Kremlin sources said the “Ministry for State Security” – which will be known by the acronym “MGB” – is set to officially take shape before Russia’s 2018 presidential election.
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The Kremlin has not yet commented on the report, and Putin’s usually outspoken spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refused to issue a statement on behalf of the administration.
The veteran Kremlin watcher said he had seen some “indicators” of where the former Soviet intelligence officer is likely taking Russian Federation.
He said: “Today I want to appeal to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, a man who gave an oath on the constitution to faithfully defend Russia’s citizens wherever they may be”. Putin called such reports “a provocation” and said Roldugin, a famous cellist, had done nothing wrong and spent the money he earned from business on buying expensive musical instruments.
The new agency will be fully operational in time for the 2018 presidential elections in Russian Federation.
Sergei Goncharov, who served in Russia’s now disbanded Alpha counterterror unit in the 1990s, told state media that the creation of the MGB would provide Russian Federation with a “strong fist”.
“Essentially, this is a case of bringing the band back together”, Russian Federation expert Mark Galeotti told Radio Free Europe Monday.
The security service, synonymous with spying and political repression, administered Russia’s police state, operating mass surveillance and persecuting dissidents, but also overseeing numerous country’s key institutions. “But basically speaking, this ministry would reconstitute the KGB in all its aspects”.
The newly formed Ministry of State Security (MGB) will receive new features as well: The agency will be engaged in the highest-profile cases and as part of its duties will root out corruption in law enforcement bodies.
“If before we were just providing support to investigation, then now we’re being tasked with managing their progress from the moment that criminal charges are brought to their transfer to court”, an anonymous FSB operative told Kommersant. The Federal Migration Service and Federal Drug Control Service were also placed under the National Guard’s authority.
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German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, heading to Moscow for talks about trade with President Vladimir Putin, said on Wednesday he favoured a lifting of European Union sanctions on Russian Federation but that would require making progress on peace in Ukraine. “Multiple agencies overlapping that could be played off against each other and that also could keep each other honest”.
