Soviet intelligence is the best in the world. None of these structures on the planet can boast of such a number of brilliantly conducted operations in its entire history - one theft of US nuclear technologies is worth something!
Can the CIA, or Mossad, or MI6 oppose anyone to Soviet intelligence officers of the class Artur Artuzov (Operations Trust and Syndicate 2), Rudolf Abel, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Kim Philby, Richard Sorge, Aldrich Ames or Gevork Vartanyan? They can. Agent 007. Operations carried out by Soviet intelligence are studied in all special schools in the world. And among this brilliant galaxy it is impossible to name the most-most. In one article, the idea is substantiated that the best Soviet intelligence officer is Kim Philby, in another they call Richard Sorge. Gevork Vartanyan, who outplayed the Abwehr, according to authoritative and unbiased estimates, is one of the hundred best intelligence officers in the world. And the aforementioned Artur Artuzov, in addition to dozens of brilliantly conducted operations, at some time supervised the work of such outstanding Soviet intelligence officers as Shandor Rado and Richard Sorge, Yan Chernyak, Rudolf Gernstadt and Hadji-Umar Mamsurov. Books have been written about the exploits on the invisible front of each of them.
the luckiest
For example, the Soviet intelligence officer Yan Chernyak. In 1941, he managed to get the Barbarossa plan, and in 1943, the plan for the offensive of the German army near Kursk. Jan Chernyak created a powerful intelligence network, not a single member of which was ever exposed by the Gestapo - in 11 years of work, his Krona group did not have a single failure. According to unconfirmed reports, his agent was the movie star of the Third Reich, Marika Rökk. In 1944 alone, his group sent 60 samples of radio equipment and 12,500 sheets of technical documentation to Moscow. He died in retirement in 1995. The hero of the USSR. Served as a prototype of Stirlitz (Colonel Maxim Isaev).
invisible front
The Soviet intelligence officer Khadzh-Umar Mamsurov, who participated under the pseudonym Colonel Xanthi in the Spanish Civil War, served as the prototype for one of the characters in Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Recently, a lot of materials about Soviet intelligence have been declassified, making it possible to understand what the secret of its phenomenal victories is. It is very interesting to read about this structure and its brightest employees and collaborators. Few people know about many of them. Only recently, the Russia 1 channel launched a project that tells amazing stories about the legendary exploits of Soviet intelligence officers.
Hundreds of little-known and unknown heroes
For example, the film “Kill the Gauleiter. An order for three" tells the story of three young scouts - Nadezhda Troyan, Maria Osipova and Elena Mazanik - who carried out the order to destroy the executioner of Belarus Wilhelm Kube. Soviet intelligence officer Pavel Fitin was the first to report to the Kremlin about plans for a German attack on the Soviet Union. There are a lot of them - heroes of the invisible front. Some remain in the shadows for the time being, others, due to the circumstances, are known and loved by the people.
Legendary Scout and Partisan
Often this is facilitated by well-produced films with talented and charming actors and well-written books, such as, for example, about Nikolai Kuznetsov. The stories “It was near Rovno” and “Strong in spirit” by D.N. Medvedev were read by all children in the Union. The Soviet intelligence officer of the Second World War, Nikolai Kuznetsov, who personally destroyed 11 generals and bosses of Nazi Germany, was known, without exaggeration, to every citizen of the USSR, and at one time he was generally the most famous Soviet intelligence officer. Moreover, his features are guessed in the collective image of the hero of the legendary Soviet film "The feat of the scout", which is still quoted.
Real events and facts
In general, the Soviet intelligence officers of the Second World War are surrounded by a halo of glory, because the cause for which they worked and very often gave their lives ended in a great victory for the Red Army. And that is why films about intelligence officers who penetrated the Abwehr or other fascist structures are so popular. But the scripts were not at all far-fetched. The plots of the paintings “The Way to Saturn” and “The End of Saturn” are based on the story of intelligence officer A.I. Kozlov, who rose to the rank of captain in the Abwehr. He is called the most mysterious agent.
