Filipp Bobkov

Filipp Denisovich Bobkov (Russian: Фили́пп Дени́сович Бобко́в; 1 December 1925 – 17 June 2019) was a Soviet and Russian KGB functionary, who worked as the chief of the KGB subunit responsible for repressing dissent (Fifth Main Directorate), which was responsible for suppression of internal dissent in the former Soviet Union. He was widely regarded the chief KGB ideologist or "KGB brain".[1]

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Denisovich and the family name is Bobkov.
Filipp Denisovich Bobkov
Bobkov in 2012
Native name
Филипп Денисович Бобков
Nickname(s)KGB's Brain
Born(1925-12-01)1 December 1925
Chervona Kam'yanka, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
(now Ukraine)
Died17 July 2019(2019-07-17) (aged 93)
Moscow, Russia
AllegianceSoviet Union
Service/branchRed Army (until 1945)
NKGB (1945–1946)
MGB (1946–1953)
KGB (1953–1992)
Years of service1942–1992
RankArmy General
Commands heldFifth Main Directorate of the KGB
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsOrder of Lenin Order of Lenin Order of Lenin Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner of Labour Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

Service in the Soviet secret services

Bobkov began his career in the Soviet secret services in 1945, under the guidance of Lavrentiy Beria and then known as the People's Commissariat for State Security, or NKGB. In the power struggles that followed the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Bobkov survived Beria's removal and execution, and later outlasted eleven subsequent chairmen of the Ministry of State Security (MGB) and KGB. During the 1970s and 1980s, he "effectively became the KGB's real chairman, although officially he held the post of first deputy", according to Russian investigative journalist Yevgenia Albats.[2]

Creation of front organizations

Bobkov was very instrumental in creation of KGB-controlled political organizations, such as the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, established in 1983. He also allegedly invented Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, according to Soviet Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev. However, Bobkov denied these allegations, saying that he did not support the creation of a "Zubatov-style pseudo-party under KGB control, which directs interests and sentiments of certain social groups".[3]

Ethnic conflicts

As described in his official biography, Bobkov was personally engaged in resolving ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union. This included incidents such as the Sumgait pogrom, the January Events in Lithuania, the 1989 tribal clashes in Uzbekistan, and the Jeltoqsan. Former Politburo deputy and reformist leader Alexander Yakovlev, however, has claimed that Bobkov did not solve these conflicts, but rather created them in an effort to maintain the power of the KGB by showing its necessity.[4]

Perestroika

According to Bobkov, perestroika had been invented by him and his KGB colleagues: "We in the KGB contributed quite a bit to the process of perestroika because[...]without it the Soviet Union could not move ahead."[5]

Documents discovered by political scientist Robert van Voren in the Stasi archives show that in summer 1989 Bobkov came to Berlin and told Stasi Director Erich Mielke that German reunification was the work of mentally ill persons.[6]

Bobkov allegedly supervised the transfer of Communist Party money to foreign banks prior to the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt.[7][8] In October 1990, Bobkov ordered the creation of commercial firms and banks, which were managed by KGB officers and their "trusted contacts". The project was funded by KGB and Party money, "which made up almost 80% of the amount invested in the new banks, stock exchanges, and businesses in 1990-1991", according to the testimony of Richard Palmer to the United States Congress regarding Soviet infiltration of the Western financial system.[9] Nikolay Kruchina, a high ranking CPSU official who was officially responsible for supervising the Communist Party money, fell to his death from the window of his luxury apartment in Moscow soon after the events.

