Born in 1946. Graduated from the Military Diplomatic Academy under the USSR Ministry of Defense. He worked for more than 20 years in the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. From 1992 to 1997, he was the first deputy chief of the GRU of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. During the hostilities on the territory of the Chechen Republic, he repeatedly traveled to the combat zone. In May 1997, during the medical examination preceding the dismissal of Colonel General Fyodor Ladygin, he was acting head of the GRU. In May 1997, he was appointed head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. The former head of the GRU, Fedor Ladygin, who held this position from 1992 to 1997, gave the following description of V. Korabelnikov: “I had to take a very direct part in the fate of Valentin Vladimirovich Korabelnikov and even be the initiator of one or another of his promotions. He is a military professional intelligence. well prepared theoretically and with extensive practical experience in various fields, including directly in operational work. As far as I can judge, my assessments turned out to be correct in relation to Colonel General Korabelnikov. It seems to me that he leads the GRU with dignity and successfully copes with the tasks assigned to him." On August 20, 1997, he was introduced to the Coordination Interdepartmental Council for Military-Technical Cooperation of the Russian Federation with Foreign States. Since December 31, 1997 - member of the Supervisory Board for the activities of the Rosvooruzhenie and Promexport companies. In July 1999, V. Korabelnikov received gratitude from President B. Yeltsin for his significant contribution to the process of resolving the conflict in the Yugoslav region of Kosovo. On September 6, 1999, he was included in the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation on military-technical cooperation with foreign states. Married.

These people prefer not to put their lives on public display. The GRU special forces do not even have their own designation or name. And the most interesting thing is their secrecy in their work. After all, special forces work in all parts of our planet, and their representatives can be dressed in absolutely any clothes, including the uniform of the British army or other countries.

Special forces are an elite unit of military forces Russian Federation. Many films are made about special forces soldiers, books and articles are written about their hard work for the glory of their homeland. True, the cinematic presentation is most often either embellished or undertold. Only the best of the best are worthy of service in the GRU, which is why very strict selection rules have been created for them. And the most banal training day can shock an ordinary person who has nothing to do with serving in the country’s law enforcement agencies.

On TV or on the Internet they will never talk or write about real special forces operations; most often the noise is made because of failure, but, fortunately for everyone, this practically never happens.

What is GRU

Each country has its own military structures, and it just so happens that foreign intelligence plays one of the most important roles in protecting its state. In the Russian Federation, such functions are performed by the GU GSh VS, which means the Main Directorate General Staff Armed forces. However, the predecessor of this name was the Main Intelligence Directorate. This is exactly what the GRU transcript will sound like.

Initially, it conducted its reconnaissance and sabotage activities in the interests of Soviet Union, and was also the central organ of military intelligence.

Intelligence under the Tsar

Even before the overthrow of the monarchy, under Tsarist Russia, sabotage and reconnaissance groups operated. These were specially trained military units. If we recall the reign of Ivan the Fourth, then in the 16th century he was the founder of the guard service, which consisted of Cossack detachments. All warriors were checked for physical health and excellent skills in using weapons (bladed and firearms). Since in those days the Tatars constantly raided Moscow, the main purpose of these detachments was to monitor the surrounding territories to prevent an attack.

At a later time, Alexey Mikhailovich revealed the Secret Order to the country. The order's intelligence officers collected and structured all messages and information reports about possible enemy attacks and the activities of countries in the neighborhood.

In 1764, Suvorov and Kutuzov put forward the idea of ​​​​creating special detachments of rangers. Their operations were carried out in parallel with the main royal army. The rangers staged raids and ambushes, and also attacked the enemy in the mountains, forests and other difficult terrain. These were the so-called beginnings of special forces. And in 1810, Barclay de Tolly established the Secret Affairs Expedition.

