# Alexander Bortnikov **Alexander Bortnikov** (born November 15, 1951, Molotov, now Perm) has been director of Russia's [[FSB]] since May 12, 2008, when President Medvedev appointed him to succeed [[Nikolai Patrushev]]. He joined the [[KGB]] in 1975. ## Record As FSB director he also chairs the National Antiterrorism Committee. The U.K. sanctioned him in 2014 and again over the Novichok poisoning of [[Alexei Navalny]]; the U.S. sanctioned him on February 22, 2022. After the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack (see [[Crocus Group]]), he blamed "radical Islamists" acting "with help from Ukrainian and Western special services," despite ISIS-K's claim of responsibility. His agency houses Center 16, the unit behind the energy-sector hacking group known as Energetic Bear or Dragonfly (see [[Russian State Hacking Groups]]). **Current status:** FSB director. ## RWKB angle Bortnikov has run Russia's domestic security service for nearly two decades — the institutional owner of the Navalny operation, FSB cyber units and the state's counterterrorism narratives. ## See Also - [[FSB]] - [[Siloviki]]