Russian authorities are planning to create a new power structure that will assume both the functions of the country's security service - the FSB - and its Foreign Intelligence Service, wrote newspaper Kommersant on Monday, citing its own sources. The new structure, the newspaper claims, will be called the Ministry of State Security.
The new ministry will be created as a part of a reform of Russia's security and law enforcement agencies. This reform includes the reintegration of Russia's Investigative Committee into its Prosecutor General's Office, as well as the division the functions of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations between the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the Kommersant, these developments will give the FSB the same functions that were previously held by the KGB. The new agency, the newspaper writes, will not simply initiate cases and work alongside investigators, but will also fully oversee all investigative procedures.
According to the publication, the FSB is already working in accordance with the new scheme in the case of crime boss Zachary Kalashov, known as Shakro Molodoy. Though the FSB is not formally an intelligence service, it is overseeing this case as such.
It is expected that the reform will be completed before Russia's next presidential elections in 2018.