From the “New Nobility” to the KGB

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

This article is the republished version of:

From the “New Nobility” to the KGB

Notes

English translation © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, from the Russian text, © 2016 “Kontrapunkt.” “Ot ‘Novogo dvorianstva’ k KGB,” Kontrapunkt, 2016, no. 6.

Translated by Lucy Gunderson. Translation reprinted from Russian Politics and Law, vol. 55, no. 2. DOI: 10.1080/10611940.2017.1393267.

Andrei Soldatov is an investigative journalist based in Moscow and co-founder, with Irina Borogan, of Agentura.ru

1. A. Gamov, “Gosudarstvennyi perevorot Rossii ne grozit {Interv’iu s Vladimirom Putinym},”Komsomolskaya Pravda, July 8, 1999 (www.kp.ru/daily/25961/2901399/; accessed November 11, 2016).

2. Director of the Federal Security Service Nikolai Patrushev, “Esli my ‘slomaemsia’ i uidem s Kavkaza—nachnetsia razval strany,” Komsomolskaya Pravda, December 20, 2000 (www.kp.ru/daily/22458/7028/; accessed November 18, 2016).

3. “Polozhenie o KGB, 1959”, quoted in Kokurin, A. I. and I. V. Petrov (eds.), Lybianka. Organy VChK-OGPU-NKVD-NKGB-MGB-MVD-KGB. 1917–1991. Moscow: International Foundation “Demokratiia”, 2003.

4. Federal Law of March 6, 2006 No. 35-FZ “On Combatting Terrorism,” Rossiiskaia gazeta, March 10, 2006 (https://rg.ru/2006/03/10/borba-terrorizm.html; accessed November 23, 2016).

5. On July 5, 2006, the State Duma voted in favor of amendments to the federal laws “On the Federal Security Service” and “On Combatting Terrorism,” which granted the Russian Federation president the right to use FSB units to combat international terrorism outside of Russia.

6. See Russian Federation Presidential Order of August 28, 2006 No. 921 “On Amendments to RF Presidential Order of May 8, 2005 No. 531 ‘On Military Dress Uniforms, Military Rank Insignia, and Departmental Insignia,’” Garant.ru, August 31, 2006 (www.garant.ru/products/ipo/prime/doc/89909/; accessed November 23, 2016).

7. “Gosduma priniala spornyi Zakon o nekommercheskikh organizatsiiakh,” Izvestia, December 23, 2005 (http://izvestia.ru/news/309748; accessed November 18, 2016).

8. V. Cherkesov, “Nel’zia dopustit’, shtoby voiny prevratilis’ v torgovtsev,” Kommersant, October 9, 2007 (http://kommersant.ru/doc/812840; accessed November 18, 2016).

9. On December 6, 2008, the Office of the Procurator General, the FSB, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs approved a joint order—a list of extremist threats. At the head of this list was “extremism under the cover of Islam,” followed by the disciples of pagan cults. The list also included “participants in non-official youth associations” and some radical opposition parties and movements.

10. Federal Law of April 2, 2014 No. 44-FZ “On the Participation of Citizens in Protecting Public Order,” Rossiiskaia gazeta, April 4, 2014 (https://rg.ru/2014/04/04/poryadok-dok.html; accessed November 18, 2016).

11. Russian Federation Presidential Order No. 157 of April 5, 2016, “Voprosy Federalnoi sluzhby voisk natsional’noi gvardii,” Rossiiskaia gazeta, April 7, 2016 (https://rg.ru/2016/04/06/nacgvardiya-site-dok.html; accessed November 18, 2016).

12. “Dmitry Medvedev provel vo Vladikavkaze zasedanie Natsional’nogo antiterroristicheskogo komiteta,” Prezident Rossii, February 22, 2011 (http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/10408; accessed November 18, 2016).

13. “FSB obeshchaet ochistit’ Runet ot vozdeistviia zarubezhnykh spetssluzhb,” Vedemosti, March 27, 2012 (www.vedomosti.ru/technology/news/2012/03/27/fsb_obeschaet_ochistit_runet_ot_vozdejstviya_zarubezhnyh; accessed November 18, 2016).

14. Putin Discusses Trump, OPEC, Rosneft, Japan (Interview with editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News John Micklethwait), September 5, 2016 (www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-05/putin-discusses-trump-opec-rosneft-brexit-japan-transcript; accessed November 18, 2016).

15. Sergei Ivanov vehemently denied rumors about the revival of the Ministry of State Security in his first interview following his dismissal on October 18, 2006. See E. Kriviakina and V. Kon, “Sergei Ivanov: Nikakogo Ministerstva gosbezopasnosti ne zadumyvalos’ i ne budet,” Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 18, 2016 (www.kp.ru/online/news/2542537/; accessed November 18, 2016).