Viktor Vasilyevich Zolotov is a Russian military officer who is the Director of the National Guard (Rosgvardiya) and a member of the Security Council. Zolotov is a former bodyguard to former President Boris Yeltsin, former St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, and current Russian leader Vladimir Putin. While working for Sobchak, Zolotov became acquainted with Putin, as well as figures in the St. Petersburg criminal underworld. A member of Putin's siloviki inner circle, Zolotov's rise to power and wealth happened after he became a close Putin confidant. The Zolotov family has obtained valuable land plots through dubious means.
Zolotov in 2020
Viktor Zolotov, Vladimir Putin and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in Qatar, 12 February 2007
Putin and Zolotov in Vietnam, March 2001
Putin with Zolotov, Sergei Shoigu and other senior Kremlin officials in October 2018
The National Guard of the Russian Federation, also known as the Rosgvardiya, is the national gendarmerie and internal military force of the Russian Federation, comprising an independent agency that reports directly to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin under his powers as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Security Council.
The entrance to the National Guard headquarters at 9 Krasnokazarmennaya Street in the South-Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow
A national guard banner awarding ceremony, 27 March 2017
Soldiers of the National Guard providing security in Nizhny Novgorod during the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Rosgvardia personnel on Red Square, 2019
