Significant operations of Soviet foreign intelligence. Ghost Warriors

Many major battles, coups, revolutions, a variety of socio-political and economic upheavals in history often became possible only thanks to successfully carried out special operations.

Some operations involved dozens, even hundreds of people, while others were carried out by only one person. Many have thundered throughout the world, while some are practically unknown to anyone.

In any case, each masterly special operation was a complex set of precisely calibrated actions and therefore subsequently always aroused special interest.

Operations "Trust", "Syndicate-2"

In November 1922, the Red Army liberated the Far East from the interventionists, but American and Japanese agents settled in the territory of Primorye and the Far East, and underground sabotage and terrorist formations continued to operate actively.

Intelligence against Japan and China was initially carried out only by authorized representative offices of the OGPU in the Far East. In 1923, residencies were created in Beijing and Harbin. Soon they began to receive information not only about the activities of the White Guard emigration, but also about Japan and China.

Operation "Information of our days"

Before the rupture of diplomatic relations between England and the USSR in 1927, a “legal” station operated in London, from which important political information was received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, various political parties, and British counterintelligence.

In 1933, illegal intelligence officer A. Deitch was sent to London, who actually led the work of the illegal station. In 1933, an outstanding illegal intelligence officer, D. Bystroletov, was sent to him and was tasked with recruiting a cryptographer from the British Foreign Ministry. This recruitment took place in 1934, resulting in foreign intelligence gaining access to British diplomatic secrets.

"Tarantella" was intended to promote targeted information to the ruling circles of Great Britain, as a result of which the Kremlin had a unique opportunity to help ensure the desired foreign policy course and basic economic programs.

Moreover, the goal of Operation Tarantella, the active phase of which took place in 1930-1934, was to hinder and suppress the activities of the British intelligence service "Intelligence Service" in the USSR, block the operational activities of this special service, and keep its communications and couriers under control. During Operation Tarantella, Soviet intelligence had access to information received from Polish and Romanian intelligence services. Some of these materials gave an idea of the awareness of Western intelligence services regarding the state of the USSR Armed Forces and its strategic facilities, which was taken into account when carrying out measures to protect state secrets, identifying and blocking possible channels for leaking this kind of data.

"Tarantella" made it possible to learn about the secret preparations of the German aviation industry for the start of mass production of bombers and fighters.

Operation Berezino.

In the summer of 1944, the largest offensive operation of the Red Army unfolded, as a result of which Belarus was completely liberated from the Nazis.

However, individual German units that found themselves surrounded tried to get out of it. Most of them were destroyed or captured. Intelligence took advantage of this circumstance, starting a new radio game with the enemy, called “Berezino”.

Operation Enormous

Scientists in Germany, England, the USA, France and other countries began to seriously study the problem of splitting the atomic nucleus and obtaining a new source of atomic energy since 1939. Similar work was carried out by nuclear scientists in the Soviet Union. However, the outbreak of war and the evacuation of scientific institutes interrupted work on the creation of atomic weapons in our country. The presence of a strong school of physics in Germany testified to the danger of the appearance of atomic weapons and the need to determine the reality of creating such weapons not only in Germany, but also in other countries.

Therefore, foreign intelligence was tasked with providing information to the country's leadership about ongoing work to create nuclear weapons in other countries and obtaining scientific and technical information on this topic to facilitate the creation of similar weapons in the USSR.

"Exploration and creation of atomic weapons". History of the SVR - Events.
"Intelligence Legend", Russia, 01/11/2001.
“Russia is doing it itself”, Newspaper, 08/31/2004.
“A brilliant organizer, scientist, intelligence officer,” Intelligence and counterintelligence news, 05/26/2005.

Operation "Combat"

At the beginning of 1947, the Roman residency received an assignment from Moscow to obtain a new piece of British military equipment - an anti-aircraft artillery shell with a high degree of destruction of moving targets. It was necessary to obtain technical information about this projectile, codenamed “Boy,” and, if possible, samples of it.

Operation Berlin Tunnel

The history of the Berlin Tunnel, which received the Anglo-American name Operation Gold, became one of the most notorious intelligence operations of the Cold War. This is the largest intelligence operation of the American and British intelligence services to penetrate the communications of the Soviets and the GDR using a tunnel dug deep under the Soviet sector.

“Representatives of Soviet foreign intelligence and the CIA shared the truth about the confrontation between their special services in Berlin in the post-war period “within the framework of declassified archives”, RIA Novosti, 03/14/2000.

Operation to resolve the Cuban missile crisis

The victory of the anti-Batista revolution in Cuba in 1959 and the rise to power of the progressive regime led by Fidel Castro aroused hostility from the United States, which was accustomed to viewing Latin America as its backyard.

In this regard, in 1960, the Center set the foreign intelligence station the task of obtaining reliable political information revealing the secret aggressive plans of the United States regarding Cuba. Soviet intelligence officers, in coordination with Cuban partners, developed and successfully carried out a number of activities on the eve and during the Cuban missile crisis to disrupt and counter the subversive activities of American intelligence services. The danger of a direct armed conflict that could escalate into a nuclear one was averted.

The victory at Stalingrad, Kursk and other battles that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers won were the result of the hard work of Soviet intelligence officers, who, spending years of service next to the enemy, informed ours about the time of the attack, the location of the attack, and the number of the enemy.

An interesting selection of stories about battles and the activities of Soviet intelligence officers in them.

