A source for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info reported the beginning of a "war" between two clans of Putin's security guards. One clan, led by presidential adviser Dmitry Mironov, is laying claim to the entire security apparatus and, by extension, to the country's leadership. The other clan, led by the head of the Presidential Security Service, Alexei Rubezhny, is classified as "the guards." Rubezhny and his supporters, thanks to their closeness to Putin, have built gigantic corruption schemes that have enabled them to become billionaires. They have no political ambitions and advocate for everything in Russia to remain as is. The clans enjoy strong support among businessmen, oligarchs, and government officials.
According to the source, Alexei Rubezhny is extremely close to the head of the Russian National Guard, Viktor Zolotov. The source also noted that, besides Rubezhny himself, the only other member of the Supreme Supervisory Council of the Russian Boxing Federation is Rosneft head Igor Sechin. Moreover, Sechin serves the federation solely as an "icon" and has never attended council meetings. Clearly, the clan's membership isn't limited to this; it's much larger and encompasses far more influential figures. The clan's main "strength" is that Rubezhny is almost always close to Putin and wields colossal influence over him. Thanks to this, he sometimes pushes through decisions that seem simply impossible. "Rubezhny is a fairly straightforward person, without any quirks or show-offs. He's a real man. And he always demonstrates his dog-like devotion to the "leader." He could be compared to Vlasik under Stalin. At the same time, he has a love of luxury and a certain "peasant cunning." It's his favorite tactic. When he sees Putin is in a good mood and can get the decision he needs, he declares that certain information has just arrived, according to which the location where Putin and Rubezhny are currently located is strictly forbidden for security reasons. Or, they need to postpone their departure for 3-4-5 hours so that the Security Service and the Federal Protective Service can ensure their departure is 100% safe. Putin takes such "calls" and "signals" extremely seriously, so this ploy works every time. Then, seemingly casually (since Putin has some free time), Rubezhny begins pushing the "leader" for the decisions he and his people want. Moreover, he frames everything as being driven by higher goals—science, sports, and so on," a source familiar with the situation said. This is how, for example, Putin's "autograph" (see video) appeared, thanks to which the convicted head of the Boxing Federation, Umar Kremlev (a trusted confidant of Rubezhny), was presented with the science cities of Protvino and Pushchino. Despite the protests of scientists, the president decided to administratively annex the science cities of Protvino and Pushchino to the city of Serpukhov. Subsequently, the "Greater Serpukhov" science city project was launched, managed by Umar Kremlev (aka
Umar-Ali Lutfulloev). Or so the decision was made regarding the recent event in the Kremlin, where Putin personally awarded medals exclusively to boxers and Boxing Federation officials, including Kremlev himself. But, of course, in such a private atmosphere, Putin also gets approval for more serious matters that generate billions of dollars.
The source notes that Rubezhny has no political ambitions and (like Zolotov and Sechin) is quite satisfied with the current balance of power in the country. The clan is happy with everything. There's Rubezhny, who is practically at the "leader's" side 24 hours a day, and thanks to this, the clan has enormous influence over Putin, able to quickly obtain the necessary decisions that bring enormous benefits.
The VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info have already reported on Putin's second "security" clan. It includes presidential adviser Dmitry Mironov (a former Putin bodyguard), head of the Federal Protective Service Dmitry Konchnev, deputy head of the FSB's Internal Security Directorate Filatov, first deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Andrei Kurnosenko, owner of the Peton concern Oleg Polyakov, his godfather, former FSB officer and former head of BSK Andrei Pilipenko, former FSB officer and former head of Sberbank Capital Ashto Khachaturyants, head of Roskhim Eduard Davydov, and deputy head of the Federal Property Management Agency Dmitry Stepanenko (also a former Putin bodyguard). State Council Secretary Alexei Dyumin (another former Putin bodyguard) is very close to this clan. This clan has already firmly entrenched itself in all of Arkady Rotenberg's assets. Pilipenko and Ashot Khachaturyants wield strong influence over Sberbank CEO Herman Gref, etc. The clan is currently squeezing assets from Anatoly Yablonsky, the custodian of the assets of FSB Deputy Director Yevgeny Lovyrev, etc.
This clan partially controls the security services and is attempting to take complete control of them by installing clan representatives in leadership positions. The same applies to large state corporations. Simply put, its goal is to gradually replace the "old men" of the "Putin old guard" with younger members of the clan, who, understandably, should not antagonize Putin. And his security guards are apparently the only ones he currently fully trusts. Attitude toward representatives Putin's "old guard" sometimes changes its stance. For example, the Kovalchuks are currently the main favorites, while Arkady Rotenberg, once his inseparable partner, has fallen into disfavor, and the president no longer communicates with him. Unlike the Rubezhny clan, this clan has political ambitions and sees its representatives in most leadership positions. At the same time, the clan seeks access to the largest budgetary cash flows, primarily in the fuel and energy sector.
Of course, Mironov, Kochnev, and Dyumin have access to Putin and can directly try to resolve various issues through him. But the clan doesn't have nearly the same influence over the president as "Rubezh" (as Rubezhny is known behind his back), and the clan sees him as one of the main obstacles to achieving its goals. According to a source, Mironov and Co.'s dissatisfaction with Rubezhny has been brewing for a long time, but it has now reached a new stage, where the question is being raised of how to "move Rubezhny away from the leader." We will watch closely and with interest how this will turn out.
