BEREZOVSKY ACCUSED OF SPYING ON YELTSIN FAMILY, TRYING TO SET UP PRIVATE KGB.

A spate of new accusations have recently circulated in the Russian press against Boris Berezovsky, the business tycoon who holds the post of Commonwealth of Independent States executive secretary. “Moskovsky komsomolets” published an article–written by one of its investigative reporters, Aleksandr Khinshtein on January 20–which alleged that Berezovsky had used a private security firm called “Atoll” to monitor the telephone calls and comings and goings of top political figures, including Tatyana Dyachenko, Boris Yeltsin’s younger daughter and a presidential adviser. According to Khinshtein, the authorities raided Atoll in connection with a criminal case and found eavesdropping and other equipment rivaling that of any government agency, as well as dossiers and other material on top governmental and political figures. The criminal case involving Atoll, however, was dropped (Moskovsky komsomolets, January 20).

The same day the article was published, Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov announced that he had ordered his office to investigate Khinshtein’s allegations. For his part, Berezovsky said all the allegations were an “absolute lie.” The article, he said, was a reaction by “certain forces in the special services” to charges he [Berezovsky] made last year, that top officials in the Federal Security Service (FSB) had ordered his assassination and had been involved in extortion and other crimes. Khinshtein’s response to Berezovsky, in which Khinshtein said that the official investigation would confirm the truth of his charges, was published today (Moskovsky komsomolets, January 22).

Since making public his allegations that elements within the FSB had plotted to kill him, the battle between Berezovsky and his enemies has clearly intensified, with both sides using “kompromat”–allegations of corruption–as their weapon of choice and the field of battle being the media. As is case with any kompromat, the motives for its release do not necessarily mean that it is false.

BEREZOVSKY’S LATEST PROJECT.