Legendary Sorge
In connection with films about Soviet intelligence officers, one cannot but recall the film by the French director Yves Champi “Who are you, Dr. Sorge?” The legendary Soviet intelligence officer, who was in Japan during the Second World War and created a powerful ramified agent network there, who had the nickname Ramsay, told Stalin the date of the German attack on the Soviet Union. The film spurred interest both in the actor Thomas Holtzman and in Richard Sorge himself, about whom few knew at that time. Then articles about him began to appear in the press, and for a while the Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the organization in Japan, Richard Sorge, became very popular. The fate of this resident is tragic - he was executed in the courtyard of Tokyo's Sugamo Prison in 1944. The entire residency of Sorge in Japan was failed. His grave is in the same place where he was executed. The first Soviet person to put flowers on his grave was the writer and journalist Vsevolod Ovchinnikov.
Traded for Powers
At the beginning of the film "Dead Season" Rudolf Abel addresses the audience. The prototype of the intelligence officer, who was beautifully played by Donatas Banionis, was another famous Soviet intelligence officer, Konon the Young. Both he and Rudolf Abel failed in the United States as a result of the betrayal of their partners, were sentenced to long terms and exchanged for American intelligence officers (the famous exchange scene on the bridge in the film). For a while, Rudolf Abel, who was exchanged for the American pilot F. G. Powers, becomes the most discussed intelligence officer. His work in the states since 1948 was so effective that already in 1949 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in his homeland.
Cambridge Five
The Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the organization known as the "Cambridge Five", Arnold Deutch recruited major high-ranking officials of British intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work for the Soviet Union. Allen Dulles called this organization "the most powerful intelligence group of the Second World War."
Kim Philby (nickname Stanley) and Donald McLean (Homer), Anthony Blunt (Johnson), Guy Burges (Hicks) and John Cairncross - all of them, due to their high position, possessed the most valuable information, and therefore the effectiveness of the group's work was high. Kim Philby is called the most famous and most important Soviet intelligence officer.
The legendary "Red Chapel"
Another Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the Red Chapel organization, the Polish Jew Leopold Trepper, entered the annals of our country's intelligence. This organization was a horror for the Germans, they respectfully called Trepper the Big Chief. The largest and most effective Soviet intelligence network operated in many European countries. The history of many members of this organization is very tragic. To combat it, the Germans created a special Sonderkommando, which was personally led by Hitler.
Many known, many unknown
There are many lists of Soviet intelligence officers, there are also five of the most successful. It includes Richard Sorge, Kim Philby, Aldridge Ames, Ivan Agayants and Lev Manevich (he worked in Italy in the 30s). In other lists other surnames are called. Robert Hanssen, an FBI officer in the 70s and 80s, is often mentioned. Obviously, it is impossible to name the most, since Russia has always had more than enough enemies, and there have always been a lot of people who gave their lives in a secret fight against them. And the names of a large number of intelligence officers are still classified as "secret".
Soviet intelligence is the best in the world. None of these structures on the planet can boast of such a number of brilliantly conducted operations in its entire history - one theft of US nuclear technologies is worth something!
Can the CIA, or Mossad, or MI6 oppose anyone to Soviet intelligence officers of the class Artur Artuzov (Operations Trust and Syndicate 2), Rudolf Abel, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Kim Philby, Richard Sorge, Aldrich Ames or Gevork Vartanyan? They can. Agent 007. Operations carried out by Soviet intelligence are studied in all special schools in the world. And among this brilliant galaxy it is impossible to name the most-most. In one article, the idea is substantiated that the best Soviet intelligence officer is Kim Philby, in another they call Richard Sorge. Gevork Vartanyan, who outplayed the Abwehr, according to authoritative and unbiased estimates, is one of the hundred best intelligence officers in the world. And the aforementioned Artur Artuzov, in addition to dozens of brilliantly conducted operations, at some time supervised the work of such outstanding Soviet intelligence officers as Shandor Rado and Richard Sorge, Yan Chernyak, Rudolf Gernstadt and Hadji-Umar Mamsurov. Books have been written about the exploits on the invisible front of each of them.
