{{Short description|Russian official (born 1951)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Family name hatnote|Vasilyevich|Bortnikov|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Alexander Bortnikov | native_name_lang = ru | native_name = {{nobold|Александр Бортников}} | image = File:Alexander Bortnikov (2025-02-27) (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Bortnikov in 2025 | office = [[Director of the Federal Security Service]] | term_start = 12 May 2008 | term_end = | president = [[Vladimir Putin]]<br>[[Dmitry Medvedev]] | deputy = [[Sergei B. Korolev|Sergei Korolev]]<br>[[Sergei Mikhailovich Smirnov|Sergei Smirnov]] (2003-2020) | predecessor = [[Nikolai Patrushev]] | successor = | birth_name = {{nobr|Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|11|15|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Perm, Russia|Molotov]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]] | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] (1975–1991) | education = [[FSB Academy]] | alma_mater = [[Petersburg State Transport University|Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers]] | allegiance = {{hlist|[[Soviet Union]]|[[Russia]]}} | branch = {{hlist|[[KGB]]|[[Federal Counterintelligence Service|FSK]]|[[Federal Security Service|FSB]]}} | branch_label = Service | service_years = 1975–present | service_years_label = Service years | battles = {{unbulleted list|[[Second Chechen War]]|[[Russo-Georgian War]]|[[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War|Syrian Civil War]]|[[Russo-Ukrainian War]]}} | battles_label = Conflicts | rank = [[Army general (Russia)|General of the Army]]
| | children = Denis Bortnikov | spouse = Tatyana Borisovna | signature = Alexander Bortnikov signature.png }}
'''Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov''' ({{langx|ru|Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Бо́ртников}}; born 15 November 1951) is a Russian [[intelligence officer]] who has served as the [[Director of the Federal Security Service|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.<ref name=Harding21122007>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/21/russia.topstories3 |title=Putin, the Kremlin power struggle and the $40bn fortune |work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Harding |first=Luke |author-link=Luke Harding |date=21 December 2007 |access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref>{{efn|Other ''siloviki'' close to Bortnikov include [[Igor Sechin]], [[Nikolai Patrushev]], and [[Viktor Ivanov]].<ref name=Harding21122007/>}} A [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] since 2019, he also holds the rank of [[Army general (Russia)|General of the Army]], the second highest grade in use in the Russian military.{{Efn|The one higher rank, the five star [[Marshal of the Russian Federation]], has been held only by [[Igor Sergeyev]], who was elevated to the rank in 1997 and died in 2006. The rank has not been used since.|name=}} According to some experts, it is likely Bortnikov played a key role in Putin's decision to [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|invade Ukraine]] in 2022.<ref name="trio">{{cite news |title=A look at the trio who convinced Putin to invade |url=https://news.yahoo.com/look-trio-convinced-putin-invade-084200834.html |work=Yahoo News |date=9 January 2023}}</ref>
==Early life and career== Bortnikov was born in [[Perm, Russia|Molotov]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]] (now Perm, Russia) in 1951. In 1966, he joined [[Komsomol]], the Communist Party's youth wing. He graduated from the [[Petersburg State Transport University|Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers]] in 1973, joining the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] nearly immediately upon graduation. He then worked as a [[Railway engineering|railway engineer]] in [[Gatchina]] for two years before joining the [[KGB|Committee for State Security]] (KGB) in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biographies of the political leaders of the Medvedev Administration |publisher=Barcelona Centre for International Affairs |url=http://www.cidob.org/en/content/download/25724/313718/file/Rusia_BIOGRAFIAS+LIDERES+POLITICOS_ANG.pdf |year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FSB Leadership |url=http://www.fsb.ru/fsb/leadership.htm |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=[[Federal Security Service]]}}</ref> He spent the next 28 years working for the KGB, its interim successor the [[Federal Counterintelligence Service]] (FSK), and ultimately the FSB, based in Leningrad/[[Saint Petersburg]] for the entire period. According to ''[[The Times]]'' of London, Bortnikov and [[Vladimir Putin]] first met while both stationed in Leningrad in the 1970s, however Bortnikov has never elaborated on rumors about their first meeting.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ball |first=Tom |date=7 March 2022 |title=This war will be a total failure, FSB whistleblower says |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/this-war-will-be-a-total-failure-fsb-whistleblower-says-wl2gtdl9m |access-date=}}</ref>
