Oleg Syromolotov

Oleg Syromolotov
Олег Сыромолотов
Syromolotov in 2022
Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service
In office
12 July 2000 – July 2004
PresidentVladimir Putin
Personal details
Born
Oleg Vladimirovich Syromolotov

(1953-05-19) 19 May 1953 (age 71)
Military service
AllegianceRussia
Branch/serviceFederal Security Service (FSB)
Years of service1979–2015
RankGeneral of the Army

Oleg Vladimirovich Syromolotov (Russian: Оле́г Влади́мирович Сыромо́лотов; born 19 May 1953) was Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor of the Soviet-era KGB. He has headed the DKR, the organisation's counterintelligence branch.[1] He was chief of security for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[2]

Syromolotov became major-general in the Russian Army on 18 December 1993.[3] He rose through the ranks of the FSB, eventually becoming Director of Counterintelligence Support for the Transport Department of Economic Security. From 12 July 2000 until July 2004 he was Deputy Director of the Russian FSB - Federal Security Service chief of counterintelligence department.

Syromolotov gave a rare interview on the 80th anniversary of the formation of Russia's first counterintelligence department in May 2002.[4] He said that over the past two years, DKR personnel had caught 14 foreign agents and put some 260 foreign secret services employees under surveillance.[1]

Syromolotov was colonel-general of the Army until early 2007, when he was promoted to general alongside future FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov.[5]

On 28 April 2009 President Dmitry Medvedev issued Presidential Decree 468, which appointed Syromolotov as a member of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation on the Development of Physical Fitness and Sports.[6] He was also appointed by President Putin to head security for the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi, and the XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan. His appointment came as a surprise to observers who expected that a counterterrorism specialist would be selected.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b "Russia 'target' for more foreign spies". BBC News. 6 May 2002.
  2. ^ Weir, Fred (October 7, 2013). "Russia's Sochi Games: Why you may want to leave your laptop at home". The Christian Science Monitor.
  3. ^ Presidential Decree of 18 December 1993 No. 2209
  4. ^ Борисов, Тимофей (2002). "Контрразведка меняется вместе со шпионами". Российской газеты (in Russian).
  5. ^ Soldatov, Andrei; Borogan, Irina (2010). The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB (1st ed.). New York, NY: PublicAffairs. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-61039-055-2.
  6. ^ "Олег Матыцин, Олег Сыромолотов и Алишер Усманов стали членами олимпийского Совета при президенте России". Спортивная политика (in Russian). Allsportinfo.ru. 31 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Security Chief". National Post. 4 January 2014.
  8. ^ Scott, Eli (October 12, 2013). "From Russia With Problems: Olympics 2014". Georgia Political Review.