The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) which was reorganized into the FSB in 1995. The three major structural successor components of the former KGB that remain administratively independent of the FSB are the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Protective Service (FSO), and the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation (GUSP).
Novichok is a family of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. Some Novichok agents are solids at standard temperature and pressure, while others are liquids. Dispersal of solid form agents is thought possible if in ultrafine powder state.
Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov is a Russian intelligence officer who has served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) since 2008. He is one of the most powerful members of the silovik faction of president Vladimir Putin's inner circle. A Hero of the Russian Federation since 2019, he also holds the rank of General of the Army, the second highest grade in use in the Russian military. According to some experts, it's likely Bortnikov played a key role in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022.
The poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, alternatively known as Laboratory 1, Laboratory 12, and Kamera, was a covert research-and-development facility of the Soviet secret police agencies. Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the laboratory manufactured and tested poisons, and was reportedly reactivated by the Russian government in the late 1990s.
Dmitry Lvovich Bykov is a Russian writer, poet, literary critic and journalist. He is also known as biographer of Boris Pasternak, Bulat Okudzhava and Maxim Gorky.
The Coast Guard of the Border Service of the FSB, previously known as the Maritime Units of the KGB Border Troops, is the coast guard of Russia.
Bellingcat is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014. Bellingcat publishes the findings of both professional and citizen journalist investigations into war zones, human rights abuses, and the criminal underworld. The site's contributors also publish guides to their techniques, as well as case studies.
Timur Kuashev, was a Kabardino-Balkarian human rights activist with connections to Moscow-based rights organization Memorial and a freelance journalist for the magazine Dosh in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkar Republic within the North Caucasus in Russia, he was found dead 15 kilometers from his home. His death was viewed as suspicious and as of 2017 the investigation is still not closed.
Lyubov Eduardovna Sobol is a Russian opposition politician, lawyer and a member of the Russian Opposition Coordination Council (2012–2013). She produces the YouTube channel "Navalny Live" of Alexei Navalny. Sobol was a lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Foundation until its closure in 2021.
Events in the year 2020 in the Russian Federation.
On 20 August 2020, Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent and as a result, he was hospitalized in serious condition. During a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he became ill and was taken to a hospital in Omsk after an emergency landing there, and then, he was put in a coma. He was evacuated to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, two days later. The use of the nerve agent was confirmed by five Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) certified laboratories. On 7 September, doctors announced that they had taken Navalny out of the induced coma and that his condition had improved. He was discharged from the hospital on 22 September 2020. The OPCW said that a cholinesterase inhibitor from the Novichok group was found in Navalny's blood, urine, skin samples and his water bottle. At the same time, the OPCW report clarified that Navalny was poisoned with a new type of Novichok, which was not included in the list of controlled chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Insider is an independent online newspaper specializing in Russia related investigative journalism, fact-checking and political analytics. It was founded in 2013 by Roman Dobrokhotov, a Russian journalist and the owner of the newspaper. The newspaper is known for exposing fake news in Russian media. The editorial office of the website is located in Riga, Latvia. Andris Jansons is the editor-in-chief of the website.
The State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT) is a Russian research institute engaged in the development of chemical technologies for use in the national economy and the production of relevant goods and products.
Christo Grozev is a Bulgarian investigative journalist and author. He is the head of investigations with The Insider and former lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat. His investigations into the identity of the suspects involved in the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal earned him and his team the European Press Prize for Investigative Journalism.
Protests in Russia began on 23 January 2021 in support of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny after he was immediately detained upon returning to Russia after being sent to Germany for treatment following his poisoning the previous year. Days before protests began, a film by Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) called Putin's Palace, which revolves around the connection between president Vladimir Putin and a palace allegedly being built for him, was released.
Nikita Olegovich Isaev was a Russian politician, journalist, and anti-corruption and environmental activist.
Ruslan Magomedragimov was a Russian activist from Dagestan. He was involved with the movement "Sadval" (Unity), advocating for the autonomy or independence of the Lezgin people.
The Kansk affair or the affair of Kansk teens is an ongoing criminal case in the Russian city of Kansk where in June 2020 the FSB agents arrested three 14-year-old boys while they were putting up political leaflets, whom the authorities accused of being an anarchist terror cell. One of the pieces of evidence in the case is the boys' actions in the video game Minecraft, where they constructed a virtual FSB building that they were blowing up in the game. A Russian human rights organization, Memorial, characterized the case against the three Kansk teens as political persecution.
Maria Konstantinovna Pevchikh is a Russian investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist who has served as the chairwoman of the board of directors of the Anti-Corruption Foundation since March 2023. Pevchikh is known for exposing high-level corruption in Russia.
Navalny is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Daniel Roher. The film revolves around Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and events related to his poisoning. It was produced by HBO Max and CNN Films. The film premiered on January 25, 2022 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received critical and audience acclaim and won the Audience Award in the US Documentary competition and the Festival Favorite Award. It also won the Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards, won the award for Best Political Documentary at the 7th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards and picked up best documentary at the 76th BAFTA awards ceremony.