History of the GRU

When the workers' and peasants' Red Army was formed in the USSR, after the famous revolution, the need arose for the formation of a special unit that was supposed to take on intelligence functions. On this occasion, in 1918, the Bolsheviks came to the creation of the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Council. One of the components of this headquarters was a special department for registration, collection and information processing, which was mined by scouts. As a result, counterintelligence activities were completely transferred to the shoulders of the Field Headquarters.

In 1921, the Intelligence Department of the Red Army Headquarters was formed; it was engaged in reconnaissance not only in difficult and wartime times, but also in peacetime they were one hundred percent covered in reconnaissance work. In Soviet times, human intelligence was carried out. In countries neighboring the Union, special partisan detachments were created that carried out subversive operations.

In 1934, intelligence management was transferred to the People's Commissar of Defense. There were successful missions during the Spanish War, but even such a high-ranking structure as the country's intelligence service was affected by the tragedy of repression. And by the beginning of World War II, half of the intelligence service was shot. Since 1942, we have known the Razvedupr under the familiar name GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate).

The first special forces units in the USSR

In 1950, a secret decree was issued on the formation of special groups whose task was to conduct sabotage operations on the side of the enemy. All military districts of the Union were equipped with such units; in total they created forty-six companies, each consisting of one hundred and twenty soldiers. And it was they who were the basis for the creation of special forces in 1962. After 6 years, a special regiment was formed to train employees.

The initial purpose of creating such units was to carry out sabotage actions in the war with NATO and the confrontation with the United States in the Cold War. The pattern of these actions was the collection and delivery of all information from the enemy rear to the GRU headquarters, sowing panic in populated areas where civilians live, undermining important infrastructure, and large-scale actions to destroy enemy headquarters. Weapons of mass destruction were strategically important; special forces destroyed missile silos, airfields used by enemy long-range aviation, launchers, and bases with submarines.

The Afghan war was fought with the active participation of GRU agents, and special forces also played an important role during the unrest in the North Caucasus. Moreover, Tajikistan and Georgia also did not go unnoticed by elite units during their military operations (the last war with Georgia in 2008). At the moment, the Syrian war is taking place with the participation of Russian special forces.

Now the GRU command gives orders to act not only by force, but also by information.

The renaming from the Soviet name occurred in 2010. Everyone who is in the service of the GRU (decoding - Main Intelligence Directorate) celebrates their holiday dedicated to military intelligence officers on November 5th.

Management Goals

The GRU is not only a foreign intelligence agency, but also controls other military organizations in Russia, and also appears as an executive military force.

The goals of Russian intelligence can be divided into three points:

• The first is to provide all information intelligence data first of all to the President of our country and then in order of seniority of “roles” (Ministry of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Security Council) on the issue of protecting the borders and internal integrity of the Russian Federation. This information is necessary for conducting domestic and foreign policy, and so on.
• The second is to provide suitable conditions for the smooth implementation of political actions in the field of defense and security.
• Third, intelligence contributes to the rise in the economic sphere, scientific and technical developments and military security of the Russian Federation.

Headquarters

The first GRU headquarters was located on Khodynka. The new one was built 11 years ago and is a large complex of different buildings. The headquarters area is huge - approximately seventy thousand square meters. For physical Security forces training inside even has its own sports complex with a swimming pool. The construction of such a grandiose project cost the country nine billion rubles. The special forces complex is located on Grizodubova Street.

Bat

Probably everyone has seen in photographs or in the news the stripes on the GRU uniform in the form bat. Where did this animal come from in the GRU emblem? According to some sources, one of the Yekaterinburg journalists during his service decided to draw an emblem for his squad. This happened in 1987, and the bat inside the globe was so liked by the bosses and colleagues that it was immediately printed on all special forces uniforms.

Flower theme

To understand what the GRU is today, you can look at the meaning of the modern emblem. At the moment (since 2002) the bat has been replaced by a red carnation, it means perseverance and devotion. The GRU emblem is the personification of an unyielding decision to achieve a set goal. The Three Flame of Grenada is explained as a badge of honor with a historical past, it was awarded to the best military among the elite units.

