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In recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a number of important steps that will not only affect Ukraine and Russia, but also the rest of the world. Who did he consult while making that decision? What is the reason for this military action - or the influence of the siloviki group of powerful security chiefs and ministers?
It can be said that Russia is a country whose leaders are very powerful. President Vladimir Putin holds the reins of power in the country, and he himself decides all matters affecting the country.
However, he is in contact with the National Security Council, especially those he has known and trusted for a long time.
There are some well-known security agencies in Russia called siloviki. Vladimir Putin himself began working in such security agencies like the KGB, and even became the Russian Federal Security Service or FSB. The Slovak group has been gaining momentum since Putin came to power.
Five Main Things
Important security decisions are being made in Russia during the Security Council meetings.
The panel includes senior Slovak officials - such as the heads of the FSB and the foreign intelligence service, the interior and foreign ministers, and the prime minister and two parliamentary speakers, comprised 30 members in this group.
Secretary of Defense Nikolay Patrushev, who is the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin have all known Valdimir Putin for decades. They worked with him in St Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad in the 1970s.
In addition to these officials, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are the five people who are closest to President Vladimir Putin and who accept their recommendations if he wants to decide on Russia's interests.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu became President Putin's right-hand man in the 2000s
It is not surprising that Putin's closest ally is Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defense minister, who also oversees the GRU, which is accused of plotting to assassinate Sergei Skrypal (former intelligence officer) poisoned the UK in 2018, and poisoned by opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Siberia in 2020.
FSB President Alexander Bortnikov once worked with Putin at the KGB office in Leningrad. He became chairman of the FSB in 2008, replacing Patrushev.
He has over a decade of experience in the field of intelligence. The FSB has control over other national security agencies, such as the Interior Ministry and the prosecutor's office.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is among the moderates most influential on Putin
He is one of the most experienced diplomats, and has held the Foreign Ministry since 2004 - for almost 20 years. And although he has never spied on or attended the same school as Putin, the Russian president is said to be highly regarded.
Like Bortnikov and Patrushev, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin once worked with Vladimir Putin in Leningrad. And those who know Naryshkin say that he is a very loyal man to Putin.
Russian Security Council
The last meeting of the Security Council, in which the need for recognition of the two republics of eastern Ukraine, was discussed, was a clear indication of the seriousness of the Security Council.
Top Russian officials sat in a circle in front of Vladimir Putin, and were called one by one to stand in front of the microphone to let him know what he wanted to hear.
The meeting also highlighted Vladimir Putin's authority over the members of the Security Council and his ability to confront them in public - and given that their relationship with him is long-standing, they have no place to hide in the event of a crisis.
Although Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, is a close ally of President Putin, this did not prevent the president from publicly denouncing him, as he did not "publicly explain" when he called for the release of "Western allies." "Europe has a long way to go before it can accept the demands of Ukraine's eastern regions.
The remarks angered Putin, who pressured Naryshkin to declare his support in public, a move that he made immediately but apparently shocked by what Putin did to him.
But it is clear that other members of the Security Council are not facing the same fate as Naryshkin.
Defense Minister Shoigu, Foreign Minister Lavrov and FSB President Bortnikov were the only members of the 30-member committee that was allowed to speak twice during the talks.
In addition to Russian security chiefs and foreign ministers, Putin is also in talks with prominent Russian figures inside and outside the country.
Political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko has long studied the country's rich. He also regularly collects information on Vladimir Putin's close associates, which he calls "Politburo 2.0".
In a recent report, Minchenko listed Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and state oil company chief Igor Sechin as special close associates of the president.
There are also billionaire brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg who are said to be close to Vladimir Putin, because he knew them and trusted them as a child.
They are among a number of people identified as being under British sanctions. In 2020, Forbes magazine ranked them as the richest family in the country.
Bashir Ahmad Zubairu is a Multimedia Journalist in Nigeria.
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