In Russia, A Secretive Force Widens

The Washington Post reports: Russia's intertwined political and business elites are increasingly populated with former intelligence agents who have personally proved themselves to Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Putin has spearheaded the regrouping and strengthening of the country's security services, which had splintered into a host of agencies after the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991. In recent years, the Federal Security Service has emerged as one of Russia's most powerful and secretive forces, with an increasingly international mission. Putin headed the agency in the 1990s.
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