Bortnikov's break came in June 2003, when Sergey Smirnov, chief of the [[Saint Petersburg]] and [[Leningrad Oblast]] FSB, was sent to Moscow to become the principal deputy to the director of the agency amid the [[Three Whales Corruption Scandal]]. Bortnikov was promoted to fill the vacancy. On 24 February 2004 he was moved to Moscow and made chief of the Economic Security Service of the FSB, a deputy director of the agency. [[Sergey Naryshkin]], the current head of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]] (SVR), was transferred from St. Petersburg to Moscow at the same time.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
In February 2007, Russian magazine ''[[The New Times (magazine)|The New Times]]'' wrote about the [[Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko|plan to murder]] defected FSB officer [[Alexander Litvinenko]] with reference to a source in the FSB, alleging "head of the FSB Economic Security Department [[General Lieutenant|general-lieutenant]] Alexander Bortnikov had allegedly been appointed overseer of the operation."<ref>[http://newtimes.ru/5/magazine/2007/issue001/art_0012.xml Кто и зачем убил Литвиненко. (''Who and wherefore killed Litvinenko'')] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529182754/http://newtimes.ru/5/magazine/2007/issue001/art_0012.xml|date=29 May 2008}} ''[[The New Times (Russia)|The New Times]]'' №1 5 February 2007.</ref> [[File:RIAN archive 682935 Council of CIS security agencies and special services chiefs holds meeting.jpg|thumb|Bortnikov with Alexei Kuzyura at a meeting of the CIS security agencies and special services chiefs in 2010]] In May 2007, he was reported to have been implicated in a [[money laundering]] case investigated by the Russian [[Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs|Interior Ministry]] in connection with the murder of the [[Central Bank of Russia|Central Bank]] Deputy Head [[Andrey Kozlov]].<ref>[https://www.newsru.com/world/23may2007/otmyv.html Австрийская полиция может возбудить дело против ключевых чиновников Кремля, утверждает New Times] [[NEWSru.com]] 23 May 2007.</ref><ref>[http://newtimes.ru/5/magazine/2007/issue015/art_0023.xml Officials are taking money away to the West] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517223158/http://newtimes.ru/5/magazine/2007/issue015/art_0023.xml|date=17 May 2008}} by [[Natalia Morar]], ''[[The New Times (Russia)|The New Times]]'' № 15, 21 May 2007 [http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/06/raiffeisens_russia_scandal_par.htm English translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317012619/http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/06/raiffeisens_russia_scandal_par.htm|date=17 March 2008}}</ref>
==Director of the FSB== [[File:Vladimir Putin with military people (2019-04-11) 09.jpg|thumb|Putin with Bortnikov, Shoigu, [[Viktor Zolotov]], [[Sergey Naryshkin]] and other senior Kremlin officials on 11 April 2019]] On 12 May 2008, Bortnikov was appointed [[Director of the Federal Security Service|Director of the FSB]] by president [[Dmitry Medvedev]].<ref>[http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/362675.htm FSB Shuffle Seen Helping Medvedev] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517024726/http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/362675.htm|date=17 May 2008}} ''[[The Moscow Times]]'' 13 May 2008.</ref> His tenure as FSB director has seen the agency return to the "punishing sword" once ascribed to the Cheka.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kovacevic |first=Filip |date=21 February 2022 |title=Meet Putin's Top Enabler, FSB Boss Alexander Bortnikov |url=https://www.spytalk.co/p/meet-putins-top-enabler-fsb-boss |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=Spytalk}}</ref>
Bortnikov is widely seen as a [[War hawk|hawk]] and a willing participant in the Russian government's political repression at home and subversion abroad, however, compared to his peers, Bortnikov has a reputation as one of the more individually honest figures. One former FSB officer claimed Bortnikov is "uncomfortable with the condition of the agency, the blatant corruption, the indiscipline, the mercenaryism. But he doesn't know what to do about it, and thinks it's not as important as doing the [political] job'."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Galeotti |first=Mark |date=16 March 2021 |title=Korolev's coronation and the rise of the ruthless in the FSB |url=https://raamoprusland.nl/dossiers/kremlin/1821-korolev-s-coronation-and-the-rise-of-the-ruthless-in-the-fsb |access-date=23 May 2022 |website=Raam op Rusland |language=nl-nl}}</ref>