OPERATION NEAR KURSK

Largely thanks to the work of military intelligence officers, Soviet troops won the Battle of Kursk. By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, front-line intelligence agencies controlled almost all movements of enemy troops, and a large number of reconnaissance and sabotage groups operated in their rear.

Intelligence activities on the eve of the Battle of Kursk made it possible to unravel the enemy’s plan, as well as to find out the timing of the start of Operation Citadel. Despite the fact that they were postponed from May 3 to May 15, and then even further, it was military reconnaissance that precisely established that the offensive would begin at 3 hours 50 minutes on July 5, 1943. It was this circumstance that allowed the Soviet command to decide to conduct artillery counter-training on to an enemy preparing to attack.

For six days, the Germans tried to break through with tank divisions in the direction of Tomarovka, Oboyan, Kursk, but to no avail. On July 11, they decided to regroup their forces in the direction of Prokhorovka. But thanks to intelligence officers, information about this was brought to the Soviet command within a few hours.

On the night of July 12, the enemy changed the direction of the main attack from Oboyan to Prokhorovka. Intelligence reported that the SS tank divisions “Wiking”, “Great Germany”, “Totenkopf” and “Adolf Hitler” had turned from the Oboyan direction and were moving towards Prokhorovka. These data were reported to the commander of the front troops, Army General N.F. Vatutin. At this time, he gave the order to transfer the army from the Prokhorovka area to the Oboyan direction. However, thanks to the data received, the front commander canceled his previous order and ordered the tank army to be prepared for a counter battle with the advancing enemy tank divisions. As a result, the tank battle near Prokhorovka that unfolded on July 12 ended in victory for the Soviet troops.

Georgy Zhukov, assessing the work of military intelligence during the Battle of Kursk, wrote: “Thanks to the brilliant work of Soviet intelligence in the spring of 1943, we had a number of important information about the grouping of German troops before the summer offensive... Well-functioning intelligence was also one of the factors in the sum of the reasons that ensured the success of this greatest battle."

NEAR MOSCOW

Military reconnaissance forces played an important role in the Battle of Moscow. From July 1 to August 1, 1941, about 500 reconnaissance officers, 17 partisan detachments, and 29 reconnaissance and sabotage groups were transferred behind enemy lines. The intelligence officers obtained information that allowed them to receive timely information about the transfer of enemy troops.

In addition to reconnaissance operations, the scouts carried out sabotage operations, destroying highways and bridges over water barriers, which prevented the Germans from using their reserves. “During the battle of Moscow, we knew enough about the enemy to accurately determine the plan, nature and direction of his actions. We knew the degree of tension of the fascist German troops along the entire front of their offensive.

Therefore, the Soviet High Command decided to launch a counteroffensive near Moscow at the most suitable moment for this,” said Army General S.M. Shtemenko, who in 1941 was deputy chief of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff.

OPERATION "MONASTERY"

Operation "Monastery" was one of the most successful operations of the Soviet intelligence services during the Great Patriotic War. This operation lasted 4 years from 1941 to 1944.

At the very beginning of the Patriotic War, the need arose to penetrate the intelligence network of the Abwehr (German military intelligence and counterintelligence agency) operating on the territory of the USSR. Lieutenant General Sudoplatov and his assistants Ilyin and Maklyarsky decided to create a legend about the existence in the USSR of a certain organization that welcomed the victory of the Germans and wanted to help them.

It was decided to use Soviet intelligence officer Alexander Demyanov, who already had contacts with German agents. He was transported across the front line, where, having surrendered to the Nazis, he introduced himself as a representative of the Throne organization, which allegedly advocated for the victory of the Germans. The Germans subjected Demyanov to thorough checks and interrogations. In addition, an execution was even simulated.

As a result, German intelligence believed him. Demyanov was later transferred to USSR-controlled territory, where he allegedly got a job as a liaison officer under the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Shaposhnikov. Through this agent, the NKVD supplied the German command with disinformation. The disinformation that was supplied to the Germans was often returned to the Soviet intelligence services as intelligence information from other sources, for example, through British intelligence. The most striking example of such disinformation was the message about the impending offensive of Soviet troops in the Rzhev area. Troops under the command of Zhukov were transferred there. The Germans also sent large forces here. Interestingly, even Zhukov himself did not know about the hidden game. The Germans managed to repulse the attack, but the strategic offensive at Stalingrad, which began on November 19, 1942, unexpectedly for the Germans, ended in complete victory for the Soviet troops. The 300,000-strong enemy army led by Field Marshal Paulus was destroyed or captured.
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LIQUIDATION OF CUBE

Soviet military intelligence officers actively participated in sabotage operations in enemy-occupied territories. One of the most notorious acts of sabotage carried out by military intelligence partisans was the liquidation of the Gauleiter of Belarus V. Kube in Minsk in 1943. The conduct of this operation was entrusted to intelligence officer N.P. Fedorov. The direct executors of the action are E.G. Mazanik, who worked as a servant in the house of V. Kube, and M.B. Osipova, who handed her a mine with a chemical fuse. The mine was placed under the mattress of the Gauleiter's bed, and at 2:20 a.m. on September 22, 1943, V. Kube was killed. For this feat E.G. Mazanik and M.B. Osipova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and N.P. Fedorov was awarded the Order of Lenin.

