Below is our translation of the anonymous comment posted at forum.msk.ru in response to Vladimir Filin's last article on the re-opening of the criminal investigation of the Russian furniture chains "Three Whales" and "Grand," thought to related to the sudden resignation of the Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov.  Forum.msk.ru belongs to a group of former officers and agents of the Soviet military intelligence (GRU) whose leader is said to be Ret. Leutenant-Colonel Vladimir Ilyich Filin.  The group's business face is the "consulting" agency Far West, LLC (formerly Far West, Ltd).  It controls a number of periodicals, including the "nationalist" weekly Zavtra (chief editor Alexander Prokhanov) and the Moscow Institute for Globalization Studies whose director is the prominent Russian leftist Boris Kagarlitsky.  In the last three years this group, which also includes the former Luthunian defense minister Audrius Butkevicius,  has been alleged in press to be an organized criminal society, involved in narcotrafficking, illegal arms trade, ties with Western and Saudi intelligence, and subversive activities against Russia.  The main sources of these allegations were the former officer of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) Sergei Petrov (aka Serge Rodin) and the officer of Russian military counterintelligence Armen Sarkisian who in the spring of 2005 provided over fifty pages of information on the activities and the background of the group's leaders to the investigative group burtsev.ru.  Petrov was killed in South Africa in January 2004.  Sarkisian was killed and his counterintelligence unit dissolved in July 2005.  Since then several anonymous author(s) have occasionally used forum.msk.ru to post bits of information on the activities of Filin's group.  The internal evidence of this information  suggests that it may come from some elements in Russian secret services or/and the group's competitors. 

Filin-bird Is Getting Nervous

(The last name Filin also means eagle-owl in Russian, or “el Buho” in Spanish)

 (posted 2006.06.24 )

1. Surikov-Natkhoev was first “outed” for his participation in Armeniagate in 1996. 1   Then for his lobbying the interests of Khloponin and the Norilsk Nickel, Nikitin and the MIG Corporation, Udmurtia and Topol-M in 1998-99. 2   Then, together with Fritz Ermarth, for Russiagate and Basaev’s invasion of Dagestan in 1999. 3   As the result, Surikov had to become “political scientist.”

2. [Viktor] Bout-Aminov, [Richard] Chichakli, and Oleg Orlov were “outed” in Angola and later in the rest of Africa in 2002-2005. 4   Then Orlov was “outed” in the X-55 affair, China and Iran in the beginning of 2005. 5   As the result, Orlov is in the Ukrainian jail, Chichakli  hides somewhere in the Emirates, and Bout-Aminov keeps a low profile and shuttles between Moscow suburbs and Minsk.  As to Bout’s and Chichakli’s friend Mr. Taylor, he has been apprehended by the Hague Tribunal. 6 

3.  Filin-“El Buho,” Likhvintsev, Kosman, Davidovich-“Felix,” Lunev, Saidov-Mekhmet and the brothers Suleimenov 7  – all had been “outed” by Fomenko, Kolesnikov, and Plotnikov 8  through their subordinates, Ashot and other Kasyanov’s and the Sarkisians’ men. 9   This happened between the fall of 2003 and January 2004, during the fight for the Department of Fishery and the MIG Corporation.  Sechin and Ustinov had failed to protect Surikov and Filin, because the last ones failed to disassociate themselves from YUKOS soon enough. 10   Next, in Belgrad Filin’s partner Lukovic-“Legia” was put in prison. 11 

Then Americans joined the efforts to expose this group. They were Goss' and Foggo's men, helped by Turchinov and Kozhemiakin before Yushchenko fired them. 12 As the result, the “Swiss-Brazilian” Filin and the “Turko-Arab” Saidov had to become “well-known political scientists” and legal businesmen, trading in food, lumber, Persian rugs, and speculating in world stock exchanges. 13 

Together with Butkevichius and Surikov, they took to court the Vilnus magazine “Ekstra.” 14 Besides, Saidov suddenly became business partner of Kadyrov-junior. 15 Kosman is back in France, where he now “consults” DGSE.  16 Davidovich is keeping low some place in South America: either in San Paulo, or Manaus, Bogota or Guayaquil.