In a December 2017 open letter published by ''[[Kommersant]]'', more than 30 Russian academics criticized Bortnikov for attempting to legitimize the Stalinist [[Great Purge]] in an interview he gave to ''[[Rossiiskaya Gazeta]]'' on the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the [[Cheka]], in which Bortnikov said the archives showed "a significant part" of the criminal cases of that period "had an objective side to them."<ref>[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/24/world/russian-academics-slam-fsb-security-chief-comments-stalins-purges/#.WnCZF7jpXkc Russian academics slam FSB security chief for comments on Stalin’s purges] ''[[The Japan Times]]'' 24 December 2017.</ref> [[Nikita Petrov]], a historian who studies the Soviet security services for [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]], condemned Bortnikov's claims as [[legal nihilism]] in an interview with ''[[Novaya Gazeta]]''.<ref name="NKJ201801">{{Cite journal |author = Елена Рачева |editor = |format = |url = https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/12/30/75069-arhaika-i-pravovoy-nigilizm |title = «Попытка создать красивую историю госбезопасности провалилась»] |type = |orig-year = | agency = |edition = [[Новая газета]] |location = |date = 2018 |year = 2018 |publisher = |at = |volume = |issue = |number = 1|pages = 12—13 |page = |series = |isbn = |issn = |doi = |bibcode = |arxiv = |pmid = |ref = |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180114021036/https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/12/30/75069-arhaika-i-pravovoy-nigilizm |archive-date = 2018-01-14 |language = |quote = }}</ref>
Bortnikov and his son Denis are members of the [[Navalny 35]], a list of Russian human rights abusers compiled by [[Alexei Navalny]], both have been subsequently sanctioned by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand.
In March 2021, a law was enacted to allow presidential appointees like Bortnikov (who turned 70 in 2022) to serve past statutory retirement age.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 March 2021 |title=Путин подписал закон о снятии возрастных ограничений для назначенных им чиновников |trans-title=Putin signed the law on the removal of age restrictions for officials appointed by him |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/757627 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=[[Interfax]] |language=ru}}</ref>
=== Russian invasion of Ukraine === Sources say Putin's decision to [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|invade Ukraine]] in February 2022 was influenced by a small group of war hawks around him, including [[Nikolai Patrushev]], [[Yury Kovalchuk]] and Alexander Bortnikov. Bortnikov's FSB convinced Putin that most Ukrainians would welcome Russian troops as liberators.<ref name="trio"/> Konstantine Skorkin, a Russia Expert at the Carnegie Center, told New Voice of Ukraine in an interview that Bortnikov and Patrushev were formed by the [[Cold War]] between the United States and the Soviet Union and "believe that a [[Polarity (international relations)|bloc confrontation]] with the West is a reasonable and correct world order. And in order to return to a predictable and manageable confrontation, it is necessary to divide the [[Sphere of influence|zones of influence]] through war, even with the risk of a clash with NATO. According to Patrushev and Bortnikov, Ukraine should be in the Russian zone of influence".<ref name="trio"/>
On 20 March 2022, the [[Security Service of Ukraine]] (SBU) alleged that Bortnikov was a favorite to replace Vladimir Putin among a group of Russian elites plotting to assassinate Putin in a bid to stabilize the economy and reestablish ties with the West following sanctions imposed on Russia for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kika |first=Thomas |date=20 March 2022 |title=Russia's elite want Putin out, successor in mind: Ukraine intel chief |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russias-elite-want-putin-out-successor-mind-ukraine-intel-chief-1689830 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[Newsweek]] |language=en}}</ref>
On 25 March 2022, ''[[The Moscow Times]]'' noted that Bortnikov had disappeared from public view since around 11 March 2022, along with other senior siloviki including [[Sergey Shoigu]], [[Igor Kostyukov]] and [[Viktor Zolotov]]. In response state TV programs subsequently broadcast a purported 24 March security council meeting including brief appearances by many of the missing men, including Bortnikov, but it appeared to simply be an edited version of the earlier 11 March security council meeting.