True, in the new headquarters the mouse, laid out on the floor, remained adjacent to the flower.

What does it consist of?

Information about the structure of the GRU and its special forces units at the moment is as follows:

• Western Military District with the second brigade.
• The tenth mountain brigade operates in the North Caucasus.
• The special forces who participated in the Afghan and Chechen campaigns were from the fourteenth brigade of the Far East.
• The Western Military District has the sixteenth brigade; it also participated in the Chechen wars and in protecting the OVO in Tajikistan.
• The southern military district is defended by the twenty-second brigade. Has a guards rank after the Great Patriotic War. The twenty-fifth special forces regiment is also stationed here.
• The Central Military District is equipped with soldiers from the twenty-fourth brigade.
• A unit of the 346th brigade is located in Kabardino-Balkaria.
• The fleet in the Pacific Ocean, Baltic, Black and North Seas is equipped with its own special reconnaissance units.

What is the total number

For a better understanding of what the GRU is, it is worth paying attention to the absolute secrecy about the number of its fighters. Since the activities of special forces are inaccessible to mere mortals, there are no reliable sources about the real size of the GRU headquarters. Some claim there are six thousand, and some say the figure is fifteen thousand.

Moreover, in addition to the existing special forces units, general military units are also subordinate to the GRU, and their number is approximately twenty-five thousand soldiers.

Training centers

At the moment, you can train to become a special forces soldier at higher educational institutions in Ryazan and Cherepovets. The Ryazan Airborne School trains specialists for sabotage activities. There is also a Military Academy of the Ministry of Defense in the Russian Federation. It has three faculties: strategic human intelligence, tactical and human-operational intelligence.

You can apply only if you speak several foreign languages ​​and pass a special list of requirements.

Selection of fighters

What is required of candidates entering such serious institutions to study? Passing the entrance tests is a very labor-intensive process, but with the help of personal patience and accumulated knowledge, as well as physical strength, you can do it.

Absolute physical health is an absolute requirement for all applicants. But a future special forces soldier does not have to be two meters tall and have a lot of muscle mass, because the most important thing in this matter is endurance. The raids carried out are usually accompanied by fairly heavy loads and can cover many kilometers.

The standards for admission, for example, include running three kilometers in ten minutes, doing twenty-five pull-ups, a hundred-meter dash must be completed in twelve seconds, push-ups must be at least ninety, and the same number of times you must do abdominal exercises (given here just two minutes). One of the most important skills in the work of a special forces soldier is hand-to-hand combat.

This is followed by a very meticulous medical examination. A person must have unshakable stress resistance. His head must be in working order in any situation. For this purpose, trained psychologists are used, and after that the candidate is tested with a “lie detector”. The entire family and even distant relatives are checked by special state security agencies. Parents must write to the management about their consent that their son will serve in the special forces unit.

Preparation for service in special forces

Long-term hard training, training in proper hand-to-hand combat (it is believed that it strengthens the spirit and character of a fighter), fighting with the use of various objects (not only edged weapons), fights with initially stronger and more experienced opponents - all this awaits a recruit when training in such a serious division. It is at these moments that the fighter realizes what the GRU is.

From the first day of training, there is a program to instill in them that all of them, special forces soldiers, are the best not only among Russian military structures, but also in the whole world.

Some of the difficult tests that are given specifically to find out whether a person can survive his limit of physical potential are a long stay in a waking state, a load of exorbitant physical and psychological actions. And, of course, training in the use of small arms (all types).

The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces is the main intelligence agency of Russia. GU is a new name introduced in 2010 during the military reform. Transcript of the GRU of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The outdated designation GRU is common among people.

The intelligence of the RF Armed Forces rests on the shoulders of this body. The department coordinates subordinate intelligence departments, following the Constitution of the Russian Federation and acting in the interests of the state. Intelligence officers intercept information through personal involvement (conspiracy) or the use of electronics and radios.

