Mikhail Barsukov: Difference between revisions

| image = Mikhail Barsukov.jpg

| caption =Barsukov Mikhailin 1995 Barsukov

| allegiance = {{USSR}}<br />{{RussiaRUS}}

| rank = ColonelArmy General

| awardawards = [[Order of the Red Star]]

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{BirthdateBirth date|1947|11|8}}

| alma_mater = [[SovietMoscow military academies|MoscowHigher Military Commanders TrainingCommand School]],<br />[[SovietM. militaryV. academies|Frunze Military Academy]]

'''Mikhail Ivanovich Barsukov''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Михаил Иванович Барсуков; born on 8 November 1947) is a former [[Russia]]n intelligence and government official. His most notable post was as the short-lived head of the [[Federal Security Service (Russia)|Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation]] (FSB) in mid-1990s.

==Early Lifelife and Educationeducation==

Mikhail Barsukov was born in the city of [[Lipetsk]], the capital of [[Lipetsk Oblast]] region in western [[Russia]], the son of Ivan Barsukov, a [[Soviet Army]] [[Praporshchik|non-commissioned officer]] serving as a radio communications operator.<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref> In 1955, he began his studies at the Lipetsk School No. 5 and finished high school at the Lipetsk School No. 12. Upon completion of high school studies, Barsukov enrolled in the [[SovietMoscow military academies|MoscowHigher Military Commanders TrainingCommand School]] of the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Supreme Soviet]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|RSFSR]] in 1966.<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref> He studied [[Military tactics|tactics]], [[Military strategy|strategy]] and military [[leadership]] for four years, prior to earning a commission as a [[KGB]] [[History of Russian military ranks|junior lieutenant]] in 1970. Barsukov also studied at a staff college called the [[SovietM. militaryV. academies|Frunze Military Academy]] sometime during his career, though exact dates are unavailable.<ref>[http://rusrazvedka.narod.ru/base/htm/barsm.html ''Intelligence Profile''], ''Russian Security Intelligence''</ref>

Barsukov spent the majority of his career moving up through various officer ranks of the [[Kremlin Regiment]], a paramilitary KGB ([[Ninth Chief Directorate]]) force responsible for the security of the Soviet seat of power political power and the highest levels of political leadership. In 1970 he was assigned to this regiment as a platoon commander, continuing onto higher positions but maintaining the same assignment of security operations in the first sector of [[Moscow Kremlin|Kremlin]] compound, which housed Senate building. By 1991, Barsukov achieved the position of deputy Commandant of the Kremlin, prior to the complete [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref>

Barsukov career took a decisive upswing after the establishment of the Russian Federation and [[Boris Yeltsin]]'s ascent to power as the President of the newly formed country. Barsukov build a relationship with President YelstinYeltsin through his bodyguard, [[Alexander Korzhakov]].<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref> In December 1991, he was appointed the [[Commandant's Office of the Moscow Kremlin|Commandant of the Kremlin]], and in June 1992, Head of the [[Federal Protective Service (Russia)|Main Administration for the Protection of the Russian Federation (GUO)]].<ref>[http://c-society.ru/wind.php?ID=1394 ''Personnel Pages''], ''Institute for Social Progress and Local Self-Government''</ref>

The GUO replaced the Ninth Directorate of the KGB and took over its responsibility of protecting the country's leadership, a role somewhat analogous to the [[United States Secret Service|US Secret Service]]. Barsukov unequivocally pushed for the service's expansion, and he transformed the GUO into a more capable organization with a personnel increase of 50-100 percent, expanding on the Ninth Directorate's 10,000 person staff. At Barsukov's initiative in 1992, the GUO assumed responsibility for presidential communications, with GUO alone deciding who gets ATS-1 and ATS-2 hot lines.<ref>[http://www.systemaspetsnaz.com/federal_protector_service.htm ''Russian Special Operations Units: Federal Protective Service''], ''Systema Spetsnaz''</ref>

In 1993, Barsukov displayed loyalty to YelstinYeltsin in the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis]], when YelstinYeltsin resorted to force in order to dissolve the Russian legislative body, the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Supreme Soviet]]. During the ten-day crisis, the [[Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|Russian Armed Forces]] and security services besieged the legislators by Presidential order. As head of the GUO, Barsukov helped organize the final assault on the Duma.<ref>[http://c-society.ru/wind.php?ID=1394 ''Personnel Pages''], ''Institute for Social Progress and Local Self-Government''</ref> Prior to the assault, YelstinYeltsin transferred temporary control of the [[Alpha Group|Alpha]] and [[Vympel]] special units to Barsukov. Alpha and Vympel were the considered the top [[Spetsnaz]] units in Russia, and they subsequently led the assault. He personally ordered several of the defenders of the Supreme Soviet to the isolation cells at the infamous [[Lefortovo Prison]].<ref>[http://rusrazvedka.narod.ru/base/htm/barsm.html ''Intelligence Profile''], ''Russian Security Intelligence''</ref>