UNDER STALINGRAD

Military reconnaissance, even before the start of the German offensive on Stalingrad in July 1942, revealed the grouping of enemy troops in the first line with battalion-level accuracy, their defense system, and established the composition and battle order of many formations in front of the front of our troops.

The reconnaissance officers received valuable information about the composition, armament, and deployment of the main units of the 4th and 6th German tank armies, the 3rd Romanian and 8th Italian armies, and the size of the enemy's 4th air fleet. Radio reconnaissance revealed the transfer of the 24th Tank Division to the breakthrough area (44 km southeast of Kletskaya), the transfer of an assault squadron and two groups of the Edelweiss bomber squadron from the North Caucasus, and the composition of the encircled enemy group was revealed.

Aerial reconnaissance promptly revealed the transfer of two tank divisions from the North Caucasus to the Kotelnikovo area. The data obtained allowed the Soviet command to make the right decisions, organize a counteroffensive in November 1942 and win the Battle of Stalingrad, thereby marking the beginning of a radical change in the course of the war.

Soviet intelligence operations carried out in the West are quite widely known. Intelligence veterans, foreign historians, journalists, and defectors wrote about them.

Meanwhile, during the Civil War, as well as after its end, Soviet intelligence carried out many interesting and important operations.

Let's talk about one operation that took place shortly after the Civil War, when the situation in the Far East was still unstable. In October 1922, the Red Army under the command of I.P. Uborevich was liberated by Spassk, Volochaevsk and Khabarovsk, as well as Vladivostok. The scattered remnants of the White Army retreated to Korea, Shanghai and Manchuria. However, American and Japanese agents settled in the territory of Primorye and the Far East, and underground sabotage and terrorist formations continued to operate actively.

More than a year has passed since the liberation of the Far East from the invaders, but the situation in the region continued to remain turbulent. Large, well-armed detachments of terrorists were active, hiding in the forests and attacking villages, cooperatives, small police stations, transport carrying money, mail and food, cutting communication lines, blowing up bridges. In some areas they felt almost like absolute masters. In these speeches, an invisible guiding hand and a certain “handwriting” were visible. However, it was impossible to find out from the captured terrorists who led them. Only a few of those arrested muttered inaudibly about some kind of “Taiga Headquarters.” But no one knew where this headquarters was, who commanded it, how communication was maintained between it and the underground formations.

Finally, the captured former white officer said that the “Taiga Headquarters” really existed, although its exact location was unknown to him. It was possible to establish one important detail: the headquarters is not the last resort. All instructions, money, weapons were sent from Harbin. There we should have looked for the leadership center of the underground.

Harbin was considered the main city of the CER zone - the Chinese Eastern Railway, which was under the jurisdiction of Russia. Harbin was called the capital of “Yellow Russia”. Now the remnants of Kolchak’s army, the troops of Ataman Semenov, Baron Ungern, Dieterichs, and many refugees were concentrated here.

The emigration lived its own life: the rich, who managed to take out their property or grab someone else’s, prospered, the poor were poor. Poverty, even among former officers, was appalling. It is no coincidence that Harbin prisons were filled with Russians, and many officers became mercenaries for the Chinese generals, who were constantly fighting among themselves. In this situation, the Japanese were looking among the Russian officers for people ready to serve them. Among them were professional, highly educated military men - generals, colonels and combat youth, ready for any risky actions. Some went for the money, others were attracted by the idea of “White Russia”. But only a small group of people associated with the Japanese station knew that they were all working for the Japanese; the rest believed that they were serving the monarchical forces.

The tasks of the formations created by the Japanese included destabilizing the situation in the Far East, its separation from Russia and, of course, collecting military and political information.

The military department of the Harbin Monarchist Center was headed by General Kuzmin and a professional counterintelligence officer, a former representative of the Imperial Headquarters in the international intelligence bureau in Paris, and then the head of the Special Department of the Army of the Supreme Ruler of Russia A.V. Kolchak, Colonel Zhadvoin, whose “sponsor” was the Japanese resident Takayama.

The newly created Soviet intelligence station in Harbin was tasked with carrying out “undercover penetration” into this department in order to obtain secret information about its activities.

Soon the intelligence officers became convinced that the Military Department could not be approached from the outside. I had to look for a person already working there. With great difficulty, the security officers managed to acquire a reliable assistant - Somov, but he did not have access to the operational plans of the department. It seemed impossible to acquire an agent at a senior level, since all the people there were proven, seasoned in battles with the Bolshevik authorities and the Red Army.

And yet the search for a suitable candidate continued. They learned from Somov that there was a certain Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Mikhailovich Filippov in the department. During the Civil War, he served under Kolchak, was considered an experienced, knowledgeable officer, enjoyed authority as a military specialist, and was aware of all operations. And one more detail that I just wanted to grab onto is that Filippov had a negative attitude towards the atrocities of the taiga gangs, sometimes he restrained their activity, for which some of the officers considered him almost an “accomplice” of the Reds. We decided to study him more deeply and involve him in cooperation. Recruitment methods in those years were not very sophisticated, but often gave the desired effect. First of all, they attracted those who applied to return to their homeland and wanted to earn this right through their work. And since times were harsh, sometimes methods were used, as they say, “harsh”. For example, they hinted that if they refused to cooperate, their relatives living in Russia might suffer.

Those who needed money and had no intention of returning were recruited, as a rule, “in the dark” on behalf of American or Japanese intelligence. This method was good because the information from such agents was always truthful: no one dared to deceive the Japanese and Americans, they knew that they were quick to kill.

