The Lubyanka Coup: how Arkady Rotenberg recovered from disgrace and succeeded in resigning Sergei Alpatov, head of the FSB’s Economic Security Service

The Lubyanka Coup: how Arkady Rotenberg recovered from disgrace and succeeded in resigning Sergei Alpatov, head of the FSB’s Economic Security Service

A small "palace coup" is effectively underway in Russia. Arkady Rotenberg has not only managed to escape disgrace. Furthermore, Vladimir Putin has initiated a purge of all those who opposed Rotenberg.

The powerful head of the FSB’s Economic Security Service, Sergei Alpatov, has already lost his post, and a similar personnel decision is expected regarding the head of the FSB’s Department T, Nikolai Babakov (he was recently appointed to this position), and several other FSB "top managers" who were appointed under Alpatov’s patronage.

As our project has reported repeatedly, things have been going extremely badly for Rotenberg lately. He faced debt, a lack of budget funding, Putin’s displeasure, and then attacks by the security forces on his inner circle. Rotenberg’s top managers, including Konstantin Makhov, were jailed one after another. A source also links the arrest of Ilya Traber (Antikvar) to the attack on Rotenberg—the two are longtime friends and partners. The FSB’s Economic Security Service, led by Sergei Alpatov, and its departments acted as the attacking force. According to the source, all actions were carried out with Putin’s approval.

However, at one point, the situation took a complete turn. According to our source, the "clan of security guards" managed to convince Putin that everything he was being told about Rotenberg and Traber was false, with the goal of attacking these men and potentially weakening his own position. Judging by the subsequent course of events, he believed it.

Traber, Makhov, and others were released. Rumors began circulating within the Russian FSB that Alpatov was leaving his post, and a battle had begun for the position of head of the 4th Service (SEB). However, it was predicted that he might be transferred to head of the Second Service.

Today, Important Stories reported on Alpatov’s resignation. Our sources confirm this information. "He was fired literally in one day. But he himself realized everything within a week and told his inner circle about it. He’s currently on vacation, from which he won’t return to the FSB," the source said. According to him, Nikolai Babakov, head of the FSB’s Department T, is also under attack. This department was investigating embezzlement during the construction of the runway at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, during which Makhov was arrested.

The fate of various top FSB officials appointed under Alpatov’s protection and linked to the attack on Rotenberg is also up in the air. "The full list of dismissals will be announced in October. By then, many changes are expected within the Russian FSB," the source noted.