<ref>{{cite news |language=ru |title=Not only Shoigu disappeared from public view, but other key security officials did too – Zolotov, Bortnikov and Kostyukov |trans-title=Из публичного пространства пропал не только Шойгу, но и другие ключевые силовики – Золотов, Бортников и Костюков| date=25 March 2022 |newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]]| url=https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2022/03/25/iz-publichnogo-prostranstva-rossii-propali-pochti-vse-osnovnie-siloviki-a18986 |access-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326145142/https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2022/03/25/iz-publichnogo-prostranstva-rossii-propali-pochti-vse-osnovnie-siloviki-a18986 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Shortly after the [[2023 Wagner Group mutiny]], Belarus president [[Alexander Lukashenko|Lukashenko]] praised Bortnikov (together with [[Yunus-bek Yevkurov]]) for mediating the end of the rebellion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://president.gov.by/en/events/vruchenie-generalskih-pogon-vysshemu-oficerskomu-sostavu-1687950570 |title=Aleksandr Lukashenko presents shoulder straps to high-ranking officers |website=Official Internet Portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus}}</ref>
In August 2024, Bortnikov was made head of the "counterterrorism operation" in [[Kursk Oblast|Kursk]], [[Belgorod Oblast|Belgorod]], and [[Bryansk Oblast|Bryansk]] oblasts amidst the [[August 2024 Kursk Oblast incursion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 10, 2024 |last1=Harward |first1=Christina |last2=Gasparyan |first2=Davit |last3=Mappes |first3=Grace |last4=Evans |first4=Angelica |last5=Barros |first5=George |last6=Stepanenko |first6=Kateryna |work=Institute for the Study of War |date=10 August 2024 |access-date=10 August 2024 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-10-2024}}</ref> Russia's state borders are controlled by the [[FSB Border Service of Russia|FSB Border Service]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weiss |first1=Michael |title=How Ukraine Caught Putin's Forces Off Guard in Kursk — And Why |url=https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/how-ukraine-caught-putins-forces-off-guard-in-kursk-and-why/ |work=New Lines Magazine |date=14 August 2024}}</ref> and [[Conscription in Russia|conscripts]] from the FSB Border Service unsuccessfully defended the [[Russia–Ukraine border]] in the Kursk Oblast.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Ukraine advances in Kursk, families of north Russian conscripts cry mercy |url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2024/08/ukraine-advances-kursk-families-north-russian-conscripts-cry-mercy |work=The Barents Observer |date=15 August 2024}}</ref> Bortnikov called the Ukrainian offensive "a terrorist attack" and accused Ukraine of attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure "with the support of the collective West."<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian Federal Security Service chief terms Ukraine's offensive in Kursk a 'terrorist attack' |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/russian-federal-security-service-chief-terms-ukraines-offensive-in-kursk-a-terrorist-attack/3302590 |work=[[Anadolu Agency]] |date=13 August 2024}}</ref>
=== Criticism === In March 2024, four Tajik [[Islamic State – Khorasan Province|ISIS–K]] gunmen launched an [[Crocus City Hall attack|attack on a concert hall]] in [[Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast|Krasnogorsk]], Russia, with rifles and incendiaries.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/us/politics/isis-k-moscow-attack.html |title=What We Know About ISIS-K, the Group That Claimed Responsibility for the Moscow Attack |first=Eric |last=Schmitt |author-link=Eric Schmitt |date=22 March 2024 |access-date=23 March 2024 |newspaper=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> The attack, claimed by ISIS–K, killed 144 and injured 551 and marked the deadliest attack on Russian soil since the [[Beslan school siege]] in 2004. Putin and the FSB suggested that [[Ukraine]] was involved in the attack, without offering evidence.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 March 2024 |title=Russia's Putin says 'radical Islamists' behind Moscow concert hall attack |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/25/russias-putin-says-radical-islamists-behind-moscow-concert-hall-attack |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326023653/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/25/russias-putin-says-radical-islamists-behind-moscow-concert-hall-attack |archive-date=26 March 2024 |access-date=26 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> Bortnikov said that "radical Islamists" prepared the attack with help from Ukrainian and Western "special services".<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia blames Ukraine, the West over Moscow concert hall attack |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240326-russia-blames-ukraine-the-west-over-moscow-concert-hall-attack |access-date=26 March 2024 |work=France 24 |date=26 March 2024 |archive-date=26 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326202739/https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240326-russia-blames-ukraine-the-west-over-moscow-concert-hall-attack |url-status=live}}</ref>
