Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence
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Russia • Military / Security Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, No. 5 PRINGLE At its peak, the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) was the largest HISTORICAL secret police and espionage organization in the world. It became so influential DICTIONARY OF in Soviet politics that several of its directors moved on to become premiers of the Soviet Union. In fact, Russian president Vladimir V. Putin is a former head of the KGB. The GRU (Glavnoe Razvedvitelnoe Upravleniye) is the principal intelligence unit of the Russian armed forces, having been established in 1920 by Leon Trotsky during the Russian civil war. It was the first subordinate to the KGB, and although the KGB broke up with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the GRU remains intact, cohesive, highly efficient, and with far greater resources than its civilian counterparts. & The KGB and GRU are just two of the many Russian and Soviet intelli- gence agencies covered in Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence. Through a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, a clear picture of this subject is presented. Entries also cover Russian and Soviet leaders, leading intelligence and security officers, the Lenin and Stalin purges, the gulag, and noted espionage cases. INTELLIGENCE Robert W. Pringle is a former foreign service officer and intelligence analyst RUSSIAN with a lifelong interest in Russian security. He has served as a diplomat and intelligence professional in Africa, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. For orders and information please contact the publisher && SOVIET Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-4942-6 ISBN-10: 0-8108-4942-9 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • fax 717-794-3803 INTELLIGENCE www.scarecrowpress.com ROBERT W. PRINGLE HD Russian & Soviet MECH.indd 1 7/21/06 4:09:59 PM 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page i Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence Series Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. British Intelligence, by Nigel West, 2005. 2. United States Intelligence, by Michael A. Turner, 2006. 3. Israeli Intelligence, by Ephraim Kahana, 2006. 4. International Intelligence, by Nigel West, 2006. 5. Russian and Soviet Intelligence, by Robert W. Pringle, 2006. 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page iii Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence Robert W. Pringle Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, No. 5 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Oxford 2006 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page iv SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2006 by Robert W. Pringle All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pringle, Robert W. Historical dictionary of Russian and Soviet intelligence / Robert W. Pringle. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of intelligence and counterintelligence; no. 5) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-4942-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8108-4942-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Intelligence service—Russia—Dictionaries. 2. Military intelligence—Russia— Dictionaries. 3. Spies—Russia—Biography—Dictionaries. 4. Intelligence service—Soviet Union—Dictionaries. 5. Military intelligence—Soviet Union— Dictionaries. 6. Spies—Soviet Union—Biography—Dictionaries. 7. Intelligence service—Russia (Federation)—Dictionaries. 8. Military intelligence—Russia (Federation)—Dictionaries. 9. Spies—Russia (Federation)—Biography— Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series. UB252.R8P75 2006 327.1247—dc22 2006010486 ϱ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page v Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff vii List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ix Chronology xiii Introduction xxiii THE DICTIONARY 1 Appendixes A The Evolution of Soviet State Security, 1917–1991 305 B KGB Chairs, 1917–1991 307 C Russian Foreign Intelligence Organizations, 1920– 309 D Chiefs of Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence, 1920– 311 E Russian Security Services, 1991– 313 F Heads of Military Intelligence (GRU), 1918– 315 G Venona Code Names and Encryption 317 H Loss of Life in the Stalin Era 321 I Agents and Programs Betrayed by Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen, and Edward Lee Howard 325 J Maskirovka: Deception on Nuclear Weapons Programs 327 Bibliography 329 About the Author 365 v 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page vii Editor’s Foreword Nowhere has intelligence and counterintelligence played quite as prominent a role as in tsarist Russia and its successor the Union of So- viet Socialist Republics or Soviet Union, since replaced by the Russian Federation. Decades, indeed sometimes centuries, before intelligence gathering became a serious concern in most other parts of Europe, let alone the United States, the Russian state formed agencies to spy on en- emies abroad and even more thoroughly on those at home, real or imag- ined. These agencies expanded exponentially, drawing in ever more agents and informers, arresting ever more suspects, and executing many of them or more leniently sending them into exile or slave labor camps. Although among the most fervent supporters of the regime, the intelli- gence agencies often subverted the regime and came to dominate it. No history of Russia can ignore them, and this series would not be complete without mention of the Oprichnina, Okhrana, GPU, NKVD, KGB, Smersh, and others. Although considerably tamer, and held on a tighter leash, there is no doubt that the activities of the Russian Federation’s SVR and FSB will also be of interest. This Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence covers the field admirably. Historically, it reaches back to the time of Ivan “the Terrible” and includes his sometimes even more destructive successors during the Soviet period, finally reaching the relative normality of the present day. It covers the numerous services that emerged during this long period: those of the tsars, those of the communist regime, and also the considerably tamer, but nonetheless vast and efficient agencies of to- day. The services all have major entries, as do the top leaders who cre- ated and managed them, the intelligence chiefs, prominent national agents, and foreign spies as well as dissidents, defectors, and traitors. Most of this is provided by hundreds of dictionary entries, while the in- troduction puts them in a more comprehensible context. The chronology vii 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page viii viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD is particularly revealing, starting in the 16th century and still continuing, albeit more discreetly. Readers who are intrigued by one aspect or an- other can then find further reading through the bibliography. This volume was written by Robert W. Pringle, whose experience in this area is substantial and varied. After first studying Russian history, he went into government service, working for the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for 25 years. During his ca- reer, he focused frequently on the Soviet Union, serving as senior ana- lyst and branch chief in analytical components responsible for Soviet/ Russian security policies. Among his postings abroad was his service from 1977 to 1979 as consular and human rights officer at the U.S. Em- bassy in Moscow. After retiring from government service, he taught his- tory and political science at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and In- ternational Commerce at the University of Kentucky, where he lectured on intelligence and counterintelligence, terrorism and counterterrorism, with an emphasis on the Soviet Union and Russia. He has also written a number of papers and articles on these topics. At present he is teach- ing in Williamsburg, Virginia. This book, the result of decades of prac- tical experience topped off by teaching, is not only informative but also gripping as the story unfolds. Jon Woronoff Series Editor 06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page ix Abbreviations and Acronyms Abwehr Literally, “Defense.” The German Intelligence Service under the High Command of the Armed Forces AK Armija Krajowa (Polish Home Army) AMTORG American–Russian Trading Company AOD Administrative Organs Department of the Communist Party Central Committee ATTs Antiterroristicheskiy tsentr SNG (Antiterrorist Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States) AVH Hungarian internal security/counterintelligence service BfV Bundesamt fur Verfassungschutz (Office for the Protection of the Constitution, West German counterintelligence service) BND Bundesnachrichtendienst (West German foreign intelligence service) BO Boevaya Organizatsia (Battle Organization)