History of the organization

In the RF Armed Forces, military intelligence existed back in the USSR (more precisely, its prototype). On the basis of the GRU of the USSR in 1992, after signing all the documents on the collapse of the military coalition, the main body and its officers passed to Russia. Based on the old management, an updated one was created. The abbreviation GRU (stands for Main Intelligence Directorate) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces was brought to the official level in 2010 after the reform of the military administration. The change in the name of the body did not affect its tasks.

During its existence, the department participated in many missions. In 2015, employees collected information and conducted a report on the plans of Islamic groups in Central Asia. The merits of the intelligence officers include the destruction of the Chechen militant leader, information analysis and actions to annex the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, planning attacks in Syria in 2015, and assistance in establishing international contacts.

At the moment, the situation of the intelligence department can be called positive, since all the intelligence officers have been bought out or exchanged and are in Russia, or on a mission abroad, but at large.

GRU tasks

The set of tasks of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces was determined back in 1992 and has remained unchanged since then. Main goals of the organization:

• information support that benefits the political, military, technical or scientific development of the country;
• providing the central bodies of the Russian Federation (the President, the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff) with information necessary for making decisions in the field of foreign policy, economics and military relations;
• creating conditions favorable for the implementation of the foreign policy goals of the Russian state.

In practice, these tasks are implemented through the use of intelligence resources: trained personnel, modern technology, encryption knowledge and other intelligence tools.

Managment structure

The body is headed by the General Staff and the Russian Ministry of Defense. The top level in the hierarchy is the President of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the army units. The heads of the GRU of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (or deputies, or acting) must report on their activities primarily to the General Staff.

The vacancy of the chief in the Main Directorate of the General Staff was vacated several times due to the resignation of the previous chief. Since 1992, 6 managers have been replaced. The first to speak was Timokhin E.L., Colonel General. Most of the subsequent chapters are also colonel generals (except for Army General Korabelnikov).

The most prominent figure among the leaders of the body is considered to be I.D. Sergun, who held the managerial post from 2011 to 2016. During his leadership, the most striking intelligence operations of recent times took place (Crimea, Syria).

The reason for the change of leadership is the death of Sergun. Currently, the department is managed by Colonel General Korobov, whose biography includes being awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. He was responsible for coordinating the fighting in Syria.

Official information about the structure of intelligence units is not disclosed. According to unconfirmed data, the organization has 21 divisions, of which 13 are main and 8 are auxiliary. Approximate composition:

1. EU countries (First Directorate).
2. America, Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand (Second Division).
3. Asia (Third).
4. Africa (Fourth).
5. Operational intelligence (Fifth Department).
6. OsNaz (radio engineering, Sixth Department).
7. NATO.
8. Special Forces (sabotage department).
9. Military technologies.
10. War economy.
11. Strategic management.
12. Information warfare department.
13. Space reconnaissance.

Auxiliary departments:

• personnel;
• operational and technical;
• archives;
• information service;
• external relations;
• administrative department.

Among the lower-level departments there is OBPSN - a special-purpose security department.

All departments are managed by the organizational and mobilization center located at the headquarters of the organization. The headquarters address is Grizodubovaya Street in Moscow, where the official office of the head of the department and his council is located. The former headquarters building is located at Khoroshevskoye Shosse, building 76. You can get from one building to another by walking just 100 meters.

Number of intelligence structures

Official data on the number of intelligence officers has not been disclosed. According to analysts, the number of military personnel in this industry ranges from 6 thousand to 15 thousand people.

The forces of the intelligence department include combined arms military units (military units) - 25,000 people. All of them serve under contract. The department is subordinate to artillery units, special equipment, and a fleet of motor vehicles.

GRU equipment

Much attention is paid to the appearance of scouts. The official uniform is gray (for officers) or dark blue (for subordinates) greatcoats with red and gold design elements. The chief dresses in a black uniform with blue accents.

The modern emblems were developed in 1997. There are small, medium, large emblems that are attached to the chest or sleeve. The big one is only for officers.