Navalny associate [[Ivan Zhdanov]] criticized Russian security services for their "catastrophic incompetence" and the FSB for being "busy with everything except its direct responsibilities – killing their political opponents, spying on citizens and [[Russian 2022 war censorship laws|prosecuting people who are against the war]]." Another associate, [[Leonid Volkov (politician)|Leonid Volkov]], said that the FSB "can't do the only job it really should be doing: preventing a real, nightmarish terrorist attack."<ref>{{cite news |last=Cordell |first=Jake |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=24 March 2024 |title=Russian Opposition Blasts Putin's Broken Security Promises After Moscow Attack |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/24/russian-opposition-blasts-putins-broken-security-promises-after-moscow-attack-a84605 |access-date=25 March 2024 |publisher=[[The Moscow Times]] |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324205839/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/24/russian-opposition-blasts-putins-broken-security-promises-after-moscow-attack-a84605 |url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Diplomatic role === [[File:Celebrating Victory Day and the 70th anniversary of Sevastopol’s liberation (2493-10).jpg|thumb|Bortnikov with Vladimir Putin and [[Sergei Shoigu]]]] [[File:A Russian delegation led by the Director of the Federal Security Service, Russia, Mr. Alexander Bortnikov calling on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi.jpg|thumb|Bortnikov with Indian Interior Minister [[Rajnath Singh]] in New Delhi, India on 24 March 2017]]
In February 2015, at the invitation of the United States, Bortnikov led a Russian delegation to a [[Washington, D.C.]] summit on countering [[violent extremism]]. His flight to the United States debuted a one-of-a-kind FSB operated Tupolev [[Tu-214PU]] airborne command post.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Tadtaev |first1=Georgy |last2=Lindell |first2=Dada |date=18 August 2020 |title=В Минск из Москвы прилетел лайнер ФСБ |trans-title=FSB liner arrived in Minsk from Moscow |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/18/08/2020/5f3c1cc89a7947fcb9018fc5 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[RosBusinessConsulting]] |language=ru}}</ref>
From 27 to 28 January 2018, Bortnikov again visited the United States on a highly unusual trip together with the head of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]] (SVR) [[Sergey Naryshkin]], and the head of [[GRU (Russian Federation)|military intelligence of the Russian Forces]] (GRU), [[Igor Korobov]]. The three met in Washington with CIA director [[Mike Pompeo]], and according to press releases from the CIA, reportedly discussed the threat posed by [[Islamic State]] fighters returning from Syria to Russia and [[Central Asia]] following interventions in the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian Civil War]] by a [[American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war|U.S.-led coalition]] and [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war|separately by Russia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Goryashko |first1=Sergey |last2=Corerra |first2=Gordon |date=1 February 2018 |title=Директор ЦРУ раскрыл тему тайной встречи с главами российских разведок |trans-title=Director of the CIA revealed the topic of a secret meeting with the heads of Russian intelligence |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-42906519 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[BBC News Russian]] |language=ru}}</ref> Bortnikov called the meetings "very useful."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Kovacevic |first=Filip |date=21 February 2022 |title=Meet Putin's Top Enabler, FSB Boss Alexander Bortnikov |url=https://www.spytalk.co/p/meet-putins-top-enabler-fsb-boss |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=SpyTalk}}</ref>
As chairman of the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee and Chairman of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]], Bortnikov has often been tapped as an emissary to former Soviet states during times of heightened tension. On 21 May 2019, he appeared in [[Dushanbe]] to meet with leaders of [[Tajikistan]] about the increasing presence of [[Islamic State]] fighters in neighboring northern [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 May 2019 |title=Russia's Siloviki Head to Tajikistan, Moscow's Important Ally |url=https://warsawinstitute.org/russias-siloviki-head-tajikistan-moscows-important-ally/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=[[Warsaw Institute]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> During the [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war|2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War]], he was dispatched to both [[Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan]], and led a trilateral meeting headlined by intelligence chiefs from both belligerents.<ref name=":2" /> In December 2021, he was sent to [[Uzbekistan]] to meet with Uzbek president [[Shavkat Mirziyoyev]].<ref name=":2" />