the luckiest
For example, the Soviet intelligence officer Yan Chernyak. In 1941, he managed to get the Barbarossa plan, and in 1943, the plan for the offensive of the German army near Kursk. Jan Chernyak created a powerful intelligence network, not a single member of which was ever exposed by the Gestapo - in 11 years of work, his Krona group did not have a single failure. According to unconfirmed reports, his agent was the movie star of the Third Reich, Marika Rökk. In 1944 alone, his group sent 60 samples of radio equipment and 12,500 sheets of technical documentation to Moscow. He died in retirement in 1995. The hero of the USSR. Served as a prototype of Stirlitz (Colonel Maxim Isaev).
invisible front
The Soviet intelligence officer Khadzh-Umar Mamsurov, who participated under the pseudonym Colonel Xanthi in the Spanish Civil War, served as the prototype for one of the characters in Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Recently, a lot of materials about Soviet intelligence have been declassified, making it possible to understand what the secret of its phenomenal victories is. It is very interesting to read about this structure and its brightest employees and collaborators. Few people know about many of them. Only recently, the Russia 1 channel launched a project that tells amazing stories about the legendary exploits of Soviet intelligence officers.
Hundreds of little-known and unknown heroes
For example, the film “Kill the Gauleiter. An order for three" tells the story of three young scouts - Nadezhda Troyan, Maria Osipova and Elena Mazanik - who carried out the order to destroy the executioner of Belarus Wilhelm Kube. Soviet intelligence officer Pavel Fitin was the first to report to the Kremlin about plans for a German attack on the Soviet Union. There are a lot of them - heroes of the invisible front. Some remain in the shadows for the time being, others, due to the circumstances, are known and loved by the people.
Legendary Scout and Partisan
Often this is facilitated by well-produced films with talented and charming actors and well-written books, such as, for example, about Nikolai Kuznetsov. The stories “It was near Rovno” and “Strong in spirit” by D.N. Medvedev were read by all children in the Union. The Soviet intelligence officer of the Second World War, Nikolai Kuznetsov, who personally destroyed 11 generals and bosses of Nazi Germany, was known, without exaggeration, to every citizen of the USSR, and at one time he was generally the most famous Soviet intelligence officer. Moreover, his features are guessed in the collective image of the hero of the legendary Soviet film "The feat of the scout", which is still quoted.
Real events and facts
In general, the Soviet intelligence officers of the Second World War are surrounded by a halo of glory, because the cause for which they worked and very often gave their lives ended in a great victory for the Red Army. And that is why films about intelligence officers who penetrated the Abwehr or other fascist structures are so popular. But the scripts were not at all far-fetched. The plots of the paintings “The Way to Saturn” and “The End of Saturn” are based on the story of intelligence officer A.I. Kozlov, who rose to the rank of captain in the Abwehr. He is called the most mysterious agent.
Legendary Sorge
In connection with films about Soviet intelligence officers, one cannot but recall the film by the French director Yves Champi “Who are you, Dr. Sorge?” The legendary Soviet intelligence officer, who was in Japan during the Second World War and created a powerful ramified agent network there, who had the nickname Ramsay, told Stalin the date of the German attack on the Soviet Union. The film spurred interest both in the actor Thomas Holtzman and in Richard Sorge himself, about whom few knew at that time. Then articles about him began to appear in the press, and for a while the Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the organization in Japan, Richard Sorge, became very popular. The fate of this resident is tragic - he was executed in the courtyard of Tokyo's Sugamo Prison in 1944. The entire residency of Sorge in Japan was failed. His grave is in the same place where he was executed. The first Soviet person to put flowers on his grave was the writer and journalist Vsevolod Ovchinnikov.