On 19 July 1995, President YelstinYeltsin promoted Barsukov to the rank of Colonel General and appointed him as the head of the KGB's successor agency, the FSB.<ref>[http://persona.rin.ru/eng/view/f/0/15924/barsukov-mikhail-ivanovich Mikhail Barsukov Facts''], ''Russian Celebrities and Officials''</ref> In August, he became a member of the [[Security Council of Russia]]. Rumors circulated in the Russian media that Barsukov intended to return the FSB's organizational structure to resemble the old KGB. Quickly, he promoted confidants close to himself and Alexander Korzhakov, namely head of FSB Director of Counter-Intelligence Viktor Zorin and Deputy Director of the FSB [[Anatoly Trofimov]]. Furthermore, Barsukov managed to get the Alpha special unit permanently assigned to the FSB.<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref>

While Barsukov's reign as the FSB chief lasted under one year, in this short time he managed to make several significant contributions to Russia's security. In the wake of [[Terrorism in Russia|Chechen terrorism]] related to the [[First Chechen War]], he established a Counter-Terrorist Center within the FSB's Department for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism. The Alpha unit made up the principal assault and hostage-rescue operational component of the new center.<ref>[Chelokhine, Serguei and Charles A. Lieberman. 2010. "Reforming Power Structures: Russian Counter-Terrorism Response To Beslan," in M.R. Haberfeld & Agostino von Hassell's A New Understanding of Terrorism: Case Studies, Trajectories and Lessons Learned (p. 252). New York: Springer.

On 9 January 1996, a group of several hundred [[Chechen people|Chechen]] gunmen under the command of terrorist [[Salman Raduyev]] attacked an airfield and hospital in the Russian city of [[Kizlyar]]. Using civilian hostages as human shields, the Raduyev's forces attempted to escape toward Chechnya. When they took fire from Russian forces, they stopped in the Russian village of Pervomayskoye, taking hostages at a mosque and local schools. Western media called the event the [[Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis]].<ref>[http://friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1996/01/960111I.html(opt,text,unix,russian,koi8,wood) ''Hostage Affair Continues in Dagestan''], ''Radio Free Europe'', 11 January 1996</ref> Barsukov immediately took control of the operational headquarters handling the crisis.<ref>[http://c-society.ru/wind.php?ID=1394 ''Personnel Pages''], ''Institute for Social Progress and Local Self-Government''</ref> Reportedly, Baruskov and [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)|Interior Minister]] [[Anatoly Kulikov]] declared (incorrectly) that the terrorists had executed the hostages inside the village, and authorized soldiers to use [[BM-21 Grad|Grad]] rockets to bombard the village.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9601/russia_hostage/index.html ''Russian Soldiers Discuss Bungled Hostage-Rescue Mission''], ''CNN'', 23 January 1996</ref>

On 19 June 1996, YelstinYeltsin's re-election campaign managers [[Sergei Lisovsky]] and [[Arkady Yevstafyev]], were arrested while leaving the White House of Russia. This began the so-called Xerox Affair, where security agents detained the campaigners at the behest of Barsukov and Alexander Korzhakov, discovering $500,000 in a copy-paper box carried by one of the men.<ref>[http://www.engology.com/eng5borisyelsin.htm ''Boris YelstinYeltsin Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130122044545/http://www.engology.com/eng5borisyelsin.htm |date=2013-01-22 }}, ''Engology.com''</ref> Eager to distance himself from a corruption investigation induring the middleelection of the electioncampaign period, YelstinYeltsin fired Barsukov and Korzhakov, along with their staunch ally First Deputy Prime Minister [[Oleg Soskovets]].<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3996/is_200410/ai_n9466386/pg_4/?tag=content;col1 ''Interview with Yuri Felshtinsky''], ''Article Directory''</ref> Deputy director of the FSB [[Nikolay Kovalyov (politician)|Nikolai Kovalyov]] replaced Barsukov, who had served less a year as the head of the agency.<ref>[httphttps://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/fsb/history.htm ''FSB History''], ''FAS.org''</ref> Barsukov remained jobless until the fall of 1997.<ref>[http://c-society.ru/wind.php?ID=1394 ''Personnel Pages''], ''Institute for Social Progress and Local Self-Government''</ref>

In September 1997, YelstinYeltsin appointed Barsukov as head of the of [[Presidential Administration of Russia|Presidential Administration]]'s Directorate for Special Installation (formerly the Fifteenth Directorate of the KGB).<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/english/dossier/ussrkgb/ ''KGB Structure''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423183348/http://www.agentura.ru/english/dossier/ussrkgb/ |date=2011-04-23 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref> Furthermore, in December 1998, Barsukov gained a more important post, as the head of the Chief Director for Military Inspection subordinate to the [[Security Council of Russia]].<ref>[http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ ''Barsukov Bio''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219194157/http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/people/barsukov/ |date=2010-12-19 }}, ''Agentura.ru''</ref> His current job remains unknown.

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[[Category:FSB1947 officersbirths]]

[[Category:LivingFrunze peopleMilitary Academy alumni]]