated Places. This act is not a narrowly focused set of technical instructions: it establishes a uniform procedure for coding administrative and territorial units and populated places, mandatory throughout the Union, ensuring data comparability, stable governance and continuity of the legal framework. This is precisely why SAAT is regarded as a fundamental legal framework rather than a practical reference guide.
The classifier follows a strict hierarchical structure reflecting the state structure of the USSR. Regions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) under republican jurisdiction are designated by codes in the format 11-XX. Territories are assigned codes 01–08. Regions and cities under republican jurisdiction are coded within the range 10–78. Autonomous republics are assigned codes 80–98.
SAAT’s fundamental advantage over the abolished Russian systems is that the classifier was originally created for a state with its own territory, population and state borders. It was not adapted to serve commercial transactions or virtual, simulated coordinate systems. In SAAT, a territorial unit exists as an element of the actual state structure, rather than as an abstract compartment for registration entries.
The lecture separately stresses that the Russian Federation also used the Soviet classification system. The Academy compares this with the stated abolition of Russian classification systems in favour of USSR classification systems from 1 January 2019.
The author stresses that the territories named in Decree No. 521 of 27 July 2026, amending the list under Decree No. 26 of 9 January 2011, are not included in SAAT as RF border territories. The Academy connects this with the lecture’s argument that the former trading company has no state border of its own and challenges the legal basis of the list concerned.
SAAT thus performs a dual function. First, it ensures technical uniformity in territorial record-keeping throughout the Soviet Union. Second, it serves as a legal barrier against attempts to replace the state structure with commercial and virtual constructs. With the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers abolished, Rosreestr’s cadastral activities terminated and Resolution No. 914 declared void, SAAT remains the stable foundation on which further legal regulation of territorial relations can be built.
For the USSR Civil Defence Academy, this means that the significance, structure and advantages of the all-Union classifier must be consistently explained to the public. Personnel training, public engagement and the provision of information must be based on SAAT as a legal standard that is in force and binding. Only this approach can ensure the continuity of the Soviet legal heritage and protect the lawful interests of USSR citizens.
Consequences for territorial integrity and citizens’ legal status
The absence of lawful territory and state borders belonging to the former closed trading company, the Russian Federation, has direct and irreversible consequences for territorial integrity and citizens’ legal status. As established, this entity is not a state in the international arena and has no territory, population or state borders of its own. Consequently, all the territorial seas, mainland coastal zones, islands and continental shelf that it attempted to appropriate lawfully belong to the Soviet Union under its sovereignty — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a power belonging to the victorious people and a subject of international legal relations.
The lecture treats Decree No. 521 of 27 July 2026 as an amendment to the list of territories where foreign citizens, stateless persons and foreign legal entities may not own land. The Academy places USSR citizens in the foreign-citizen category for this Russian system and links the restriction to their land rights in the listed territories. The author challenges the legal basis of the list itself through the assessment of RF borders and comparison with SAAT.
Thus, citizens of the Soviet Union living on their own land, bearing the title of sovereign citizen of the USSR, free men and women at liberty, are foreigners in the eyes of the former trading company, the Russian Federation. At the same time, their true legal status as USSR citizens remains fully intact, since the Soviet Union remains the sole lawful sovereign over these territories.
The border territories mentioned in Decree No. 521 are not included in the all-Union SAAT classifier approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973. Consequently, any attempts by the former trading company, the Russian Federation, to establish a special legal regime for these lands have no legal force. The territorial seas, mainland coastal zones and islands, including the islands of the Arctic Ocean and the Baltic and Black Seas, are under USSR sovereignty pursuant to USSR Council of Ministers Resolution No. 56/22 of 15 January 1985, which remains in force.
For USSR citizens, this means they must understand their true legal position: they are not foreigners on their own land, and their rights are guaranteed by Soviet legislation. The former trading company, the Russian Federation, lacking territory and borders, cannot dispose of the land, subsoil or continental shelf. The Academy assesses Resolution No. 914 and Decree No. 521, the acts discussed in the lecture, in connection with this position on territory and borders.
