🕳️ Released Phantom Node 37: Alexander Bortnikov. The Shadow Budget of the FSB

This project is a philosophical and artistic study of the phenomenon of "phantom nodes" — invisible yet influential objects and subjects in the contemporary global system. The descriptions contained within this study are metaphorical and allegorical, aimed at uncovering systemic problems, regimes, and civilisational influences. They are not a journalistic investigation or legal accusations, but serve as an artistic interpretation of reality.

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🕳️ Released Phantom Node 37: Alexander Bortnikov. The Shadow Budget of the FSB

When the structure itself is a crime

Who is he?

Head of the FSB of the Russian Federation since 2008. Successor to Patrushev, architect of the police state and one of the key implementers of the system of fear.

His agency controls shadow flows, the repressive vertical, espionage, poisonings, kompromat, and torture.

Type of node:

Security and intelligence structure

Status:

Above the law, at the regime’s core

Means of retention:

Fear, blackmail, control of information

Phantom image:

The invisible curator of the dark markets. The one who always watches.

Instead of the phantom:

Case archives, surveillance systems, elite silence

Essence of the node:

What held it together?

Personal loyalty to Putin.

Monopoly on kompromat and control of security levers.

Shadow economy controlled by the FSB.

How did he become a phantom?

Lost his human face, became synonymous with the structure.

Turned into a shadow institution operating through fear and control.

Why does the phantom still exist?

The FSB remains a central pillar of the regime.

The system of loyalty, fear, and benefits remains intact.

No one opened the archives.

Phantom status:

Active. Invisible. Omnipresent.

After the regime:

Expose the system.

Open the archives.

Rebuild the judiciary and security verticals.

International investigation into crimes.

Collective response:

No one asked whether we agreed.

Everyone was forced to adapt.

But we know and we remember.

Key principle:

A phantom of a faceless system doesn’t disappear on its own.

It must be exposed, described, and dismantled.

Alt-text:

A graphite portrait of Alexander Bortnikov on aged paper.

The composition features the silhouette of a security figure dissolving into layers of shadow information.

The background includes case files, espionage symbols, surveillance diagrams, maps of arrests and torture.

Elements include wiretaps, poisoning markers, a drone, police baton, an empty office, and a dollar sign as a nod to the currency of “protection payments.”

The image is distorted — as if viewed through a surveillance monitor or glitching signal.

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Unmasking the Phantom. Pivtorak.Studio. 04.08.2025

https://www.instagram.com/pivtorak.studio

🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration.

All descriptions are allegorical in nature.

🫧Phantom Node Dossier: Aleksandr Bortnikov. The FSB Shadow Budget.

Key Aspects of the Phantom:

"The Shadow Budget" (or "Engineer of Covert Flows"). Aleksandr Bortnikov is not just a person, but a phantom node that symbolizes the pinnacle of power within the Russian system. His public position is merely a cover for his true role: the head of a shadow empire that controls unaccounted financial flows and illegal operations. He is the point where state power and criminality merge, making him a key architect of a shadow geopolitics.

Regimes (which he directly shapes/supports):

👻 Regime of "Covert Funding": Bortnikov manages secret financial flows that fund the activities of agents, sabotage operations, and other illegal activities around the world.

🤝 Regime of "State Corruption": He is a central figure who uses state institutions (the FSB) as a tool for personal and institutional enrichment and to suppress opponents.

💥 Hybrid Warfare: He is directly responsible for the intelligence gathering, subversive operations, and manipulation that form the basis of Russia's hybrid warfare strategy.

⚖️ Institutional Impunity: Bortnikov ensures impunity for his subordinates and related figures, protecting them from legal prosecution and sanctions.

Tools (which he actively uses/oversees):

💲 Network of Financial Intermediaries: He operates through a complex network of front companies, "grey" banks, and proxy figures to move money and assets.

🕵️ Apparatus of Special Services: His main tool is the boundless control over the resources and agent network of the FSB, which is used for any purpose, from espionage to pressuring businesses.

📝 Use of Front Companies: The use of civilian or quasi-state structures as a cover for military and criminal operations.

🌐 Export of Criminality: The organization and coordination of criminal operations abroad, including political assassinations, hacking attacks, and sabotage.

Civilizational Influences (which he embodies/exploits):

💔 Destruction of Institutions: Bortnikov is the personification of how institutions created to protect the state are turned into its tool for destruction and enrichment.

⛓️ Erosion of International Security: His activities undermine the foundations of international order by spreading chaos, corruption, and terror.

⚖️ Cult of Lawlessness: His role shows how a state apparatus operating outside the law becomes the norm and a symbol of power.

📉 Degradation of the State: He is an example of how a country's security apparatus can turn into a kleptocratic enterprise that works in the interests of a narrow circle of people.

Dissection of a Phantom Node. Pivtorak.Studio. 04.08.2025

https://www.instagram.com/pivtorak.studio

🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration.

All descriptions are allegorical in nature.