In GUR Likhvintsev and Kosyakov monitor [the activities of] Turchinov, Kozhemiakin, and criminal investigations of arms smuggling. Lunev left Holland, made peace with Lukashenko and serves in the counter-terrorist department of his KGB.  17 Only the Suleimenovs continue with the old business: Istambul, the Crimea, Uzbekistan, Dubai, etc.

 What will be particularly amusing about this is Mossad saving Filin and Davidovich—the acting partners of the Colombian FARC, nicknamed “El Buho” and “Felix,” in trafficking cocaine to Russia through St Petersburg. 22 Even more savoury will look Mossad and the Indians saving al-Zavahiri's student, Ruslan Saidov--the propagandist of Jihad and the seller of arms and missile technology to Iran and Pakistan. That will be a great achievement indeed for the Jews and the Indians. If they succeed... 23 

Addendum to the post above

In 2000-2002 Filin, Saidov, Davidovich, Kosman, Likhvintsev's wife 24  and the rest of the “well-known political scientists” founded in Dubai the consulting firm “Fortex Consulting, Ltd.”and several other companies. Their co-founder was the Bulgarian firm “Arsenal,” some sister companies of Polish firm “Bumar”and several firms from Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Jordan, known as producers of Kalashnikov machine guns AK-47 and AKM. Another co-founder of these companies was Oleg Orlov. Filin and Davidovich, under different names in their, respectively, Brazilian and German passports, 25  became co-founders of three Brazilian firms, which have been participating in the manufacturing the light attack bomber A-29 “Super Tucano”and some other airspace products. Saidov and brothers Suleimenov control companies in Hong Kong and Dubai that have contracts with Chinese, Pakistani, and Iranian producers of torpedos, missiles and other weapons... Why does Kurginyan defend them is absolutely clear. Kurginyan is connected to Israel. That's 100 percent. Israel has long been stealing our technology. Kurginyan has connections with India and China, who also steal our technology.

Примечания

1  Anton Surikov's Cherkess ancestral name is Mansur Natkhoev. According to Armen Sarkisian, the Natkho clan has prominent positions in Turkish secret services and Surikov's third cousin is a General of Turkish army. Source: “Razgovory s Armenom” <http://left.ru/2006/2/razgovory136.phtml>

The so-called 'ArmeniaGate' scandal of 1996 started with the revelations of illegal transfer of Russian arsenals to Armenia that included scores of top-of-the-line battle tanks and Scud missile systems.

2  References to several episodes of political corruption. Alexander Khloponin, oligarch, presently the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia, Russia. Was chairman of the board of the Norilsk Nickel company. Udmurtia is autonomous republic that has a heavy concentration of military-industrial production, including the production of the advanced ICBM Topol-M. The Filin-Surikov group appears to belong to the clan of Yurii Masliukov, former chairman of the Soviet Gosplan and the the leading figure of Russian military-industrial complex. Presently, Masliukov is a State Duma deputy from Udmurtia.

3  Fritz Ermarth, former high-ranking CIA officer, presently at Nixon Foundation. Allegedly, business partner of Filin's group, long time acquaintance of Surikov. For an in-depth account of Ermarth-Surikov relations, see Vadim Stolz. “Narodnyi referendum po ukazke TsRU?” Left.ru, 15 (2005) <http://left.ru/2005/15/referendum132.phtml> Also: Peter Dale Scott. “The Global Drug Meta-Group: Drugs, Managed Violence, and the Russian 9/.” Lobster. The Journal of Parapolitics. 10/29/05 <http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/articles/global-drug.htm>. Professor Scott's article provides a detailed description of Surikov's alleged involvement in Basaev's invasion of Dagestan in 1999.