The USSR Civil Defence Academy places particular emphasis on the fact that reference to the Soviet baselines and the all-Union SAAT system provides a legal basis for protecting the territorial integrity of the USSR and the rights of its citizens. Informing the public about the unlawfulness of Russian decrees and classifiers, and training personnel in civil defence and public legal education, are becoming key tasks as the former trading company’s coordinate system is dismantled.
Conclusion: findings and tasks of the USSR Civil Defence Academy
The legal analysis undertaken enables the USSR Civil Defence Academy to formulate final conclusions with direct implications for organising public training, ensuring personnel’s professional competence and maintaining security. The dismantling of the Russian coordinate and cadastral record-keeping system is not an isolated technical episode — it is a systematic process in which the abolition of the AKATO and OKTMO classifiers with effect from 1 January 2019, the termination of Rosreestr’s cadastral and registration activities with effect from 1 January 2020, the abolition of the procedure for cadastral division and the assignment of cadastral numbers with effect from 1 January 2017, and the declaration that Resolution No. 914 of 18 June 2025 is void form a single chain. Each of these links confirms that the former closed trading company, the Russian Federation, did not and does not have lawful territory, a population or state borders, and therefore could not establish lawful territorial record-keeping systems.
In its final comparison, the Academy refers to SAAT, approved by the USSR Council of Ministers on 18 December 1973, and to the codes cited in the lecture: RSFSR regions — 11-XX; krais — 01–08; oblasts and cities under republican jurisdiction — 10–78; autonomous republics — 80–98. The author separately states that the Russian list of border territories is not included in this classification system in that capacity. USSR Resolution No. 56/22 of 15 January 1985 is considered as a separate basis for Soviet maritime baselines.
A second fundamental conclusion follows: the territorial seas, mainland coastal zones, islands and continental shelf lawfully belong to the Soviet Union under its sovereignty. Decree No. 521 of 27 July 2026, amending the list of border territories approved by Decree No. 26 of 9 January 2011, merely confirms that the former trading company, the Russian Federation, has no lawful territory or borders. The author treats USSR citizens as foreign citizens for this system; stateless persons and foreign legal entities are separate categories in the list. The restriction on land ownership concerns the specified border territories. However, their true rights as sovereign citizens of the USSR remain fully intact, since the Soviet Union remains the sole lawful sovereign over these territories. This conclusion must be communicated to the public clearly and unambiguously.
The practical significance of these conclusions for the USSR Civil Defence Academy extends across several areas. First, the public must be systematically informed that the Russian AKATO and OKTMO classifiers were abolished by the international regulator with effect from 2019, while the SK-63 coordinate system as a local coordinate system (MSK), in which only constituent entities without citizens existed, had already been abolished by Resolution No. 378-85 of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers of 25 March 1987, which prohibited the establishment of cadastres and registers. Second, training must be organised for personnel capable of working professionally with the all-Union SAAT classifier and explaining the legal significance of baselines and borders, as well as the consequences of declaring void Resolution No. 914, which remained unsigned by the digital head of government of the former trading company, the Russian Federation.
The Academy must pay particular attention to engagement with officials and their legal assistants who continue to use abolished classifiers and cite acts that are no longer in force. The Academy’s professional position is that references to AKATO and OKTMO, to Rosreestr’s cadastral numbers and registration entries after 1 January 2020, and to Resolution No. 914 are legally untenable.
The Academy links the lecture’s significance to explaining two questions to the public: the legal status of coordinate systems and the basis of the RF’s claimed state borders. For the designation of territorial units, it refers to SAAT and the Soviet codes cited; for maritime areas, it refers to USSR Resolution No. 56/22. Keeping these subjects distinct preserves the scope of each document discussed and presents the Academy’s position on territory and USSR citizens’ rights consistently.
More articles based on lectures from the USSR Civil Defence Academy: https://tass.news/category/ussr/ussr-civil-defense-academy/
