Has Vladimir Putin just crowned a new spy chief?
It certainly seems that way. On Thursday, Putin’s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Sergei Korolyov has been appointed as a deputy director of the FSB intelligence service. Korolyov’s record and reputation indicate that he is being groomed to replace either FSB director Alexander Bortnikov or national security council chief Nikolai Patrushev, both of whom turn 70 this year.
The powerful domestic counterpart to the SVR foreign intelligence service and the GRU military intelligence service, the FSB is responsible for national security, the enforcement of Putin’s patronage networks, and the conduct of highly sensitive covert action programs. The FSB was responsible for the August 2020 nerve agent poisoning of Alexei Navalny, for example. It has also been intimately involved in attacks on U.S. government personnel around the world.
The 58-year-old Korolyov certainly fits the mold of a perfect Putin prefect. The former head of the FSB’s internal affairs and economic monitoring sections, Korolyov has a reputation for being smart, ruthless where necessary, and adept at navigating the complicated politics of Putin’s mafia state.
A protege of the enigmatic former defense minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov, Korolyov served at the defense ministry under Serdyukov. The New Times has reported — accurately, I understand — that while at the defense ministry, Korolyov was the political commissar responsible for supervising the GRU. This will have given Korolyov access to the GRU’s global operations posture, including knowledge of its “illegal,” or deniable, agent networks. This knowledge is a prerequisite for succeeding in the bureaucratic turf wars that Korolyov will have to fight if he does indeed take over from Bortnikov, or managing those wars if he takes over from Patrushev.
Talking of turf wars, Korolyov is rumored to have been involved in manipulating the Ivan Golunov incident, in which a journalist was shoddily framed for drug usage, in order to undermine competing security factions.
Still, Korolyov appears to have put brains before his wallet. Unlike other ambitious FSB officers, the new deputy director has avoided getting too dependent on specific key players either in the Kremlin, the mafia, or the oligarch class while retaining the respect of all three. This dynamic was best evinced by the Insider’s extraordinary 2018 publication of phone conversations involving Gennady Petrov, major boss of the St. Petersburg-based Tambov organized crime ring. One such call included a cautious Korolyov discussing birthday events with Petrov. Another call involved Petrov pushing for the selection of Alexander Bastrykin as head of the Investigative Committee of Russia. Yes, a mafia boss got to pick the head of Russia’s top law enforcement supervising authority: Bastrykin got the job.
Instead of rising or falling on the access of others, Korolyov played the long game. He earned his stripes in Putin’s home city of St. Petersburg and has always kept close to Putin’s oligarch confidante, Igor Sechin. As an FSB money man, he earned Putin inner circle respect for not skimming too much, too obviously. But not too little, either, which would show a puritan streak that the Siloviki, or “security guys,” do not trust. In that vein, Korolyov is no stranger to the corruption games which sustain Putin’s regime. His son, Boris, might only be in his mid-20s but already plays a powerful role in the lucrative technical surveillance service industry. As BBC-Russia has reported, the captain of that industry, Anton Cherepennikov, was quick to invest in the younger Korolyov’s startup. Cherepennikov knows who is boss.
As does Korolyov the elder.
Put simply, the deputy director would appear to have everything that Putin wants in a spy chief. Loyalty, intelligence, and an awareness of where the skeletons and secret bank accounts are hidden. And how to leverage all these things in Putin’s better service. Korolyov’s new position is very likely only a stepping stone. He will be a capable American adversary.