4  Oleg Orlov, or “Dr. Oleg,” according to the UN expert panel on Sierra-Leone (UNSC), was Viktor Bout's accomplice. See <http://www.niza.nl/uk/campaigns/diamonds/docs/sierra_leone/2-6.htm>

5  On Orlov's and Filin's group alleged involvement in smuggling Ukrainian cruise missiles Kh-55 to Iran and China, see “New Information on the Involvement of Far West, Ltd in Illegal Arms Smuggling.” By burtsev.ru <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/x-55en.phtml>

6  Former president of Liberia Charles Taylor was handed over to the Hague Tribunal in June 2006. For a good bank of information on Bout and Chichakli, see The Viktor Bout File at <http://www.ruudleeuw.com/vbout00.htm>

7  All members of Filin's organization. For information on these personalities in English, see: the abovementioned Peter Dale Scott's essayand the following materials, translated by burtsev.ru: “Yasenev's Memo” <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/yasenev_en.phtml>, Sergei Petrov's Interview: Revelations of the Fugitive Kremlin Financier <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/petrov_en.phtml> , “Conversations with Armen” (“On Alfonso Davidovich”- excerpts in English) <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/armen_excerpts.phtml> , “Far West, Ltd. Leaves Europe Under the Threat of Criminal Persecution. Renamed Far West, LLC” <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/filin.phtml>, “"Consulting" Agency Far West, LLC Paid $3 Million Bribe to Ukrainian Official For Illegal Arms Deals with Syria and Iran” <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/lysenko.phtml> , as well as our footnotes to the transcripts of alleged conversations between the members of Filin's organization, entitled for short “Bristol” < http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/bristol_en.phtml> and “Hilton” <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/hilton_en.phtml>.

8  Generals Segei Fomenko, Yevgeny Kolesnikov, and Alexander Plotnikov, all of Federal Security Service, were fired in May 2006. See “Heads Roll in New Drive Against State Corruption,” By By Carl Schreckand Valeria Korchagina. The St Petersburg Times, May 16, 2006 <http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17572>

9  Ashot – most likely Ashot Egiazarian, a shadowy financier connected to Kasyanov's clan. Brothers Sarkisian (not to confuse with Armen Sarkisian, counterintelligence officer, killed in July 2005): Arkady Sarkisian, Senator from Khakassia, was dismissed by Putin's order in May 2006. Represents the interests of the Deripaska oligarchic clan. We were not able to establish the identity of his brother.

10  Igor Sechin, close associate of Vladimir Putin, deputy head of Presidential Administration, often described as the leader of the 'siloviki' faction in the present regime. Probably the “Igor” repeatedly referred to in the transcripts of the recodings ,allegedly made by Sergei Petrov during his meetings with Filin, Surikov, Likhvintsev, and one “Gennady Nikolaevich, businesman from Geneva .” See, Bristol and Hilton. Vladimir Ustinov, former Prosecutor General, fired by Putin in June 2006. Ustinov and Sechin are relatives by the marriage of their children. Both men may be implicated in the developing investigation of the furniture store chains “Grand” and “Three Whales.”

11  Milorad Ulemek Lukovic (nom de guerre Legia) received a 40-year jail term for the assassination of Ivan Stambolic, a former president of Serbia, in August 2000 and the attempt to assasinate Vuk Draskovic, then a prominent opposition leader and currently Serbia's foreign minister. Lukovic-Legia is also the prime suspect for the assasination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic.

12  Alexander Turchinov, close associate of Yulia Timoshenko, was appointed the head of Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) following the victory of the orange putsch in Kiev. Turchinov resigned in September 2005 after Yushchenko fired Timoshenko as prime minister. According to Vladimir Filin, Turchinov used his position to tie Filin's group with the illegal transfer of Kh-55 cruise missiles to Iran and that Turchinov acted on behalf of the anti-Cheney elements in the CIA leadership. See, Vladimir Filin. Ne smotrite gollivudskie fil'my... V Vashingtone gotoviat 'raketnyi skandal.' Zavtra, №15 (647) 12 April, 2006 <http://zavtra.ru/cgi//veil//data/zavtra/06/647/14.html>
General Andrei Kozhemiaki, head of the SBU Operations Department under Turchinov.

13  Filin and Saidov were not public figures before 2005 when they suddenly emerged as “experts,” “historians,” and “well-known political scientists” at the Moscow Institute for Globalization Studies under the prominent Russian leftist Boris Kagarlitsky.

