The changes would touch the FSB's core services and their command, including Bortnikov himself, one of the outlet's sources said. According to the sources, Bortnikov has long been "asking to retire" and spends much of his time at sanatoriums. First deputy director Sergei Korolev increasingly performs part of his duties.
Korolev is named by the outlet's sources as one of the main contenders for the post of service chief. Other possible candidates include Ivan Tkachev, head of the Military Counterintelligence Department, who is considered a protégé of Rosneft chief Igor Sechin, and Vladislav Menshchikov, head of the counterintelligence service.
Separately, the sources noted that Sergei Alpatov, head of the FSB's Economic Security Service, left his post for health reasons. No new head of the service has been appointed yet — according to the sources, this is due to the wait for the coming changes.
Alpatov took over the Economic Security Service in 2021 after his former superior, Sergei Korolev, became first deputy director of the FSB. Before that, Alpatov headed the "M" directorate, which oversees the police, Rosgvardia, the Justice Ministry and other agencies. In that post he took part in several high-profile investigations — in particular, the directorate handled the case of police colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, who was found to have almost 9 billion rubles in cash, as well as investigations against senior Investigative Committee officers who received more than $1 million from crime boss Shakro Molodoy.
The Economic Security Service is considered one of the FSB's key services. Its structure includes the "K" directorate, responsible for the credit and financial sector, the presidential administration and the government, as well as the "P" directorate, which oversees industry, including oil and gas and military-industrial corporations. Bortnikov himself headed the service before his appointment as FSB director in 2008, and Korolev ran it until 2021, after which he became first deputy director.
In 2021, iStories examined Korolev's biography and the materials of several high-profile criminal cases in which his name was mentioned. The journalists established Korolev's ties to several well-known figures of the criminal world accused of contract killings and kidnappings.