== Personal life and family == [[File:Opening FSB building, Kazan (2010-09-14) 09.jpg|thumb|Bortnikov has been described as [[Affect display|affectively]] stiff and uncharismatic.<ref name=":2" />]] Bortnikov is married to Tatyana Bortnikova ([[Birth name|née]] Borisovna).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Бортников Александр Васильевич |url=https://tadviser.com/index.php/Person:Bortnikova_Tatyana_Borisovna |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=TAdviser.ru}}</ref> Together they have one son, {{III|Denis Aleksandrovich Bortnikov|qid=Q104902312}} (born 19 November 1974), who is deputy director of [[VTB Bank]], the second largest financial institution in Russia. Bortnikov's brother, Mikhail Vasilyevich Bortnikov, born in 1953, is a retired colonel, his sister Olga Vasilievna Bortnikova, born in 1958, is a pensioner.
From November 2004 to May 2008, Bortnikov was a member of the board of directors of [[Sovcomflot]] (SCF), Russia's largest shipping company and [[hydrocarbon]] transporter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bortnikov, Alexander Vasilievich |url=https://tass.ru/encyclopedia/person/bortnikov-aleksandr-vasilevich |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=[[TASS]]}}</ref>
=== Corruption allegations === On 27 July 2015, ''[[Novaya Gazeta]]'' released an investigative report which claimed Bortnikov, as well as a number of other senior FSB officials, were involved in a land settlement in Moscow's [[Odintsovsky District|Odintsov district]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kanev |first=Sergei |author-link=Sergei Kanev |date=6 April 2016 |title=Лубянские на Рублевке − Расследования |trans-title=Lubyansky on Rublyovka: How the leadership of the FSB of Russia earned millions of dollars on deals with the land of the former departmental kindergarten |url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/69336.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406025506/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/69336.html |archive-date=6 April 2016 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[Novaya Gazeta]]}}</ref> According to the newspaper, the group arranged the sale of {{Convert|4.8|ha|acre}} of land on the site of a public kindergarten along the [[Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway]] (along which elite estates including Vladimir Putin's primary residency at [[Novo-Ogaryovo]] lie). In exchange for illegally privatizing the public land, each allegedly received around $2.5 million.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=27 July 2015 |title=Кремль прокомментировал публикацию о земельных сделках руководителей ФСБ :: Политика :: РБК |trans-title=The Kremlin commented on the publication on land deals of the leaders of the FSB |url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/55b5ff039a79479603801f7e |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123145955/https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/55b5ff039a79479603801f7e |archive-date=23 November 2018 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[RosBusinessConsulting]]}}</ref> According to the newspaper, the published investigations are one of the reasons the FSB has offered to shut down public access to [[Rosreestr]]'s registry of property ownership. Kremlin spokesman [[Dmitry Peskov]] said he was unaware of any investigation into wrongdoing.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 July 2015 |title=СМИ узнали о сделке начальства ФСБ по продаже элитной земли в Подмосковье :: Политика :: РБК |trans-title=The media learned about the deal of the FSB authorities for the sale of elite land in the suburbs |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/27/07/2015/55b5f30e9a79478b72497356 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023220740/https://www.rbc.ru/politics/27/07/2015/55b5f30e9a79478b72497356 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[RosBusinessConsulting]]}}</ref>
In 2018, [[Roskomnadzor]] shut down the investigative reporting website Russiangate.com hours after the site published a report alleging that Bortnikov owned a secret land plot and luxury house in [[Sestroretsk]], 30 kilometers northwest of Saint Petersburg, worth up to 300 million rubles ($5.3 million), on which he had not been paying taxes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 January 2018 |title=Russian Site Blocked After Report on FSB Chief's Alleged Secret Real Estate |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/01/24/russian-site-blocked-after-report-on-fsb-chiefs-alleged-secret-real-estate-a60264 |access-date=23 May 2022 |website=[[The Moscow Times]] |language=en}}</ref>
