FSB general dismissed following The Insider’s investigation into his lavish lifestyle and unpaid taxes

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An investigation by The Insider has led to the dismissal of Major General Vyacheslav Ryazansky of the FSB’s Department of Military Counterintelligence (DVKR). The report detailed the general’s lavish lifestyle, long-standing debts, and use of a “charitable foundation” to fund departmental parties.

Since 2018, Ryazansky had commanded Military Unit 3600, which is responsible for overseeing Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya). He was even considered to be a likely candidate to ultimately lead the DVKR. However, The Insider found that Ryazansky owes unpaid utility bills and vehicle taxes in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Krai stretching back 20 years. Despite these debts to the state, the general lived in a luxury apartment registered under his wife’s name and cycled through expensive SUVs. He also managed finances for the amateur football team “Patriot,” which is staffed by military counterintelligence officers.

According to sources in the DVKR, Ryazansky repeatedly dodged court summonses, with bailiffs staging multiple ambushes, but to no avail. Following the publication of The Insider’s investigation’s, the FSB’s personnel inspection unit launched an internal probe into the luxury apartment and into Ryazansky’s ties to the foundation “Oplot,” which covered the cost of high-ranking DVKR officers' social events. Ryazansky has since been dismissed and reassigned to the FSB’s reserve officer pool.

His replacement is Major General Gleb Kurbatsky, who previously headed the FSB’s Directorate for Long-Range and Military Transport Aviation (Military Unit 51222). Kurbatsky was born into a family of chemical engineers who worked at a secret laboratory producing chemical weapons in the town of Volsk in Russia’s Saratov Region. After graduating from the FSB Academy, he was appointed deputy department head in the DVKR’s central apparatus.

In 2009, Kurbatsky narrowly avoided criminal prosecution over a security breach involving classified documents. He had left a briefcase containing his FSB ID, passport, classified materials, and 25,000 rubles in cash (around $830 at the time) inside his parked Volkswagen Touareg. When he returned, the window had been smashed and the briefcase was gone. A colonel at the time, Kurbatsky faced a possible prison sentence, but the DVKR’s then-chief Alexander Bezverkhny — who is reportedly linked to the military prosecutor’s office — had the case dismissed.

Interestingly, in 2016, Kurbatsky once again came under scrutiny, this time over unpaid vehicle taxes, landing him in the “Anti-Creditors” database.

The DVKR has faced internal upheaval following the December 2024 assassination of General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiological, chemical, and biological defense troops. In the aftermath, Vladimir Putin dismissed Colonel-General Nikolai Yuryev, who was serving as the DVKR’s head. An FSB source told The Insider that the department is in turmoil as staff await a new chief. Possible purges of Yuryev’s inner circle are also being discussed. Notably, acting DVKR head General Alexander Vasilyev is also listed in the “Anti-Creditors” database, with the tag “Negative.”