Traded for Powers
At the beginning of the film "Dead Season" Rudolf Abel addresses the audience. The prototype of the intelligence officer, who was beautifully played by Donatas Banionis, was another famous Soviet intelligence officer, Konon the Young. Both he and Rudolf Abel failed in the United States as a result of the betrayal of their partners, were sentenced to long terms and exchanged for American intelligence officers (the famous exchange scene on the bridge in the film). For a while, Rudolf Abel, who was exchanged for the American pilot F. G. Powers, becomes the most discussed intelligence officer. His work in the states since 1948 was so effective that already in 1949 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in his homeland.
Cambridge Five
The Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the organization known as the "Cambridge Five", Arnold Deutch recruited major high-ranking officials of British intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work for the Soviet Union. Allen Dulles called this organization "the most powerful intelligence group of the Second World War."
Kim Philby (nickname Stanley) and Donald McLean (Homer), Anthony Blunt (Johnson), Guy Burges (Hicks) and John Cairncross - all of them, due to their high position, possessed the most valuable information, and therefore the effectiveness of the group's work was high. Kim Philby is called the most famous and most important Soviet intelligence officer.
The legendary "Red Chapel"
Another Soviet intelligence officer, the head of the Red Chapel organization, the Polish Jew Leopold Trepper, entered the annals of our country's intelligence. This organization was a horror for the Germans, they respectfully called Trepper the Big Chief. The largest and most effective Soviet intelligence network operated in many European countries. The history of many members of this organization is very tragic. To combat it, the Germans created a special Sonderkommando, which was personally led by Hitler.
Many known, many unknown
There are many lists of Soviet intelligence officers, there are also five of the most successful. It includes Richard Sorge, Kim Philby, Aldridge Ames, Ivan Agayants and Lev Manevich (he worked in Italy in the 30s). In other lists other surnames are called. Robert Hanssen, an FBI officer in the 70s and 80s, is often mentioned. Obviously, it is impossible to name the most, since Russia has always had more than enough enemies, and there have always been a lot of people who gave their lives in a secret fight against them. And the names of a large number of intelligence officers are still classified as "secret".
How did the first reconnaissance satellites transmit photographs?
In the first series of American and Soviet reconnaissance satellites, the recording was carried out on ordinary photographic film. After filling, the container with the film was dropped to the Earth. Capsules from the American satellites "Corona" were able to both land and splash down, and could also be caught by an airplane right in the air. The containers from the Soviet Zenith satellites were equipped with an auto-detonation system if it landed on foreign territory.
What detail in carefully forged Soviet passports betrayed German spies?
During World War II, several German agents were exposed because of a small detail. The spies were very carefully trained and had immaculately forged Soviet passports. However, the passport clips were made of stainless steel, and upon inspection, it was immediately noticeable that there was no rust characteristic of Soviet documents in the places where the pages were fastened. For the same reason, more than one American spy was caught during the Cold War.
Where did the expression "the last Chinese warning" come from?
In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for the purpose of reconnaissance. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a “warning” to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed, and such warnings were counted by the hundreds. This policy has given rise to the expression "the last Chinese warning", meaning threats without consequences.
How did British intelligence deceive Hitler so that the Allies could capture Sicily without interference?
In April 1943, a body in the uniform of a major in the British Marine Corps was discovered on the Spanish coast. Handcuffed to his wrist was a suitcase containing secret documents about the plans for the Allied invasion of Greece. As Spain was overrun with German agents, the documents quickly got to Hitler, and he ordered preparations for the defense of Greece and Sardinia instead of Sicily, as Mussolini called for. However, the allies landed precisely in Sicily and took possession of the island without much effort. It turned out that it was for this purpose that this operation, code-named Minced Meat, was carried out by British intelligence, putting on a military uniform on the body of a homeless man who committed suicide, and delivering him to Spain on a submarine.
