Meet Putin's Top Enabler, FSB Boss Alexander Bortnikov

The longtime internal security chief has a major hand in Ukraine intrigue and the liquidation of internal critics alike

When Vladimir Putin needed another made-up excuse on Monday to seize more of Ukraine in his stiffly staged security council meeting, he turned to Alexandr Bortnikov, the longtime head of Russia’s all-powerful Federal Security Service (FSB).

The former KGB and up-from-the-ranks FSB operative, assembled with other top security officials in the Kremlin’s gr…