[4] Barsukov career took a decisive upswing after the establishment of the Russian Federation and Boris Yeltsin's ascent to power as the President of the newly formed country.

Barsukov unequivocally pushed for the service's expansion, and he transformed the GUO into a more capable organization with a personnel increase of 50-100 percent, expanding on the Ninth Directorate's 10,000 person staff.

[9] On 19 July 1995, President Yeltsin promoted Barsukov to the rank of Colonel General and appointed him as the head of the KGB's successor agency, the FSB.

[11] While Barsukov's reign as the FSB chief lasted under one year, in this short time he managed to make several significant contributions to Russia's security.

[12] On 9 January 1996, a group of several hundred Chechen gunmen under the command of terrorist Salman Raduyev attacked an airfield and hospital in the Russian city of Kizlyar.

[15] On 19 June 1996, Yeltsin's re-election campaign managers Sergei Lisovsky and Arkady Yevstafyev, were arrested while leaving the White House of Russia.

This began the so-called Xerox Affair, where security agents detained the campaigners at the behest of Barsukov and Alexander Korzhakov, discovering $500,000 in a copy-paper box carried by one of the men.

[16] Eager to distance himself from a corruption investigation during the election campaign period, Yeltsin fired Barsukov and Korzhakov, along with their staunch ally First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets.

[20] Furthermore, in December 1998, Barsukov gained a more important post, as the head of the Chief Director for Military Inspection subordinate to the Security Council of Russia.