Yesterday’s terrible terrorist attack at Domodedovo has had a variety of outcomes. Some heart-warming, not least the outpouring of official and public sympathy, from governments to the individual Muscovites who drove passengers to and from the airport to save them from opportunistic fares that some taxi drivers were demanding in the aftermath. Others knee-jerk, such as the new security measures which will ensure that for the immediate future Moscow’s airports will become bottlenecked nightmares, probably with no increase in security. And others predictable but no less depressing, such as the blame game between various security agencies.
All posts in category FSB
The Domodedovo blame game
Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 25, 2011
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/the-domodedovo-blame-game/
Wikileaks (3): Moscow – Luzhkov and the ‘other’ mafia
From the New York Times comes a wikileaked cable on since-deposed Moscow Mayor Luzhkov and his alleged (OK, rather credibly alleged) corruption and criminal connections:
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 3, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/wikileaks-3-moscow-luzhkov-and-the-other-mafia/
Wikileaks (1): the Spanish take on the Russian state and OC
Others (notably Sean Guillory) are doing a sterling job of generally covering the Russia-related cables being exposed through wikileaks, and to be honest I don’t have the time to write much this week, so I just want at present to confine myself to making a few comments on some of them relating to Russian organised crime.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on December 1, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/wikileaks-1-the-spanish-take-on-the-russian-state-and-oc/
KGB or Koschei: will the SVR be swallowed by the FSB?
RFE/RL’s Brian Whitmore’s latest Power Vertical blog post rounds up the latest chatter, that news that the brace of Russian deep-cover spies in the USA were blown by Colonel Shcherbakov, the man running such operations in North America for the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) may be used by the Federal Security Service (FSB) as a pretext to swallow up its smaller rival.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on November 12, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/kgb-or-koschei-will-the-svr-be-swallowed-by-the-fsb/
The Investigations Committee – not so much Russia’s FBI, more a Kremlin watchdog
On 23 September, President Medvedev announced that the existing Investigations Committee of the Prosecutor-General’s Office (SKP), responsible for all preliminary criminal investigations, would become a standalone body reporting directly to him, simply known as the Investigations Committee (SK: Sledstvenny komitet). Four days later, he submitted a new draft federal law On the Investigations Committee of the Russian Federation to the State Duma.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on October 5, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/the-investigations-committee-not-so-much-russias-fbi-more-a-kremlin-watchdog/
Umarov steps back from stepping down
So, on 24 July Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov names Aslanbek Vadalov as his deputy and successor. On 1 August, he then announces that he is stepping down, a fact duly reported on rebel mouthpiece websites. And then a couple of days later they are posting his retraction, and his claim that the initial video message from him was “completely fabricated.” What on earth is going on?
Posted by Mark Galeotti on August 6, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/umarov-steps-back-from-stepping-down/
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