Weapon equipment for soldiers is carried out according to army standards. Special units should be equipped with an improved set of weapons - machine gun, knife, pistol, etc. Since the time of the USSR, GRU weapons have been considered the best.

Personnel training

Officers for the GRU are trained mainly at the Academy of the Ministry of Defense. Leading military personnel are also trained at the Ryazan Airborne School in the field of special reconnaissance. A candidate who wants to enter one of the schools and subsequently become an intelligence officer must have a good knowledge of foreign languages, a high level of physical fitness, and excellent health.

There is additional education at the Academy of the Ministry of Defense - Higher Academic Courses. The structure of the GRU includes two of its own research institutes located in the capital.

Areas of training at a higher educational institution under the Ministry of Defense:

• strategic human intelligence;
• operational-tactical reconnaissance;
• agent-operational intelligence.

From the first year of study, students undertake to maintain state secrets and not disclose the stages of their training.

Since 1992, the direction of development of the department has not changed: the priority tasks remain to improve personnel training, obtain more detailed information, and use new technologies for intelligence purposes. However, the goals of the State Administration are not always fully implemented: information leaks occur, and the collected information does not always reach the top of the authority’s hierarchy.

According to British experts, due to an inconvenient bureaucratic system, important information does not reach the President. In 2016, due to incorrect operation of information security services, an information leak occurred. The task of the GRU in the future is to prevent such problems.

There is a new chief in the GRU - General Igor Korobov (biography raises many questions)

Lieutenant General Igor Korobov was appointed head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.This was reported to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“The corresponding decision has been made, Igor Korobov has been appointed head of the GRU,”- explained the representative of the Ministry of Defense.

“On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented General Korobov with the personal standard of the head of the GRU. General Korobov was introduced to the generals and officers of the military intelligence headquarters. The ceremony took place at the Glaucus headquarters. On Friday, Korobov will take up his new office,” the source said.

According to information from the military department, the GRU seriously feared that a security officer from other structures (for example, from the Federal Security Service or the Foreign Intelligence Service) who had not previously encountered the peculiarities of working in military intelligence could be appointed as the new leader.

The Main Intelligence Directorate - GRU - is one of the most closed security forces: its structure, numerical strength, as well as the biographies of senior officers are a state secret.

The GRU is the foreign intelligence agency of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the central military intelligence management body in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is the executive body and military control body of other military organizations (the Russian Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).It is headed by the Chief of the GRU, who reports to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. The GRU and its structures are engaged in intelligence in the interests of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, including intelligence, space, radio-electronic, etc.

On November 21, 2018, after a long illness, Igor Korobov, Chief of the GRU of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, died. Appointed to perform his duties

According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Russian military intelligence system under the command of Colonel General Igor Sergun worked very effectively. She “timely revealed new challenges and threats to the security of the Russian Federation.” Military intelligence participated in the planning and implementation of the operation to annex Crimea to Russia in February-March 2014.

Since the summer of 2015, the GRU, together with the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, has been planning a Russian air operation in Syria.

In November 2015, the head of the GRU, Colonel General Igor Sergun, visited Damascus confidentially. The GRU prepared an open report at an international conference held in Moscow in the fall of 2015, which analyzed the goals and recruitment activity of the Islamic State in the Central Asian region and the republics of the Ural-Volga region and the North Caucasus.

Sergei Shoigu presents a personal standard to the Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Korobov. Photo: Twitter of the Russian Ministry of Defense

The GRU, according to foreign sources, uses high-tech methods of search and data analysis to collect information. Thus, in January 2016, the German magazine “Spiegel” claimed that the hacker attack on the Bundestag in 2015 was initiated by Russian military intelligence. Similar actions by hackers took place in some other NATO countries.

Bloomberg indicates that GRU employees use disguises in cyberspace that the US National Security Agency is unable to reveal.Moreover, the level of competence of GRU specialists is so high that their presence can only be revealed if they themselves want it...

