Leonid Petrovich Reshetnikov ( rus, Леонид Петрович Решетников}; (born 6 February 1947,

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

) is a Soviet and Russian secret service agent, Lieutenant-General of Foreign Intelligence Service, director of the

Russian Institute for Strategic Studies The Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) or (RISI) or (RISY) (russian: Российский институт стратегических исследований (РИСИ)) is a Russian research and analytical center formed by decree ...

(29 April 2009 – 4 January 2017). Candidate of Historical Sciences.

Biography

Reshetnikov was born in

(

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

at that time) in the family of a serviceman. In 1970, he graduated from the Faculty of History of Kharkov State University. In 1971-1974 he studied at the graduate school of

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

, where he defended thesis for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences on the topic "The participation of Bulgarian political emigrants in the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union (1921-1941)". In 1974-1976 he worked at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

. From April 1976 to April 2009, he served in initially the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

and later the Foreign Intelligence Service ('' SVR'' in Russian). He was the ''

rezident A resident spy in the world of espionage is an agent operating within a foreign country for extended periods of time. A base of operations within a foreign country with which a resident spy may liaise is known as a "station" in English and a (, 're ...

'' KGB in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

.Archived
at compromat.ru on 25 February 2021 as "Мягкая сила" Элеоноры Митрофановой: Слив бюджета на "балалаечную дипломатию", доносы и карманный бизнес сотрудников Россотрудничества ("Soft power" by Eleonora Mitrofanova: Draining the budget for "balalaika diplomacy", denunciations and pocket business of Rossotrudnichestvo employees)
Image of Igor Rybakov
from compromat.ru. At the end of his service he held the post of the head of Analysis & Information department of the Russian SVR with the rank of Lieutenant-General. In April 2009, he was dismissed in the reserve for the age limit. On 29 April 2009 he became a director of the

. According to presidential decree of 2 November 2016, he was dismissed from 4 January 2017. At this position he is suspected to interference in the United States elections. He is a member of the Scientific Council under the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, the Scientific Council under the

Security Council of the Russian Federation The Security Council of the Russian Federation (SCRF or Sovbez; russian: Совет безопасности Российской Федерации (СБРФ), Sovet bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii (SBRF)) is a constitutional consultative bo ...

and the Public Council under the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. He is the president of the Non-profit Charitable Foundation "Heritage" ("Russian

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

"). He is also the chairman of the supervisory board of"Tsargrad TV", a "Russian Orthodox" TV channel, owned by

Konstantin Malofeev Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev (russian: link=no, Константин Валерьевич Малофеев) is a Russian businessman and chairman of non-government pro-monarchism organisation Society for the Development of Russian Historical ...

and known for its anti-western geopolitical stance. Member of the editorial board of the magazine ''"Rodina"''. In November 2016, he initiated the creation of the “Double-headed Eagle” society and after the formation of this orthodox-monarchist organization in 2018, joined its leadership. On 10 September 2019 he was banned from entering Bulgaria for a period of ten years, as was Malofeev. According to investigators, Reshetnikov's organizations ( RISI and the "Double-headed Eagle") paid for espionage activities in Bulgaria. In particular, a memorandum was found with intentions to change the "geopolitical orientation" of Bulgaria, the creation of a television channel and an own party was supposed. He is fluent in Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian, and can explain himself in Greek.

Family

He is married to Olga Nikolaevna Reshetnikova, Candidate of Historical Sciences. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. One of his daughters, Elena Reshetnikova, supervises the project "Children's Camp on the Island of

", organized by the "Heritage"

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reshetnikov, Leonid Petrovich Living people 1947 births National University of Kharkiv alumni Russian lieutenant generals Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Courage Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Russians associated with interference in the 2016 United States elections