How did the gift of Soviet schoolchildren to the American ambassador in 1945 help our special services?
In 1945, Soviet schoolchildren presented the American ambassador with a wooden panel made of precious woods depicting the US coat of arms. Neither the schoolchildren nor the ambassador knew that a listening device was installed in the panel, the design of which was developed by Lev Theremin. The "bug" was so well hidden that the American intelligence services did not notice anything, and the Soviets listened in on conversations in the ambassador's office for another 8 years. After the discovery, the device was presented to the UN as evidence of the intelligence activities of the USSR, but the principle of its operation remained unsolved for several more years.
The expression that the one who owns the information owns the world is known to everyone. That is why the “profession” of a spy is no less ancient than another well-known occupation. But in this environment, not everything is always decided by money. Sometimes secret agents put their lives on the line for high ideas. In our selection, we have collected 10 of the most mysterious and spies in history.
Richard Sorge
The Soviet intelligence officer of German origin, under the guise of a journalist, carried out secret missions for Soviet intelligence for many years. He spent the last ten years of his life in Japan, a loyal ally of Nazi Germany. There he created a high-class intelligence network, which allowed him to transfer unique secret information to the Soviets. In particular, long before the war, the notorious “Plan Barbarossa”, to which Moscow did not react in any way. In 1941, Richard warned Headquarters that Japan was not going to attack the USSR until the end of 1942. This made it possible for the Soviet government to transfer several fresh divisions from the Far East to the front near Moscow. It was these events that largely predetermined the outcome of the entire war. In 1944, Sorge was declassified by the Japanese and hanged after much torture.
Chevalier d'Eon or Charles de Beaumont
Perhaps one of the most mysterious personalities in history. No one still knows what gender the chevalier was. Rumor has it that, having been born a girl, d'Eon was dressed as a boy from childhood in order to receive an inheritance on the maternal side. Becoming an agent of the secret intelligence network of Louis XV, he carried out secret missions in Russia and England. While in London under the guise of a French creditor, d'Eon aroused considerable interest among the highest circles of the English aristocracy. On the London Stock Exchange, they even made bets on what gender d'Eon belongs to. After the death of the king, Charles put an end to espionage activities. Declaring to everyone that he was still a woman, he went to rest.
Olga Chekhova
The famous actress and relative of the famous Russian writer has long been suspected of collaborating with the USSR, although no official data on this matter has been preserved. Hitler's "muse", a close friend of Goebbels and Mussolini - she was an ideal ally for Soviet intelligence. There is an assumption that it was she who was entrusted with the assassination of Hitler. Subsequently, Stalin personally abandoned this idea, considering the Fuhrer too predictable. What could have happened after his death? Olga Chekhova herself denied any connection with the Soviet Union until the end of her life.
Robert Hanssen
Robert Hannsen has never been an adventurer. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a dentist. On the slippery path of espionage, he was pushed by one thing - the lust for profit. Working as an FBI officer in the main department in New York, at the height of the Cold War, Robert regularly "sold" useful information to the USSR. In general, he handed over about 6,000 secret documents. And he was incredibly careful. No one knew the double agent by sight. Packages with "information" and money were always in different secluded places. Even his wife didn't know anything about his secret life. After the collapse of the USSR, Hanssen continued to cooperate with Russia. In 2001, he was declassified and sentenced to life in prison.
Mata Hari
Margaret Gertrud Zelle was the wife of a respectable husband in Holland. After divorcing him, she moved to Paris and took the pseudonym Mata Hari, which means "sun" or "eye of dawn." She made a living by performing exotic dances. In her lovers, she had the most senior people: politicians, military, officials. Having access to secret documents, Margareta began to sell them to the right people. Many agree that she was not a secret agent at all, but simply a desperate adventurer, thirsty for profit. For this she paid with her life.
Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs was a well-known nuclear physicist who became fascinated with socialism at a young age. After the Nazis came to power, he moved to England, continuing to engage in scientific activities. In the midst of the "nuclear race" between the West and the USSR, the scientist absolutely disinterestedly gave the Soviet residents all the information available to him about the development of the atomic bomb. As a result, the Soviet Union, thanks to the secret information received, developed a new weapon not in 10 years, as expected, but in just three years. The exposed scientist was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After 9 years in prison, Klaus Fuchs was released from prison and sent to the GDR.
Sydney Reilly
This man is deservedly called the "king of espionage". It is also known that he is the prototype of the legendary James Bond. Born in Odessa, Solomon Rosenblum, his real name, left his homeland at the age of 19, sailing aboard an English ship to South America. Subsequently, it turned out that the crew of the ship, under the guise of geological exploration, was performing a secret mission M6. Soon, agent Sydney Reilly, recruited by British intelligence, went to the USSR to spoil the life of the Bolsheviks, which he did very well. He even prepared an assassination attempt on Lenin. But all luck comes to an end. In 1925, Sidney Reilly was caught by NKVD agents and shot.
Kim Philby
Kim Philby was born into the family of an English officer. But unlike his father, the boy had no sympathy for British imperialism. Communism is the future of humanity. While studying at Cambridge, Philby was recruited by Soviet intelligence. Later, he became an agent of the British Army Intelligence and headed the anti-communism department. Of course, throughout his service, he leaked invaluable information to the Soviets. When things started to smell fried, the USSR secretly sent their best agent to Moscow. This was the end of Philby's espionage activities. Being in the heart of world communism, which he had dreamed of for so long, Philby became bored, and he slowly began to drink.
Aldrich Ames
Another virtuoso double agent. But unlike Philby, this man was driven to exploits not by an idea, but by money. Collaborating with the USSR, the head of foreign counterintelligence of the CIA, Aldrich Ames, earned about $ 4,000,000. Thanks to his work, the intelligence network of the United States and many European countries was almost completely destroyed. Aldrich was still a tough nut to crack. When all suspicions of betrayal fell on him, he "cheated" the lie detector several times. However, the CIA still managed to collect evidence of his guilt and put Aldrich Ames in prison for life imprisonment.
Ian Fleming
The famous English writer and "father" of James Bond worked for a long time in the secret service of the Royal Navy. But Fleming didn't like risking his life in real life. But in the fictional world, he became a virtuoso spy.
Recently I received a letter from a former American scout Michael Sellers. He left the CIA and is now working in Hollywood, preparing to make a film about the struggle between Soviet and American intelligence, - says Vladimir Zaitsev. - I participated in the operation to detain Sellers in Moscow in 1986. Now it turns out that I am a celebrity there. And in the 80s, the CIA considered me the main "cleaner" ... This year, my other "acquaintance", Martha Peterson, long retired, wrote a book about her work in Moscow as a CIA officer. I also appear in her memoirs. She then, of course, did not know that the man in the form of a policeman, from whom she skillfully fought off on the Krasnoluzhsky bridge, accompanying karate techniques with an excellent Russian obscenity, was me. At that time we could not calculate it for a long time. Firstly, women scouts had not worked on our territory before. Secondly, she deliberately created for herself the image of a broken woman, who either stood with the guards in an embrace, or rested on the steps with a bottle of whiskey ... And recently, a leading employee of an American structure for the development of military equipment came to us (they once traitor Tolkachev handed over secret data about the electronic filling of Soviet fighters, including those that allow them to elude American aircraft and radars - and Soviet MiGs ceased to be invulnerable). This American directly admits that the KGB was one of the strongest structures in those days, everyone was afraid of him.
Life is like a movie
Yulia Borta, AiF: And now they are not afraid of the FSB?
Vladimir Zaitsev: They are afraid, but the situation has changed. When the USSR ceased to exist in 1991, and with it the KGB, there was such confusion that American intelligence officers walked around the country as if they were in their buffet. During this time, they could acquire sources of information among our citizens, which intelligence is still counting on. In addition, there are no restrictions on travel abroad. It is difficult to predict who and on what they can recruit there ...
