Political groups under Vladimir Putin's presidency
A diverse variety of informal political groups emerged since the presidency of Vladimir Putin starting in 1999. They include remnants of the Yeltsin family, Saint Petersburg lawyers and economists, and security-intelligence elements called the siloviki.
Putin with Sergei Ivanov, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Kozak, Valentina Matviyenko, Elvira Nabiullina, Sergey Naryshkin, and Sergey Shoygu at the funeral of Yevgeny Primakov, 29 June 2015
In the Russian political lexicon, a silovik is a person who works for any state organisation that is authorised to use force against citizens or others. Examples are the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian national police, Russian national drug control, Russian immigration control (GUVM), the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Security Service (FSB), former KGB personnel, GRU, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and the Federal Protective Service (FSO). This word is also used for a politician who came into politics from these organisations.
Sergei Ivanov and Nikolai Patrushev at a meeting of Vladimir Putin with officers and prosecutors appointed to senior positions, April 2015
Putin with Sergey Lavrov, Alexander Bortnikov, and Sergei Naryshkin, 19 December 2016
Igor Sechin is often described as one of the closest siloviki to Vladimir Putin. His nickname is Darth Vader [citation needed].
![Igor Sechin is often described as one of the closest siloviki to Vladimir Putin. His nickname is Darth Vader [citation needed].](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Igor_Sechin1_%28cropped%29.jpg/468px-Igor_Sechin1_%28cropped%29.jpg)