Filippov did not intend to return to his homeland, he lived modestly, and did not feel the need for money. The only clue - his “liberalism” - was still too ephemeral. But soon they learned from Somov that Filippov’s wife and daughter lived in Vladivostok, and a dispatch went there with a request to find them.

Meanwhile, the enemy was not asleep. One day, an excited Somov, arriving at a meeting, handed the detective a local emigrant newspaper. Pointing his finger at one note, he said:

Read!..

The article reported that a refugee from Vladivostok, a former Red Army soldier, Mukhortov, spoke about the massacre of the families of officers. The women and children whom the security officers executed by cutting off their heads were listed. Among them were Filippov's wife and daughter.

Do you understand what state he is in now? He vowed to take fierce revenge on the Soviet regime.

The note immediately raised doubts among intelligence officers. Firstly, the very fact of executing children was doubtful, and secondly, the security officers shot their opponents, and did not cut off their heads - this was a purely Chinese-Japanese method of execution. One of the station workers managed to find Mukhortov and get to know him. In a skillfully structured conversation (on behalf of a gang of smugglers who allegedly intended to attract Filippov to cooperate), the security officer found out that Mukhortov was not a Red Army soldier, but an escaped criminal, and signed the note for money received from a man whose description was very similar to Colonel Zhadvoin. It became clear that, valuing Filippov as a specialist and fearing for his loyalty, the Japanese and white counterintelligence decided to keep him in this way.

The intelligence officer managed to convince Mukhortov to meet with Filippov and talk about the falsity of the note, when suddenly Mukhortov pulled out a pistol and shouted: “You bastard, security officer! I saw you at the Cheka when they took you for interrogation!” - attacked him. In the ensuing battle, Mukhortov was killed, the station lost an important witness. Moreover, discouraging news came from Vladivostok that Filippov’s wife and daughter “are not listed as living in the city.”

A few days later, Somov came to the meeting with two important messages. Firstly, Filippov shared with him that, wanting to personally take revenge on the Bolsheviks for the death of his family, he himself was going on a raid across the border as part of Colonel Shiryaev’s detachment. Moreover, Somov managed to find out the time and place where the detachment crossed the border. In addition, Filippov, in a conversation with Somov, mentioned that his wife’s surname was not Filippova at all, but Baryatinskaya, from which it followed that the previous searches were going in the wrong direction. That same night, urgent information was sent to Vladivostok. Shiryaev’s detachment was allowed across the border unhindered, “led” for several kilometers, and then in a short battle they were completely defeated, Shiryaev fled. Filippov managed to be captured.

For several days, local security officers, using materials received from the station, worked persistently and persistently with him, seeking his voluntary transfer to their side, but to no avail. During one of the interrogations he stated:

You won't do anything to me. The worst thing a person can experience, I have already experienced - the violent death of the people closest to me.

“You are mistaken, Sergei Mikhailovich,” the operative corrected him, “we do not take revenge on innocent people.”

But my wife and daughter were brutally murdered! - Filippov exclaimed.

Instead of answering, the security officer stood up, went to the door and opened it:

Elena Petrovna, Irochka! Come here!

His wife and daughter threw themselves on the stunned Filippov’s chest.

When he became aware of the background of the provocation launched by the Japanese and white counterintelligence against him, he without hesitation agreed to cooperate with Soviet intelligence and swore with the honor of an officer to serve it to the end. Taking advantage of the legend of a successful escape from encirclement and crossing the border back, Filippov soon returned to Harbin. Now he also had the glory of a “combat partisan.”

Soon, fulfilling the task of the security officers, S.M. Filippov prepared a well-thought-out and substantiated memorandum addressed to the leadership of the Military Department. In it, referring to the numerous failures and defeats of the White Guard detachments caused by the lack of timely information, a unified plan of action and proper coordination of work, he proposed creating an information center and allocating a relatively small amount for its successful work. The plan was approved and money was given.

The military department placed several messengers at Filippov’s disposal, who systematically made their way across the border, met with the leaders of the detachments in Primorye, received information from them and delivered it to Harbin. Filippov processed it and forwarded it to headquarters, but the station in Vladivostok also began to receive and report to the Center important and timely information about gangs preparing for transfer, about times and routes, about spies and emissaries of the enemy.

Through Filippov it also became known that the cruel and merciless lieutenant Kovalev was sent to the “Taiga Headquarters” to coordinate rebel activities. This message was one of the last. The station received information that, worried about numerous failures, the counterintelligence of the Whites and the Japanese mission suspected Filippov of treason. The ring around him tightened. It was decided to remove the agent from the Military Department and use the situation to penetrate the “Taiga Headquarters” for the purpose of destruction.

Operation was successfully completed. It was possible to stage the kidnapping of Filippov and his “murder by security officers.” A memorial service was held at the headquarters for the “innocently murdered servant of God Sergei.” Suspicion was removed from him, and all operations conceived and planned with his participation continued without any changes.

Lieutenant Kovalev was captured by security officers after crossing the border, and using his identification (using a fictitious person) Filippov went to the “Taiga Headquarters”. It was risky - news of his “death” could reach the “taiga people.” But the game was worth the candle.

To help Filippov, a group of border guards and former partisans consisting of twelve people was allocated, the commissar of which was the Vladivostok security officer I.M. Afanasiev. The group was trained by the future famous Soviet intelligence officer D.G. Fedichkin. This man deserves special mention.