But have the methods of work changed? Spies used to have wigs, false mustaches. And now?
These methods still work. Three years ago, an American spy was caught using a wig and a fake mustache. Then, even in the press, an indignant howl arose: they say, the FSB tells us fairy tales - what kind of wigs and mustaches are in our time ?! How else can you change? The same Sellers liked to go out on espionage operations in a ski cap with hair glued under it and with a fake mustache. I even have a photo where he first with a mustache and a hat, and then without them - a completely different person (the attributes of the spy caught by the FSB in 2013 were very similar to those that were confiscated from Sellers at one time, which led our scouts to the idea that they are still manufactured by the same company. - Ed.).
In the mid-80s, Americans were very fond of using inflatable mannequins, and for some time they managed to lead the "outdoor" by the nose. They did this trick like this: as soon as the car with the American intelligence officer was in the “dead zone”, breaking away from surveillance for a moment, he jumped out of the car, and his partner, who was driving, pressed the button, and ... a rubber doll jumped out of the seat. The passion for masquerades among American agents was incredible. Even rubber masks were used, like the one in the famous film by Fantômas. They also liked to dress up in women's dresses. True, this did not save them. Experienced detectives "outdoor" always first memorized the gait of the object, and then all other external signs.
There are many fairy tales about scouts. It's only in the movies that surveillance gets up in the "tail" and follows the alleged spy. But in fact, 20-30 machines could work behind one object.
Detention of Martha Peterson. Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Atamanenko
- How did you treat employees of foreign special services?
Sincerely. They did their job, we did ours. Traitors are another matter: such people deserve neither justification nor indulgence. Especially when they began to actively use ampoules with poison. For example, traitor gardener poisoned his wife with poison obtained from American intelligence when she began to suspect his espionage. And during the detention, according to one version, he committed suicide with the help of poison hidden in the pen. After that, all those suspected of espionage immediately after the arrest were changed and their personal belongings were taken away. So, when they took another traitor, Smetanin, they noticed that he was always reaching for his glasses, although he was not at all short-sighted. It turned out that there was also poison in the temples of the glasses: if he touched them with his hands, the poison would instantly penetrate the skin and kill him. In such cases, when innocent people could die, it was necessary to act harshly.
People don't lie
- Work in "Alpha" was not limited to catching spies?
The range of tasks was very wide. They helped the criminal investigation department to catch bandits, went to Chekist-military operations, neutralized terrorists. They even collected information from the population. Let's say that some decision was made in the Central Committee, the party leaders need to find out: how do people feel about it? Little was believed in the reports that were sent from the district committees and regional committees. For example, the district committee receives information that there will soon be a storm at the plant, but does not want to show the authorities that it is not coping, and in the report it writes about 2-3 renegades who are making trouble for the people. And there, in fact, the entire working team is close to rebellion. He sent employees “to the people”: someone on a long-distance train started a conversation with fellow travelers, others “walked” around Moscow ... And we transmitted information firsthand, without smoothing, so that we could make adjustments and reassure people.
Michael Sellers, a CIA agent who worked undercover as the 2nd Secretary of the US Embassy, was detained on March 10, 1986 during a meeting with KGB Major S. Vorontsov. Sellers handed over to the Americans samples of the "spy dust" used by Soviet counterintelligence officers to process the cars of American diplomats suspected of espionage.
Marta Peterson was caught in 1977 while laying a hiding place for the traitor A. Ogorodnik, an assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. The secret services led her from the embassy itself. In the cinema, where she came under the guise of a spectator, the spy managed to put on a black suit over a bright white dress, completely transformed. Connoisseurs identified her by her gait and caught her red-handed.
Thank you for your help in preparing the material Igor Atamanenko, writer and historian of special services, lieutenant colonel of the KGB of the USSR.
