A living legend of Soviet intelligence. The most famous intelligence officers in the world Legends of military intelligence
World War II began for the anti-aircraft gunner, non-commissioned officer Alexei Botyan on September 1, 1939. He was born on February 10, 1917 back in the Russian Empire, but in March 1921 his small homeland - the village of Chertovichi, Vilna province - went to Poland. So the Belarusian Botyan became a Polish citizen.
His calculation managed to shoot down three German " Junkers when Poland ceased to exist as a geopolitical entity. The native village of Botyan became Soviet territory, Alexei also became a citizen of the USSR.
In 1940, the NKVD drew the attention of a modest elementary school teacher. Speaking Polish as a native, a former non-commissioned officer "pilsudchik"... no, he is not shot as an enemy of the working people, but quite the opposite: he is accepted into an intelligence school, and in July 1941 he is enrolled in the OMSBON of the 4th department of the NKVD of the USSR. So for Alexei Botyan, a new war began, which ended only in 1983 - with his retirement.
Many details of this war, for the exploits in which he presented himself three times to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, are still secret. But individual well-known episodes say a lot about this person.
For the first time he was in the German rear in November 1941 near Moscow, becoming the commander of a reconnaissance and sabotage group. In 1942, he was sent to the rear of the enemy, to the regions of Western Ukraine and Belarus.
Under his leadership, a major sabotage is being carried out: on September 9, 1943, the Nazi gebitskommissariat was blown up in Ovruch, Zhytomyr region, and 80 Nazi officers were killed in the explosion, including the gebitskommissar Wenzel and the head of the local anti-partisan center Siebert. 140 kilograms of explosives, along with meals, were dragged to Yakov Kaplyuka, the supply manager of the Gebietskommissariat, by his wife Maria. To insure against searches at the entrance, she always took with her the two smallest of her four children.
After this operation, the Kaplyuki were taken out into the forest, and Botyan was first introduced to the Hero - but received the Order of the Red Banner.
At the beginning of 1944, the detachment received an order to move to Poland.
It should be recalled: if on Ukrainian soil the Soviet partisans had problems with Bandera, which had to be solved sometimes by negotiations, and sometimes by weapons, then three different anti-Nazi forces acted on Polish soil: the Krayova Army (“ akovtsy", formally subordinate to the emigrant government), the People's Army (" alovtsy”, supported by the Soviet Union) and the rather independent Khlopsky Battalions - that is, peasant ones. The ability to find a common language with everyone was required to successfully solve the tasks at hand, and Botyan succeeded superbly.
On May 1, 1944, a group of 28 people headed by Botyan is heading to the outskirts of Krakow. On the way on the night of May 14-15, together with the AL unit, Botyan's detachment takes part in the capture of the city of Ilzha and frees a large group of arrested underground workers.
On January 10, 1945, in a blown up headquarters car, one of the Soviet reconnaissance groups operating in the Krakow region found a briefcase with secret documents on mining objects in Krakow and the neighboring town of Nowy Sanch. Botyan's group captured an engineer-cartographer, a Czech by nationality, who reported that the Germans kept a strategic stock of explosives in the Royal (Jagiellonian) castle in Nowy Sącz.
The scouts went to the warehouse of Major Ogarek of the Wehrmacht. After talking with Botyan, he hired another Pole, who carried an hour mine embedded in boots into the warehouse. On January 18, the warehouse exploded; more than 400 Nazis died and were wounded. On January 20, Konev's troops entered practically the whole of Krakow, and Botyan went to the second presentation to the Hero. (Subsequently, Botyan became one of the prototypes " Major Whirlwind from the novel of the same name by Yulian Semyonov and a TV movie based on his script.)
After the war, Alexei Botyan becomes the Czech Leo Dvorak (he did not know the Czech language; he had to master it vigorously " immersion method", fortunately, his legend explained the poor possession of" relatives» language) and graduated from a higher technical school in Czechoslovakia. There, by the way, he met a girl who became his faithful life partner - not yet knowing about the multi-layered life of Pan Dvorak.
The post-war activity of the intelligence officer is covered with an understandable fog. According to open information from the SVR and avaricious (“ permitted”) to Botyan’s stories, he performed special tasks in Germany and other countries, worked in the central office of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, participated in the creation of a special purpose group of the KGB of the USSR “ Pennant". And after his resignation, already as a civilian specialist, he helped prepare for another six years " young professionals».
Aleksey Botyan was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, high Polish and Czechoslovak awards. In post-Soviet Russia, he was awarded the Order of Courage, and in 2007 President Putin presented him with a gold star of the Hero of Russia.
Simultaneous game session with cadets of the Vympel Military Patriotic Club, 20.02.2010.
Alexey Botyan still surprises everyone who knows him with his cheerfulness and optimism. He plays chess superbly, works out on an exercise bike, remembers the details of his eventful life to the smallest detail (but, of course, does not talk about what cannot be told). He is proud of the fact that for the entire time of "work" he was only once scratched on the temple by an enemy bullet - without even leaving a scar.
Yesterday the Scout Hero turned ninety-five.