His biography includes partisan and underground work behind the lines of the Whites and the Japanese, intelligence work in the pre-war years in Latvia and Poland, arrest and imprisonment in a Polish prison. Then, during the Second World War - work on the territory of Bulgaria, after the war - management of the station in Rome and many years devoted to the education of new generations of intelligence officers...

But let’s return to the events around the “Taiga Headquarters”. The Filippov-Afanasyev detachment successfully reached him. Soon the intelligence officers were aware of all the issues of preparation for the uprising. Under the pretext of “conserving forces,” they managed to persuade the leadership of the “headquarters” to reduce current operations, in other words, bandit raids. However, this raised suspicion among some leaders. There was also a fear that one of the White Guards who knew about Kovalev’s mission and about the “murder” of Filippov would appear at the “headquarters”. The reprisal against the agent and his comrades could happen at any moment. These circumstances forced us to accelerate the liquidation of the “headquarters”. The operation that Filippov and Afanasiev carried out for this purpose hardly has any analogues in the history of intelligence.

Filippov, a passionate amateur photographer, always carried a camera with him. At his suggestion, the leaders of the “Taiga Headquarters” settled down for group photography. The rank and file, including members of his squad, stood aside; their turn was next. Filippov's squad froze, waiting for the commander's signal. And then magnesium flared up. At the same moment, shots rang out and the leaders of the “headquarters” were destroyed. The rest, confused, surrendered without resistance. Only one bandit managed to escape and get to Harbin, where he reported what had happened.

Finding himself the only “representative” of the “Taiga Headquarters,” Filippov took urgent measures to prevent an uprising and to eliminate the remaining detachments. The situation in Primorye has stabilized.

In 1925, a trial took place in Vladivostok in the case of emissary Kovalev and the leaders of the White Guard underground identified with the help of the Afanasyev-Filippov group, who were supposed to lead the planned uprising. It completely exposed the subversive activities of White Guard organizations and “centers” in Primorye.

Dear readers!

The legendary head of Soviet military intelligence, Yan Berzin, once said: “The world is conquered not only by diplomats and soldiers, but also by intelligence officers.”

True, each of them has their own methods and their own area of work. So to speak, its own furrow.

When one of the heroes of this book, going on a long business trip abroad, complained to the Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, Marshal Zakharov, about the difficulties of working abroad, he replied: “I never thought that it was simple and easy. But that's your job. You are a scout. Therefore, let’s go deeper into the enemy’s safe – and the materials will be on my table.”

This, in fact, is the whole essence of a scout’s activity: to get deeper into the enemy’s safe. How you do this is of concern only to you, and perhaps to your immediate superior. What matters in the end is the result.

But you and I, dear reader, are not Marshal Zakharov. Yes, we are also interested in the result, but the process of penetrating into an enemy safe is much more exciting. How do real intelligence masters do this? What dangers await them? What traps is the enemy preparing for them?

This, in fact, is what the book talks about.

The narrative spans several decades in the history of our intelligence. I would say from war to war. From the Great Patriotic War to Afghanistan. From intelligence officers who worked overseas in the distant forties and thunderstorms, to intelligence officers of the 80s. In essence, this book introduces readers to the military intelligence officers of our country of several generations. I invite you to this acquaintance.

Business trip to the “Country of Queens”

The head of the intelligence apparatus of Soviet military intelligence in London, General Lev Tolokonnikov, gathered his employees.

– Today I read an editorial in the Pravda newspaper. They write about the best people, about lighthouses! - said the resident. “Unfortunately, we haven’t had much to boast about lately.” If…

The general stopped his sentence mid-sentence and paused, carefully examining the lowered heads of his subordinates.

– If it weren’t for Glukhov. Here it is, our lighthouse! Get up, Vladimir Alekseevich, don’t be shy.

And Glukhov really felt extremely uncomfortable. Well, what a beacon he is. The youngest employee in the residency. He still has to study and learn and gain experience. Of course, the praise of the resident himself is pleasant and worth a lot, but no matter how it came back to him later. Judging by the quiet colleagues, not everyone is happy about such successes.

However, he soon realized that, apparently, he was mistaken. After the meeting, colleagues came up, shook hands, and congratulated. Yes, and there was something. Tolokonnikov is not much for praise, and if he already noted someone, then for the cause. And Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Glukhov recently brought the resident 1200 frames of photographic film. When he joyfully dumped them on the general’s table, Lev Sergeevich did not even understand the gesture of his subordinate.

-What is this, Glukhov?

- And look...

The general unfolded one film, another, a third... Documents were photographed on them and everywhere the stamp “Top Secret”, “Top Secret”.

- Maybe you can explain it to me? – the resident asked, without taking his eyes off the film.

- Yes, excuse me, Comrade General, without your permission I held two meetings with agent Gray, received documents, and took photographs.

Tolokonnikov carefully pushed the films aside and shook his head in disappointment:

- Soooo, you say, he made the decision himself, held the meetings himself, accepted the documents himself... I wish I could give you the first number, yes...

Lev Sergeevich seemed to stumble.

And the lieutenant colonel was pulled by the tongue:

“But the winners are not judged!” he blurted out.

The next second he regretted that he had blurted out without thinking. Now the resident will definitely “pour it in.” But the general, after viewing the films, was in a very complacent mood.

