One could question why street thugs, soccer hooligans, neo-Nazis, fight clubs provide an fertile recruitment reserve for Russian intelligence services? The KGB has had decades of experience in co-opting outcasts and outlaws. These groups, within and outside of the Gulag system, have been used for generations by the KGB and it’s predecessors. It was far easier to co-opt groups hostile to the government rather than constantly arresting them, only to see new ones emerging elsewhere.
During the Soviet era, the authorization of the Communist party was all that was necessary. Without it fringe groups wouldn’t be targets for the KGB’s penetration operations and eventual elimination. Similarly, using fringe groups today isn’t done without Kremlin approval. The collaborative relationship would be informal and managed by the intelligence services. This cooperative arrangement was more convenient than a tiresome adversarial stand-off and the practice could be adaptable to Western groups and operations.
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 2. okt. 2020 paber- ja PDF/Digilehest)