For a long time, the headquarters of the GRU was located in Moscow in the Khodynskoye Pole area, Khoroshevskoye Shosse, 76.After the construction of a new headquarters complex, which consists of several buildings with an area of ​​more than 70 thousand m² with a so-called situation center and command post, the GRU headquarters was moved to the street. Grizodubova in Moscow, 100 meters from the old complex known as the Aquarium.

Colonel General Igor Sergun, who previously headed the GRU, died suddenly on January 3, 2016 in the Moscow region due to acute heart failure at the age of 58.

As Ivan Safronov wrote earlier in the article “Intelligence Among Our Own”, posted on the portal of the Kommersant publishing house, competent persons first of all named one of his deputies as the new head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation instead of the deceased Igor Sergun .

Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Sergun’s family and friends, calling him a man of great courage. Expressing condolences to the general’s family and colleagues, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that it was under his leadership that “the Russian military intelligence system received its further development, functioned with proper efficiency, and promptly identified new challenges and threats to the security of the Russian Federation.”

Let us note that General Sergun headed the GRU immediately after the reforms of Alexander Shlyakhturov. The reform provided for a reduction in the number of special forces brigades, as well as the transfer of some units to the subordination of military districts. According to a General Staff officer, after the appointment of Sergei Shoigu as head of the military department, Igor Sergun carried out a structural reorganization of the GRU, rolling back some of the changes of his former chief.Already in February-March 2014, the special service played one of the main roles in the operation to annex Crimea to Russia.

Sources close to the General Staff note that the new head of military intelligence will lead an extremely effective and balanced department, the creation of which is “the merit of Igor Dmitrievich Sergun.” The head of the GRU, Sergun, has had at least four deputies in recent years, about whom little is known.

General Vyacheslav Kondrashov

in 2011, he was already deputy to the previous head of the GRU, Alexander Shlyakhturov; in May of the same year, he presented a report at the Academy of the General Staff on the tactical and technical characteristics of ballistic missiles in service in the countries of the Near and Middle East (including Iran and North Korea) .

General Sergey Gizunov

Before his appointment to the central apparatus of the GRU, he headed the 85th main center of the special service, and at the end of 2009 he became a laureate of the Russian Government Prize in the field of science and technology.

Igor Lelin

in May 2000, with the rank of colonel, he was the military attache of the Russian Federation in Estonia (he was mentioned in a report by a local publication dedicated to the laying of flowers at the memorial to liberating soldiers on Tõnismägi Square), by 2013 he received the rank of major general and worked as deputy head of the main department personnel of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. In 2014 he was transferred to the GRU.

The fourth deputy of Igor Sergun was General Igor Korobov. There is no mention of his participation in any public events, Igor Korobov’s biography is a “closed seal” secret, but it was he who was called a “serious person” in the media and considered the most likely candidate for the vacated post.

What is reliably known about the new head of the GRU?

What details of Igor Korobov’s biography are still known?

He was awarded the Order “For Services to the Fatherland”, 4th degree, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of Courage, the Order “For Military Merit”, the Order “For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces”, 3rd degree and the Medal “For Courage”.

It is difficult to construct a detailed biography, but the key points can be outlined. Let's skip the school years. It is known that Igor Korobov graduated with honors from the flight department of the Stavropol Higher Military Aviation School of Air Defense Pilots and Navigators (1973-1977) and received the rank of lieutenant. To serve, he was assigned to the 518th Fighter Aviation Berlin Order of Suvorov Regiment (Talagi airfield, Arkhangelsk) of the 10th Separate Red Banner Air Defense Army.

Young pilots who arrived in the regiment from the Stavropol school - lieutenants Faezov, Anokhin, Korobov, Patrikeev, Zaporozhtsev, Syrovatkin, Tkachenko, Fatkulin and Tyurin - spent the first year retraining for new equipment in the third squadron of the regiment. After this they were assigned to the first and second squadrons. Lieutenant Korobov ended up in the second.