- Okay, winner, sit down and tell me everything in detail.

What should I tell you? The resident already knew a lot. After graduating from the Military Diplomatic Academy in 1959, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Glukhov was sent to London under the “roof” of the Soviet trade mission, to the position of senior engineer. There was no time at all for a gradual entry into the situation. As Vladimir Alekseevich later joked: “I’m just going to London, and they’ve already given me agent Gray.”

The agent was valuable; he worked in Oxford at a research institute, developing fuel for rocket engines. However, a few months before Glukhov arrived in the UK, he lost his job and was fired from the institute.

Vladimir Alekseevich had his first meeting with him:

“Gray” tried to hold on, but it was clear that he was upset by the loss of his job, and therefore his operational capabilities. However, the agent said with confidence that he would find a new place, no worse than the previous one. Glukhov talked to him, supported him morally, and gave him a small amount of money. Frankly speaking, I didn’t really believe in Gray’s assurances. Oxford, it is Oxford, it is difficult to find an equivalent replacement.

But at the next meeting, the agent happily announced that he had been accepted into one of the branches of the Dutch company Philips. They deal with electronics. After this, Glukhov, as an employee of the Soviet trade mission, established completely official contacts with Gray. And soon a call rang at the trade mission, the agent asked for a meeting. It turned out that the head of the department in which “Gray” worked went on a business trip for three days.

- And what? – Vladimir Alekseevich asked.

- And what I know is where he hides the key to the safe, which contains very valuable secret materials.

Glukhov figured: this is his first case. Should I go report to the resident? How will he take it? Will he agree? And if he gives the go-ahead, it’s a whole operation. Will he waste valuable time? And he decided to take a risk.

“Then let’s do everything tomorrow,” said Glukhov.

The agent agreed.

“We have set a place and time for our meeting,– Vladimir Alekseevich will remember later. – I left. He brought me a voluminous folder with secret documents. We agreed, now I’ll go and re-photograph everything. Two hours later we decided to meet in another place.

When reshooting the documents, more than 600 frames were obtained. I returned the materials as promised, and agreed to meet with him tomorrow.

The same thing was done the next day. Now he handed me documents on tank infrared sights. And in the evening, as if on wings, I rushed to General Tolokonnikov.

It was an event. We completed the annual residency plan, and there were 80 valuable documents!”

However, despite such undoubted success, Glukhov was not going to stop there. With the help of "Gray" we managed to meet his friend. They worked in the same company. Let's call him Lloyd. So, during the development of Loyd, it was possible to find out that he could produce high-frequency transistors. Vladimir Alekseevich turned to the deputy resident, who worked at the embassy under the guise of being a scientific adviser.

– It is possible to obtain transistors of 500 and 700 megahertz.

– Take it without hesitation, these are valuable things. How much does the agent ask?

– For 500 MHz – fifty pounds, for 700 – one hundred pounds.

“Normal price,” summed up the deputy resident.

That's what they decided on. Glukhov received the transistors, and they were sent to the Center. However, soon an angry code message arrived from Moscow: the transistors, it turns out, are junk; in New York they can be bought for $5 apiece. The center demanded an explanation, for which Vladimir Alekseevich paid 150 pounds.

Glukhov rushed to the deputy resident, but he pretended that he was hearing about these ill-fated transistors for the first time. I had to take the whole blow on myself.

And yet justice triumphed. A month and a half later, Moscow reported: the head of the Main Directorate announced two thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Glukhov: one for his work at the Farnborough Air Show, and the other for those same “junk” transistors. Experts finally figured it out, and the samples were considered valuable. And again the resident praised him and set him up as an example to others.

Unfortunately, not everyone liked such a rapid rise of the young employee. Some of Glukhov’s colleagues looked very pale compared to him.

"Time is running,– recalled Vladimir Alekseevich, – and many positions on the list of military-industrial complex sag and are not fulfilled. And then there's this lighthouse. And then some colleagues decided to get rid of me. But how? Write a letter to the Center: they say that Glukhov expresses grievances against the country, against the Soviet regime, he is campaigning, he is dissatisfied that he does not have an apartment. What can I say? I really didn't have an apartment. As for the country, I shed my blood for it at the front.

Just who would listen to me if they typed out such a letter. My senior comrade, Colonel Vasily Egorov, saved me. When the dissatisfied turned to him, he said: “Look how he works. Lives by work. You can't defame a person. If you write a dirty letter, you will answer for it yourself.”

It was a good lesson for me. I realized that in intelligence, not all fine knights are without fear and reproach ... "

Well, the incident was unpleasant, but it did not stop Vladimir Alekseevich. Glukhov had no intention of slowing down his work. As they say, dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

There was one item on the military-industrial complex list that did not allow him to live in peace. The center recommended that the scouts obtain a powerful electronic device that generates microwaves - a magnetron. It was used very effectively in the country's air defense system.

In the 30s, Soviet scientists M.A. Bonch-Bruevich, I.F. Alekseev, D.E. Malyarov very successfully worked on the creation of a multicavity magnetron. According to foreign experts, by the beginning of 1934 the USSR had advanced more in this work than the USA and Great Britain.

However, about 30 years have passed since then, and scientists from other countries did not sit idly by, they worked actively. The Center wanted to know about their achievements.

