The St. Petersburg Honey Trap and the Russian Mafia State

The Epstein case now resembles a faulty GPS that takes you around the world – from New York to Saint Petersburg via Florida – only to finally tell you, ‘you have reached your destination’. Western intelligence agencies have apparently discovered that Putin was playing chess while everyone else thought they were playing checkers, turning a few powerful figures into pawns on a shifting geopolitical chessboard... Apparently, when the Russian bear takes out its honey pot, even the world's leaders forget that it might be an oversized fly trap. The current Russian regime is a deliberately designed kleptocracy. The system is based on a symbiotic nexus between three entities: the FSB security service, organised crime and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Within this structure, the FSB provides state protection (krysha), the mafia provides the operational force and illicit funds, while the SPIEF, the annual showcase for this ‘mafia state’, provides a facade of international legitimacy. This model was forged through collaboration between civil servants, led by Vladimir Putin and surrounded by figures from the criminal world, to take control of strategic assets such as the city's port. Once extended nationwide, the system was formalised, transforming the FSB into an economic predator that manages crime rather than combats it. The presence of senior FSB officials on the SPIEF organising committee demonstrates this fusion between security and the economy. The network uses control mechanisms such as kompromat, sometimes obtained through escort networks, to ensure the loyalty of the elite, whether Russian or foreign.