14  Audrius Butkevichius, former Lithunian defense minister, convicted felon (bribery). Close to the Albert Einstein Institute,associated with the CIA. In the 1990s went through special training in Britain, where he at one time resided together with Surikov and Igor Sutiagin, now in prison for espionage. Close to the Georgian oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, Berezovsky's business partner since the days of the Logovaz. According to his “close friend” Anton Surikov, Butkevichius was one of the organizers of the pro-American putsch in Georgia in 2003 (“revolution of the roses”). According to Butkevichius, he and his “partners” from Far West, LLC--Surikov, Filin, Saidov, and Baranov-have filed a libel case against the Lithunian weekly “Ekstra.” Last winter it published a long investigative piece on the alleged criminal activities of Butkevichius and Filin's organization. See, Audrius Butkevichius. “Rossiiskii komppromat prishol v litovskii sud.” Forum.msk.ru, 2006.03.07 <http://forum.msk.ru/material/kompromat/8630.html>

15  Recently, Saidov has radically changed his public views from being militant Islamist to supporter of the pro-Russian Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. It is likely to be just another ruse to get in favor with the Kremlin at the time when Filin's group faces prosecution for illegal arms trading. The liquidation in quick succession of two leading Chechen separatists, Sadullaev and Basaev, might have been the price Saidov was willing to pay the Kremlin for saving himself and his accomplices. He was said to have been close to both men for many years.

16  The Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) or General Directorate for External Security is France's external intelligence agency.

17  See our dossier on Valerii Lunev at <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/lunev.phtml>

18  Yurii Shekochikhin, a neoliberal State Duma deputy, editor and investigative journalist of Novaya Gazeta, died from some “mysterious” decease in 2003. He wrote several investigative articles on the “Three Whales” affair.

19  Sergei Kurginyan is a well-known “political scientist.” Since the days of perestroika, presides over the Moscow Experimental Creative Center. Widely believed to have special relations with Russian intelligence. Long-time associate of Surikov. Yakov Kedmi, former head of Nativ, an Israeli agency that acted on the territory of the former Soviet Union and provided support to the Israeli intelligence services. See: John Loftus . THE FRAMING OF MICHAEL CHERNEY <http://www.intelligencesummit.org/cherney/>

20  Heydar Aliev, the president of Azerbajan; Vladimir Gusinsky – powerful oligarch and media mogul, General Igor Rodionov – defense minister.

21  Shabtai Shavit (Hebrew: שבתי שביט) was the Director General of the Mossad from 1990 to 1996.

22  On Davidovich and the cocain connection, see our dossier at <http://left.ru/burtsev/ops/armen_excerpts.phtml>. According to Armen Sarkisian, Vladimir Filin's relations with Davidovich go back to the 1980s, when Davidovich was a liason officer between the Cuban General Arnaldo Ochoa and Filin's commander General Yurii Gusev of GRU.

23  On this conference, see: Anton Surikov. V Podmoskovie sporili o mezhdunarodnom terrorizme i planakh Kitaia v Sibiri i na Dal'nem Vostoke. 2006.07.01 <http://forum.msk.ru/material/news/11847.html>

24  Liudmilla Rozkina, one of the founders of Far West, Ltd. in 1998. Owns 10 percent of the company. According to Sergei Petrov, Rozkina is the former secret agent of the Soviet GRU. Has British passport.

25  This is a very important detail. Vladimir Filin, Alfonso Davodovich, and Yakov Kosman appear to reside in the West not under their birth names. Thus, in addition to his Soviet/Russian passport, Filin may carry Ukrainian, British, Serbian, and Brazilian papers in different names. According to Surikov's statement in his public correspondence with the human-rights activist Oleg Grechenevsky, Yakov Kosman uses the German passport in the name of his German grandmother, while Alfonso Davidovich had assumed the name of his Venezuelan wife after moving to East Germany in the 1970s and afterwards exchanged the East German passport in this name to the Federal. See, Surikov's letter to Grechenevsky, dated 18.04.06 at <http://www.anticompromat.ru/surikov/ist27d.html>