''Lubyanka Criminal Group'' (; also translated as ''The Gang from Lubyanka'') is a book by

Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in tackling organized crime, ...

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, 2002-09-30 Lubyanka is known as

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

headquarters. In the book, the authors claim that Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and other FSB officers have been involved in organized crime, including covering up drug traffic from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. The book was withdrawn from sales in Russia by request from the FSB according to The Moscow Human Rights News Agency Prima News. 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 which licensed the book's copyright in Russia, stated, "By banning the books for the first time since the Soviet times, FSB threw down a challenge to the society". Former Interior Minister of Russia Anatoly Kulikov promised to bring a

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

suit against the book but did not follow it through.

Reception

Viktor Suvorov Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun (; ; born 20 April 1947), known by his pseudonym of Viktor Suvorov (), is a former Soviet GRU officer who is the author of non-fiction books about World War II, the GRU and the Soviet Army, as well as fictional books ...

, author of ''

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

'' said that the book is "Terrifying, gripping and instructive". According to Suvorov: Former Soviet

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

Vladimir Bukovsky Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian Human rights activists, human rights activist and writer. From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, he was a prominent figure in the Soviet dissid ...

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. Litvinenko is certain that security services were behind the murder of

Galina Starovoitova Galina Vasilyevna Starovoitova (; 17 May 1946 – 20 November 1998) was a Soviet dissident, Russian politician and ethnographer known for her work to protect ethnic minorities and promote democratic reforms in Russia. She was shot to death in h ...

, a prominent figure in Russia's democracy movement, and the death of

Anatoly Sobchak Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak ( rus, Анатолий Александрович Собчак, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ sɐpˈtɕak; 10 August 1937 – 19 February 2000) was a Russian politician and legal scholar, a co-autho ...

, 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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, December 3, 2006

References

Bibliography

* * {{Alexander Litvinenko Books about the Federal Security Service Politics of Russia Works about organized crime in Russia Alexander Litvinenko Censorship in Russia Books about Vladimir Putin

Reception

See also

References

Bibliography