Glukhov, having worked with the agents, was ready to obtain the device. The price was set at 1625 pounds. It was a lot of money in those days. Glukhov's salary was 112 pounds. And the condition is money in advance. Vladimir Alekseevich reported everything to General Tolokonnikov. He listened and firmly said: no. Glukhov tried to persuade the boss. But the general did not want to take risks. And then Vladimir Alekseevich himself took a risk. He begged this amount from the trade representative, naturally, having come up with a very convincing legend. The trade representative gave the go-ahead, Glukhov received the money from the accounting department and handed it to the agent.

A month passed, two, three...

"I lost sleep– admitted Vladimir Alekseevich, – I come home, go to bed, and before my eyes are these 1625 pounds. And at home the wife has 40 pounds left in the family. If I was deceived, I won’t pay my salary for three years.

And then one day at a meeting the agent says: “I got a magnetron.” My heart almost flew out of my chest: “Where is he? Where?" - I ask. “I based him in the forest on the way to you,” the agent replies.

We agreed that he would pick up the magnetron from the forest and come to meet me on Oxford Street. Returning to the trade mission, I asked my colleague Vladimir Azarov to help me and ensure my departure.

The transfer was made at the appointed place, and this treasured oak box was in my hands, trembling with excitement. Azarov drives me to the embassy, I go down to the station and place a box in front of the chief. "What is this?" he asks. “Magnetron, Lev Sergeevich!” The general jumps up, opens the lid and immediately demands a code pad. The telegram goes to the Center."

A few hours later, Tolokonnikov receives an answer: “Take all safety measures and personally fly to Moscow with the magnetron.”

The next day the general left for the capital. And Glukhov again received gratitude from the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

...In December 1962, Lieutenant Colonel Glukhov’s business trip to London ended. He returned to his homeland. For successful work, he was given a separate, albeit not large, two-room apartment and was awarded the Order of the Red Star. Of course, he was left to work at the Center, in the Anglo-American Directorate, as a senior officer.

Here he worked for two years, until November 1964, when he was appointed general representative of Aeroflot in Holland.

Failure

That April day in Amsterdam turned out to be unusually springy. For the Dutch it was an ordinary, everyday day, but for the general representative of Aeroflot in the Netherlands, Vladimir Glukhov, it was a holiday. Six years ago, on April 12, the Soviet man Yuri Gagarin, the first earthling, flew into space.

He, Vladimir Alekseevich Glukhov, also contributed to this great victory of our science and technology. In any case, this is what was said in the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on awarding him the Order of the Red Star based on the results of the first manned flight into space. True, the decree was marked “secret”, and therefore not only the Dutch, but even his colleagues, employees of the Aeroflot representative office, did not know about it.

So it was more of a family holiday. In the evening, he and his wife would certainly have celebrated it, but for now it was morning, sunny, clear, and Vladimir Glukhov had a long, troublesome working day ahead of him.

After breakfast, Vladimir Alekseevich was already getting ready to go down to the car and go to the representative office, but his wife asked to go see the milkman. The milkman's shop was located next to their house, fifteen steps away. Throwing a cloak over his shoulders, Glukhov left the house.

Cadet of the Kharkov Aviation Technical School Vladimir Glukhov (right in the first row) with his comrades on vacation in the park named after. M. Gorky. 1947

The street was quiet and drowsy. The Representative General remembered Moscow. By this hour the capital is already buzzing like a beehive, running, hurrying. And then life seemed to stop, freeze. But it only seems so. He already knows old Europe. It will be almost three years in Holland soon. Has time really flown by so quickly? This beautiful country is called by different names. And he likes it better when they say that the Netherlands is a country of queens. The history of the Netherlands and Russia is intertwined in the most amazing and close way. The current ruling royal dynasty owes much to Russia for its accession to the throne. In 1813, Russian Cossacks and Prussian soldiers entered Amsterdam and liberated the Republic of the United Netherlands from Napoleonic troops. The Netherlands became a kingdom led by William I of Orange. In 1816, the Russian and Dutch royal houses became related: the son of William I married the sister of Emperor Alexander I, Anna Pavlovna. And since 1890, when Queen Wilhelmina ascended the throne, the Netherlands has been ruled by women. And, by the way, they rule well.

Everything is done here, spinning and spinning, however, without the native brashness, without the eternal Russian “hey, let’s whoop,” but no worse than ours. And admitting it is often better. Measured, thoroughly, planned. What can you do, apparently our characters are so different: a Russian will never become a Dutchman, a Dutchman will never become a Russian.

Vladimir Alekseevich measured out the usual fifteen steps, pulled the door of the store and suddenly felt a chill, a harbinger of anxiety, running down his back between his shoulder blades and subsiding somewhere on the back of his head, in his hair.

Glukhov knew this chill. His intuition had never deceived him before. He looked back already on the threshold. No, nothing unusual. A street bathed in the spring sun, rare passers-by, the same as every day, cars parked on the side of the road. Perhaps a new, unfamiliar black car with tinted windows, frozen halfway from the house to the milkman's shop. Glukhov noticed him from the window of his apartment. But you never know who came and left the car?

He entered the shop, greeted the milkman, from whom he bought cottage cheese and milk every morning, and only now understood the reason for his anxiety. On the other side of the store, on the street, near the window, I saw a tall, strong, but very tense man, who with all his appearance tried to seem like a random passer-by, supposedly waiting for his late comrade.

