Another of Russia's mighty seems to have fallen. Gen. Alexander Bastrykin, one of the country's most influential men, will reportedly leave his office as chief of the Investigative Committee after the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, according to sources close to the Federal Security Services (FSB) and the presidential administration. Though the reports of Bastrykin's impending resignation have not been confirmed, they have been widely circulated through Russia's major media channels. If the rumors are true, Bastrykin will be the latest casualty in the power struggle raging among the Kremlin's security services.
Bastrykin has long been a controversial figure in Russia. In 2012, for instance, he made waves in the Russian media by threatening to kill journalists. He is no less divisive among Russia's elite. As chief of the Investigative Committee — Russia's highest investigative body — he heads (at least for now) one of the most powerful institutions in the country. Nonetheless, Bastrykin has tried to increase the Investigative Committee's power, lobbying to put the agency in sole charge of conducting economic security and anti-corruption investigations, a responsibility it currently shares with the Interior Ministry and the FSB. His proposals met with resistance from the country's other security services — particularly the FSB.
Recently, Bastrykin has found himself the collateral damage of a power struggle in the Kremlin. Over the past year, Bastrykin has lent his support to the FSB, backing its investigations and attempts to gain more power. At the same time, certain factions of the FSB have challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin on matters of foreign policy, energy, finance and the distribution of power among the security services. In April, Bastrykin took his opposition a step further, publishing a long manifesto in which he bashed Putin's security policies and called for a toughening of Russia's judicial and law enforcement systems. Such criticism is all but unheard of in Russian security circles. Even so, Bastrykin remained in his post.
Over the past few months, the FSB's battle with Putin has intensified, felling several high-ranking officials in the process. In June, the FSB purged its Economic Security Service, replacing agents with figures loyal to former chief (and current Rosneft head) Igor Sechin, thereby increasing his faction's role in the FSB's financial crimes investigations. A month later, the FSB began going after senior officials in the Investigative Commission, detaining two of its most powerful prosecutors and placing seven others under investigation. At the time, Bastrykin denounced his detained employees and praised the FSB's efforts to quash corruption. Now, it seems that he was trying to save his own position.
The FSB's crackdowns have systematically increased its control over economic and financial decisions and assets in Russia. The agency also went after one of Putin's close friends, Andrei Belyaninov, who led the Federal Customs Service — another powerful institution that deals with corruption. The FSB's crusade is not just about targeting rivals, it is also a way to protect its interests. And in each instance, the FSB has reportedly acted without the president's knowledge. In response, Putin dismissed one of the most powerful men in the FSB (and, by extension, the country), Sergei Ivanov, then Putin's chief of staff in August — the biggest shake-up in the Kremlin elite in over a decade.
The question now is who ordered Bastrykin's fall; the reports of his resignation seemed to surface simultaneously from sources in the FSB and Putin's administration. If the FSB is leading the charge, then the security service will have solidified its control over investigations of financial crime, a powerful means to target powerful rivals in Russia. If, on the other hand, Putin gave the order, then it is likely an attempt on the president's part to check the FSB's growing power. Either way, the Kremlin's balance of power is dangerously unstable.
Editor's Note: This article formerly misstated Sergei Ivanov's position and has since been updated.
