Putin tries to end feud in Russian security elite

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped in to iron out feuding in his secret service power base that some observers say could spoil his plans for a trouble-free handover of power, newspapers said on Monday. Viktor Cherkesov, a Putin associate and head of the state anti-drugs service, said there was infighting in the community of ex-secret service officers that form the bedrock of Putin’s team. Cherkesov, an ex-state security agent issued the warning after the Federal Security Service, headed by another Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev, detained several senior officers in the anti-drugs service on charges of corruption and abuse of office.

Putin on Friday signed a decree giving extra powers to Cherkesov by forming an anti-drugs committee similar to an anti-terrorism committee that Patrushev heads, said the Kremlin website. Russian newspapers said the move by Putin — stepping down next year at the end of his second term in the office was aimed at balancing the power of the two rivals.

“The President has put the head of the anti-drugs service and the head of the FSB on the same level,” said Vedomosti, a business daily, adding Putin had “turned away from Patrushev” by creating the new organisation. Since he was elected president in 2000, Putin, a former KGB spy who served in East Germany, has put former colleagues from the secret services in key posts. These so-called “chekisty” have been a key factor in allowing Putin to build a bureaucratic power base and create a loyal team.

Analysts said the infighting bears out that Russia’s elite was breaking ranks and jostling for access to power after Putin steps down next year, that poses a bigger threat to the handover of power. Putin, hugely popular with voters, has said he would endorse one of his team to replace him while opinion polls suggest most people would back that candidate in the 2008 presidential election.