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Cheka ( ЧК-чрезвыча ́ йная коми ́ ссия chrezvychaynaya komissiya, Extraordinary Commission, ) was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations.

It was created on December 20, 1917, after a decree issued by Vladimir Lenin, and was subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky.

By late 1918, hundreds of Cheka committees had been created in various cities, at multiple levels including: oblast, guberniya (" Gubcheks "), raion, uyezd, and volost Chekas, with Raion and Volost Extraordinary Commissioners.

Many thousands of dissidents, deserters, or other people were arrested, tortured or executed by various Cheka groups.

After 1922, Cheka groups underwent a series of reorganizations, with the NKVD, into bodies whose members continued to be referred to as " Chekisty " ( Chekists ) into the late 1980s.

With Vladimir Putin's rise to power, the reference to the FSB members as " Chekists " arose, particularly by Putin's political opponents, often with negative connotations.