Putin has started repressions against FSB leaders for Russia’s failure in Ukraine – journalists
SVITLANA KIZILOVA — FRIDAY, 11 MARCH 2022, 18:58
Due to Russia's unsuccessful military campaign in Ukraine, the country's president, Vladimir Putin, has started looking for scapegoats. The first to suffer were the head of the foreign intelligence unit at the Federal Security Service (FSB, the successor to the Soviet KGB), Sergey Beseda and his deputy by the last name of Bolukh (his first name was not given).
Source: Meduza, citing information from journalists Andriy Soldatov and Iryna Borohan
Details: Reports indicate that Beseda and Bolukh were responsible for intelligence in Ukraine and were most likely the individuals who misled Putin about Ukraine's willingness to "welcome [Russian] liberators". Bolukh also oversaw disinformation activities.
The 5th Service, officially called the Operative Information and International Relations Service, handled the FSB's relations with foreign partners, including the American intelligence community. The service includes the infamous Department of Operative Information (DOI), which carried out the FSB's foreign intelligence operations.
Quote: "The 5th Service was responsible for providing Vladimir Putin with information about political events in Ukraine ahead of the invasion. And, it seems that after two weeks of war, Putin finally realised that he had been misled: the 5th Service, scared not to irritate the leader, simply provided him with the information he wanted to hear.
Currently, our sources are informing us that General Beseda and his deputy have been placed under house arrest. Among the reasons for this are the misuse of funds allocated for operations, as well as poor intelligence. In fact, the intelligence Putin's spy had was, as it turned out, very bad".
Reference: Andriy Soldatov and Iryna Borohan are journalists and writers, having authored several books about the Russian government and its special services. They have been studying the FSB for many years and have a large network of sources.