Post-Soviet Russia

Bobkov officially retired in 1991 and organized a private security service in the Media Most company called SB MOST Group (Russian: СБ „Группы МОСТ“), which included thousands of his former KGB colleagues.[8][10][11][12] The entire archive of 5th KGB Main Directorate was taken to Media-Most.[8][13] This security service allegedly organized an attempted assassination of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in 1994.[12] On 3 July 2000, the FreeLance Bureau (FLB) under its editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov released what was called Russiagate (Russian: "Рашенгейт") or the “Database of SB MOST Group” (Russian: «База данных СБ „Группы МОСТ“») although Sokolov stated that in addition to the MOST Group Security Bureau's database, Sokolov released other files, transcripts, etc from the FSB and other security structures as well.[14][15][16]

His daughter Dasha or Daria Bobkova (Russian: Дарья Бобкова) heads the Spanish branch of Most-Bank (Russian: Мост-Банк - Испанский).[12]

He also worked as a personal security adviser of Russian Parliament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov.[17]

Bobkov died on 17 June 2019.[18]

References
  1. Жирнов, Евгений (Zhirnov, Evgeny) (12 May 2000). Одна жизнь Филиппа Денисовича. One life of Filipp Denisovich (in Russian). Kommersant. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  2. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia - Past, Present, and Future, by Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. 1994. ISBN 0-374-18104-7.
  3. Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev Time of darkness, Moscow, 2003, ISBN 5-85646-097-9, page 574 (Russian: Яковлев А. Сумерки. Москва: Материк 2003 г.). The book provides an official copy of a document providing the initial LDPR funding (3 million rubles) from the CPSU money
  4. Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev Time of darkness, Moscow, 2003, ISBN 5-85646-097-9, page 551 (Russian: Яковлев А. Сумерки. Москва: Материк 2003 г.)
  5. J. Michael Waller Secret Empire: The KGB in Russia Today., Westview Press. Boulder, CO., 1994., ISBN 0-8133-2323-1
  6. Trehub, Hanna (22 February 2013). "Political Madness: Dutch Sovietologist Robert van Voren speaks about Soviet repressive psychiatry and its surviving offshoots". The Ukrainian Week. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  7. Transfer of Communist Party money
  8. Нерсесов, Юрий (23 January 2003). Жертвы иудейской войны. stringer-news.ru website. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. STATEMENT OF RICHARD L. PALMER, PRESIDENT OF CACHET INTERNATIONAL, INC. ON THE INFILTRATION OF THE WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM BY ELEMENTS OF RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1999
  10. Grove, Lloyd (7 April 1995). "Russky business". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  11. Ideologist for all times, by Felix Shemedlovsky, Russian Vedomosti
  12. Григорьев, Андрей (Grigoriev, Andrei) (28 March 2000). Аполитичный Гусинский. Apolitical Gusinsky. (in Russian). «Компания» — деловой еженедельник (Company). Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  13. Ideologist for all times, by Felix Shemedlovsky, Russian Vedomosti, A slightly different version
  14. Нехорошев, Григорий (Nekhoroshev, Grigory) (3 July 2000). "FLB.RU ПОДГОТОВИЛО ГРАНДИОЗНЫЙ СКАНДАЛ. В нем затрагивается более трехсот имен известных людей РФ" [FLB.RU PREPARED A GREAT SCANDAL . It touches on more than three hundred names of famous people of the Russian Federation]. Независимая Газета (Nezavisimaya Gazeta) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 January 2001. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "(Un)Civil Societies Report: July 13, 2000". Radio Free Europe. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 5 March 2021. See section RUSSIAN WEB SITE PUBLISHES EXTENSIVE "RUSSIAGATE" DATABASE...
  16. Челноков, Алексей (Chelnokov, Alexey) [in Russian]; Плужников, Сергей (Pluzhnikov, Sergey); Соколов, Сергей (Sokolov, Sergey) [in Russian] (3 July 2000). ""Рашенгейт"" ["Rashengate"]. Журналистское агентство Free Lance Bureau (FLB) (flb.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 August 2001. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. Personal security adviser of Ruslan Hasbulatov
  18. "Philipp Bobkov, senior KGB officer who helped stamp out dissent in the former Soviet Union – obituary". The Telegraph. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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