A simmering battle for influence within Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has led to the abrupt ouster of a top official responsible for protecting the nation’s finances.
Sergei Alpatov, head of the Federal Security Service’s Economic Security Service, has vacated his post—with some sources claiming he resigned for health reasons, while others say he was forced out for going after figures close to Putin’s longtime friend and sparring partner, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg.
An unnamed source cited by independent investigative media described a “palace coup” playing out between warring factions of Putin’s security services, which have been given unchecked power to strengthen Putin’s grip on the country amid the years-long war in Ukraine.
But the biggest blow is still yet to come, according to iStories, which reports that Alpatov’s ouster is just the first domino to fall ahead of a massive shake-up that will see the longtime head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, retire.
Bortnikov, 74, has served as head of the FSB since 2008. But sources cited by iStories say he has “long been asking to retire” and now spends most of his time at health resorts anyway.
At the center of the apparent purge is an influence operation that Putin seems to have fallen victim to himself. In July, a longtime manager for the Rotenberg family’s projects, Konstantin Makhov, was arrested on embezzlement charges in what was seen as a shot across the bow for the Rotenbergs, a powerful political clan that came up with Putin in St. Petersburg.
A month earlier, another businessman with rumored ties to Putin—and to organized crime—was arrested. Ilya Traber, a powerbroker also described as a close associate of the Rotenbergs, was nabbed on murder charges in connection with a fatal shooting in 2020.
But in late August, Traber was suddenly released, and the murder charges against him were dropped. Makhov was also released, but placed on house arrest last week, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Those moves reportedly came directly from Putin, who was convinced by unnamed figures within his orbit that someone was going after Traber, and by extension Rotenberg, to undermine their influence and perhaps even Putin’s own power.
Alpatov took the blame, according to VChK-OGPU. “They removed him literally overnight. But he already understood everything a week ago and told his inner circle about it. He’s currently on vacation, from which he won’t return to the FSB,” a source told the outlet.
“The full list of resignations will be known in October. That’s when a lot of changes are generally expected in the FSB of Russia,” the source was quoted as saying.
