Somehow I missed Alexander Lebedev’s alex_lebedev letter to FSB Director Bortnikov. Published in "Novaya Gazeta" 2 days ago. I just read it and let out a whistle. It’s something astonishing. Lebedev, directly and without any qualifications, names senior FSB officers implicated in corruption. He identifies the FSB departments and directorates where these people work. He states that foreign citizens pay for FSB officers’ vacations abroad. This is, like, extremely serious. A report of a crime disseminated through the mass media. Either an investigation into the thieving FSB officers must begin, or a libel case must be opened against Lebedev. Otherwise, this is some kind of final stage in the degradation of state power in Russia.
It’s clear that Bortnikov—given that his own dear son has been comfortably installed as a bank director—is extremely reluctant to raise the subject of corruption, but at this point he has to respond.