“This is surveillance...” a thought flashed through my mind. - He couldn't be wrong. Glukhov bought milk and eggs and left the store. But he didn’t have time to take a few steps when he heard quick steps behind him, sniffling, and someone grabbed him tightly from behind by the arms and torso.

The first attempt to free myself was unsuccessful. Milk and eggs fell onto the sidewalk, he felt his head being bent down.

“Oh, your mother,” indignation exploded in his soul, and the next second he realized: he was being roughly tied up. Without bringing charges, without introducing themselves, without presenting documents. - Yes, you are bandits! But they talk differently with bandits.”

The first blow he struck back with the heel of his boot was to the one who grabbed him by the torso and arms. It was a good hit. “Smachny,” as they would say in Ukraine, where he studied at the Military Aviation Technical School. The shoe was new, high-quality, Dutch, the heel was strong, sharp, like a knife. It entered the flesh of the attacker's leg, cutting it down to the bone. In a word, I kissed it wholeheartedly. The Dutchman howled like a wild animal and released his grip.

However, the general representative was not allowed to free himself; one, two, three attacked. Then it turned out that eleven Dutch counterintelligence officers took part in his arrest.

Glukhov knocked one down with a blow to the jaw. The kneecap of the other one cracked, and he, with a face twisted in pain, crawled to the side of the road. But Vladimir Alekseevich was already being beaten from all sides. The raincoat was torn, and it lay on the asphalt, the torn buttons from the jacket splashed with rain, and the shirt was the last to be torn off.

Vladimir Alekseevich remained naked to the waist. The attackers twisted his right hand and tried to put a handcuff on the counterintelligence officer’s wrist with the other handcuff. Only the Dutch “counter” turned out to be rather frail against Glukhov. He spun the “counterman” around himself, so much so that he could barely stay on his feet. However, the forces were unequal. They still pressed Vladimir Alekseevich towards the car.

At this time, the frightened wife of the milkman rushed to the Glukhovs’ house to report that some unknown people had attacked the owner.

Maria Mikhailovna, without hesitation, jumped out to defend her husband. She jumped on the back of one of the “counterparts” so that his jacket flew over his head. Several people immediately grabbed her, one began to choke her by the throat, and pressed her face to the hood of the car.

Many years have passed since then, but Vladimir Alekseevich could not remember this moment without tears. One day in a conversation he will tell me: “This picture is still before my eyes. I felt very sorry for her then. How inhumanely they behaved towards the woman.”

Anger rose up in my throat. Glukhov fought off the attacking counter-attacks as much as he could, but he was pushed into the car. The car took off. The last thing Vladimir Alekseevich saw was his wife, lying motionless on the sidewalk.

The counterintelligence officers held him by the arms, by the throat, only his legs were free. In his youth, Glukhov practiced skiing a lot and successfully; his legs were trained and strong. Thoughts came to knock the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands with one kick. But it would be obvious death. The speed at which the car was flying was 140 km/h, and the Dutch road we were traveling on was along a hill. On both sides there are ravines about eight to ten meters long.

I decided not to do this for now. Again, in the heat of the fight there was no time to think, but now, having slightly caught my breath, I asked myself: “Where did you puncture yourself? What do they have against me?

The answer, as they say, is negative. But then something else was burning, which had nothing to cover it with! “They don’t just arrest people like that. Moreover, brazenly, boorishly, using gangster methods. No, to behave this way, the Dutch “counterparts” need reasons. But what are their reasons? So there is something. But what, what?..”

At that moment, he could only calm himself down with one thing: “Be patient a little longer, Volodya. The grounds, one must think, will be presented to you soon.”

Holland is a small country: about forty minutes on the road, and the prison gates opened before them. The “counterparts” pulled Glukhov out of the car. Apparently, there, on the street, they were clearly not ready for such fierce resistance. The first thing they did was examine their wounds. And there was something to see - severed shins, purple knees with smudges, bruises under the eyes, torn clothes.

Feeling sorry for themselves, the counterintelligence officers set to work on the arrested man. They hung him by the hands on a high bracket in the wall, almost like a medieval rack, stripped him, and took off his trousers. Frankly speaking, Glukhov thought then: “Now they’ll break you in for all the bruises and wounds.”

However, after a thorough search, they did not beat me. And only now they presented a detention warrant, which indicated that he, Vladimir Alekseevich Glukhov, was accused of espionage against Holland.

Then they took me off the rack and took me to a solitary cell.

The door slammed behind him, and Glukhov suddenly felt how terribly tired he was that morning. An enormous weight pressed on his chest, making it difficult to breathe; he leaned against the wall and slowly sank to the floor. My thoughts were confused, I tried to stop the trembling in my body, but it didn’t work.

“Espionage...” - the words of the translator were pounding in his temples as he read out the text of the order. “State criminal...” I had to calm down, pull myself together. But I didn’t have enough strength to get up from the floor.

Failure. It was clear that this was a failure. But where did he go wrong, where did he make a mistake? Why didn't you feel being followed? From time to time, outdoor advertising, of course, hung on its tail. But everything is as usual, within normal limits. I didn’t notice any excitement or increased interest in myself.

That's the point, I didn't notice. But this does not mean at all that it did not exist.

He tiredly covered his eyes with his palm. The light in the cell was so bright that it made its way through the palm, penetrating under the closed eyelids, as if it was trying to burn out the apples of the eyes.

“Well, that’s a good method of psychological pressure. Hold on, Volodya,” he chuckled to himself, “how many such surprises are still in store for you.”