Two-seat Tu-128 long-range loitering interceptors (a total of five regiments in the USSR Air Defense Fighter Aviation were equipped with them) covered the areas of Novaya Zemlya, Norilsk, Khatanga, Tiksi, Yakutsk, etc. In those directions, there were “gaps” in the single radar field and there were very few alternate airfields, which made the “carcass” the only effective means of covering the country’s air borders.

Second squadron of the 518th Berlin Aviation Order of Suvorov Regiment. The squadron commander and his deputy are sitting. Standing on the far right is senior lieutenant Igor Korobov (between the pilots - “Korobok”). Talagi airfield, Arkhangelsk, late 1970s.

In 1980, a personnel officer from the central apparatus of the GRU came to the regiment, began to study personal files, and selected two SVVAULSH graduates from 1977 - Viktor Anokhin and Igor Korobov. At the interview, Viktor Anokhin refused the offer to change his job profile. Igor Korobov agreed.

In 1981, Igor Korobov entered the Military Diplomatic Academy with a specialization in military intelligence.

Then - in various positions in the GRU, he was the first deputy head of the Main Directorate, supervising strategic intelligence issues - all of the department's foreign residencies were under his jurisdiction.

In February 2016, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Apparently, the Ministry of Defense was inclined towards the option that would allow maintaining continuity in the work of the special service, which General Sergun had been building in recent years.

Sources in the military department told Kommersant that the new head of the GRU will be an active intelligence officer, and not someone from other law enforcement agencies. According to them, the candidacies of several deputies of Igor Sergun, who died suddenly on January 3 in the Moscow region due to acute heart failure, were considered as a priority.

According to Kommersant's information, the GRU feared that a security officer from other structures (for example, from the Federal Security Service or the Foreign Intelligence Service), who had not previously encountered the peculiarities of the work of military intelligence, could be appointed as the new leader.

The General Staff and the Ministry of Defense considered that continuity was necessary for the stable functioning of the department.

New headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate outside and inside

Currently, the GRU is actively involved in planning Russia’s military air operation in Syria, and also provides space, electronic and human intelligence data to the country’s top military-political leadership.

Given the importance of this work, it can be assumed that the new head of the GRU enjoys the full confidence of the Russian leadership.

GRU structure

It is difficult to judge the current structure of the GRU, but judging by open sources, the GRU includes 12-14 main departments and about ten auxiliary departments. Let's name the main ones.

The first Directorate includes the countries of the European Commonwealth (except Great Britain).

Second Directorate - the Americas, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Third Directorate – Asian countries.

Fourth Directorate – African countries.

The Fifth Directorate deals with operational intelligence.

Sixth – radio intelligence.

The Seventh Directorate works for NATO.

Eighth Directorate – sabotage (SpN).

The Ninth Directorate deals with military technology.

Tenth – military economy.

Eleventh – strategic doctrines and weapons.

Twelfth – ensuring information wars.

In addition, there are auxiliary departments and departments, including the space intelligence department, personnel department, operational and technical department, administrative and technical department, external relations department, archive department and information service.

General military training of GRU officers is carried out at the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School. Specialties:

“use of military reconnaissance units”

“use of special reconnaissance units” .

Special training for GRU officers is at the Military-Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Faculties:

strategic human intelligence,

agent-operational intelligence,

operational-tactical reconnaissance .

The structure of the GRU also includes research institutes, including the famous 6th and 18th Central Research Institutes in Moscow.

2018-11-22T21:22:11+05:00 Alex Zarubin Analysis - forecast Defense of the Fatherland Figures and faces army, biography, military operations, GRU, intelligence, RussiaThe GRU has a new chief - General Igor Korobov (biography raises many questions) Lieutenant General Igor Korobov was appointed head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. This was reported to the Russian Ministry of Defense. “The corresponding decision has been made, Igor Korobov has been appointed head of the GRU,” explained a representative of the Ministry of Defense. “On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented General Korobov with a personal...Alex Zarubin Alex Zarubin [email protected] Author In the Middle of Russia