''Lubyanka Criminal Group'' (russian: Лубянская преступная группировка; also translated as ''The Gang from Lubyanka'') is a book by Alexander Litvinenko about the alleged transformation of the Russian Security Services into a criminal and terrorist organization.The FSB as a criminal grouping , Andrei Antonov,
Prima News
Prima (also: The Moscow Human Rights News Agency) was a news agency in Moscow, Russia which distributed human rights-related news in both English and Russian. It had been in form of newspaper in Moscow since 1987 but was founded as an agency in Feb ...
, 2002-09-30Lubyanka is known as KGB headquarters. In the book, the authors claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin and other FSB officers have been involved in organized crime, including covering up
drug traffic
The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, except under license, ...
from Afghanistan.
The book was withdrawn from sales in Russia by request from the FSB according to The Moscow Human Rights News Agency
Prima News
Prima (also: The Moscow Human Rights News Agency) was a news agency in Moscow, Russia which distributed human rights-related news in both English and Russian. It had been in form of newspaper in Moscow since 1987 but was founded as an agency in Feb ...
. In response, the authors allowed the book's publication and distribution by anyone in Russia free of charge. Alexander Goldfarb, the executive director of
International Foundation for Civil Liberties The International Foundation for Civil Liberties () is a non-profit organization established by the Russian-British oligarch Boris Berezovsky in November 2000.Anatoly Kulikov promised to bring a libel suit against the book but did not follow it through.
Reception
Viktor Suvorov, author of '' Icebreaker'' said that the book is "Terrifying, gripping and instructive". According to Suvorov:
Former Soviet prisoner of conscienceVladimir Bukovsky stated, "Litvinenko eloquently depicts that what was long considered to be the 'shield and sword' of the communist party is in reality a huge criminal mechanism".
As Andrei Antonov writes, "the way Litvinenko sees it, the FSB is clearly a criminal and even terrorist organization. And not only because of apartment explosions or alleged conspiracy against
Berezovsky Berezovsky or Berezowski ( ) is a surname of Slavic languages, Slavic-language origin.
Family nest of Berezovsky (gentry) is Bereziv village (nowadays 4 villages) in Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine.
People
* Antoni Berezowski (1847–1916), Poli ...
. Litvinenko is certain that security services were behind the murder of Galina Starovoitova, a prominent figure in Russia's democracy movement, and the death of Anatoly Sobchak, and many, many other things."
Alan Cowell praised the book as an important source that described the attempted assassination of Boris Berezovsky in Moscow and many other events.Russian Ex-Spy Lived in a World of Deceptions by Alan Cowell, New York Times, December 3, 2006