=== Sanctions === Bortnikov was officially sanctioned by the [[government of the United Kingdom]] in 2014 in relation to the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]]. Trust services sanctions were added in March 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Consolidated list of financial sanctions targets in the UK |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1150217/Russia.pdf |access-date=16 April 2023}}</ref> He was additionally sanctioned with an asset freeze and travel ban for his responsibility for the preparation and use of chemical weapons (namely a [[novichok]]) in the attempted assassination of [[Alexei Navalny]] in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk/designations/CHW0014/Individual|title=FCDO - UK Sanctions List Search - GOV.UK|website=search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk}}</ref> His son Denis was sanctioned on 24 February 2022 as director or equivalent at a Russian government-affiliated entity, namely [[VTB Bank]]. Trust services sanctions were imposed in March 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk/designations/RUS0243/Individual|title=FCDO - UK Sanctions List Search - GOV.UK|website=search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk}}</ref>
On 22 February 2022, in response to Russia recognizing the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine during the [[prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the United States imposed sanctions on several Russian individuals, including Bortnikov and his son, Denis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Explainer-How Western sanctions will target Russia |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSL1N2UX358?il=0 |access-date=22 February 2022 |work=Reuters |date=22 February 2022 |last1=Strohecker |first1=Karin}}</ref>
==Honors and awards== {{Multiple image | image1 = Hero of the Russian Federation medal.png | image2 = Order of St. George.svg | caption2 = [[Order of Saint George (Russia)|Order of St. George]] | caption1 = [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] | total_width = | width1 = 63 | width2 = 70 }} * [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] (awarded by "closed decree" in 2019 or 2020)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smirnov |first=Vitaly |title=Бортников Александр Васильевич |url=https://warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=31300 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=warheroes.ru}}</ref> * [[Order of Saint George (Russia)|Order of St. George]] (4th degree) * [[Order of Alexander Nevsky]] * [[Order of Merit for the Fatherland]], full cavalier of the order (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th class awards) * [[Order of Military Merit (Russia)|Order of Military Merit]] * [[Order of Honour (Russia)|Order of Honor]] * [[Order of Friendship]] * [[Honored Officer of the Security Agencies (Russia)|Honored Officer of the Security Agencies]] * Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (2006)
== Notes == {{Commons}} {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.anticompromat.org/bortnikov/bortnikbio.html His page in electronic database "anticompromat.ru" (Russian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523103954/http://www.anticompromat.org/bortnikov/bortnikbio.html |date=23 May 2013}} and [http://www.anticompromat.org//bortnikov/index.html his index page], by [[Vladimir Pribylovsky]]
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | title = Chief of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast [[Federal Security Service|FSB]] Directorate | years = June 2003 – March 2004 | before = [[Sergei Mikhailovich Smirnov|Sergei Smirnov]] | after = [[Yury Ignashchenkov]] | }} {{succession box | title = Head of the Economic Security Service of [[Federal Security Service|FSB]] | years = 24 February 2004 – 12 May 2008 | before = [[Yury Zaostrovtsev]] | after = [[Yuri Yakovlev (military officer)|Yuri V. Yakovlev]] | }} {{s-bef | before = [[Nikolay Patrushev]] }} {{s-ttl | title = Director of the [[Federal Security Service|FSB]] | years = 12 May 2008 – present }} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}} {{Army Generals (Russia)}}{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bortnikov, Alexander}} [[Category:1951 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Perm, Russia]] [[Category:Directors of the Federal Security Service]] [[Category:Generals of the army (Russia)]] [[Category:Heroes of the Russian Federation]] [[Category:Russian politicians]] [[Category:KGB officers]] [[Category:Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia)]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)]] [[Category:Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions]] [[Category:Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions]] [[Category:Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions]] [[Category:Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List]] [[Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members]]