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 a certain 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 network of agents, 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 served as a prototype for Stirlitz (Colonel Maxim Isaev).
invisible front
The Soviet intelligence officer Khadzh-Umar Mamsurov, who participated under the pseudonym Colonel Xanthi, 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 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 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 a writer and journalist
Traded for Powers
At the beginning of the film "Dead Season" Rudolf Abel addresses the audience. The prototype of the scout, who was perfectly played, was another famous Soviet intelligence officer, Konon the Young. Both he and, as a result of the betrayal of his partners, failed in the USA, 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 valuable information, and therefore the efficiency of the group 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 Capella 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 is often mentioned - an FBI officer in the 70s and 80s. 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".
The activities of illegal intelligence officers, for objective and understandable reasons, have always been surrounded by a dense veil of secrecy. If you tell everyone and everyone about illegal immigrants and their methods of work, then what kind of illegal immigrants are they? Moreover, illegal intelligence, according to the unanimous opinion of historians of special services, is the holy of holies of intelligence activities in any country in the world, and therefore candidates for work in it are selected especially carefully, relying on people with special qualities.
HARD SELECTION
“We are looking for and finding candidates ourselves, sorting through hundreds and hundreds of people. The work is really piecemeal. To become an illegal immigrant, a person must have many qualities: courage, purposefulness, strong will, the ability to quickly predict various situations, resistance to stress, excellent ability to master foreign languages, good adaptation to completely new living conditions, knowledge of one or more professions that make it possible earn a living,” we read in the introduction to the book under consideration, the words of the former first deputy chief of foreign intelligence, Lieutenant-General Vadim Kirpichenko, who for a number of years had just headed the illegal division of domestic foreign intelligence.
At the same time, preparing an illegal intelligence officer, as well as providing him with reliable documents and then taking him abroad, as the intelligence officers say, to perform special tasks, is a matter of exceptional complexity.
“The training of an illegal intelligence officer is very laborious and takes several years. It is aimed at building professional skills and abilities on the basis of the existing personal qualities of an employee,” Vladimir Antonov quotes the words of another well-known head of domestic illegal intelligence, Major General Yuri Drozdov, who was directly involved in the development and implementation of the William Fisher (Rudolf Abel). - Of course, it includes mastering foreign languages, psychological training of a scout, which, in particular, allows him to act as a representative of a particular nationality, a bearer of certain national and cultural characteristics. Of course, this also includes operational training, which includes the development of skills for obtaining and analyzing intelligence information, maintaining contact with the Center, and other aspects. An illegal intelligence agent is a person capable of obtaining intelligence information, including through analytical means.”
However, the complexity of training an illegal intelligence agent is more than compensated for by the immeasurable practical benefits that he brings to his country, especially during a period of political or military confrontation. That is why domestic foreign intelligence has always given increased attention to conducting intelligence activities from illegal positions.
“For almost a century now, this legendary unit has been making a special, its own, sometimes invaluable contribution to ensuring state security, to protecting the interests of the Fatherland,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking last year at a gala event at the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service on the occasion of 95th anniversary of the creation of its illegal administration. - Our country had to go through many trials, and always illegal intelligence officers were, as they say, "on the front line." More than once, it was their resolute actions, information obtained, subtly carried out operations that literally changed the course of history, made it possible to protect our people from threats, to preserve peace.
However, due to the specific nature of the work of this department, which bears fruit in ensuring the national security of Russia, we do not always find out what certain illegal intelligence agents have done for our country. We can safely say that we do not even know the vast majority of them. And this is justified - otherwise what kind of illegal immigrant is this, which everyone knows about. The more valuable are rare articles, books and films about these heroes - fighters of the invisible front. One of these works is a unique book by one of the longtime authors of NVO, a veteran of the state security agencies, retired colonel Vladimir Sergeevich Antonov, about the legendary Soviet illegal spy Konon Trofimovich Molodoy, which was recently published in the Life of Remarkable People series.
The biography of the future legend of the Soviet foreign intelligence is a real cut of the history of our country in the 20th century, full of grandiose accomplishments and irreparable tragedies. Konon Trofimovich was born on January 17, 1922 in Moscow in a family of scientists: father - Trofim Kononovich - teacher at Moscow State University and Moscow Higher Technical School, head of the department of scientific periodicals of the State Publishing House, and mother - Evdokia Konstantinovna - general surgeon, during the Great Patriotic War - leading surgeon evacuation hospital, and after the Victory - professor at the Central Research Institute of Prosthetics, author of many scientific papers.
The first period of the life of the future illegal intelligence officer largely passed like that of his other peers. The exception was perhaps a trip to the United States to his mother's sister, where he lived from 1932 to 1938. By the way, the episode with the departure to the United States, in which the omnipotent Heinrich Yagoda, who then held the post of deputy chairman of the OGPU, took an active part, is one of the mysteries that have not been fully revealed in the life of Konon the Young. Upon returning to Moscow, he studied, graduated from school and was drafted into the army in October 1940. So, probably, life would have gone on, as they say, of an ordinary Soviet guy (although, no doubt, very gifted): he would have returned from the army, graduated from a civilian university and would probably have become a famous scientist or a first-class specialist in some branches of science. But then the war broke out...
Konon the Young ended up in the Western Military District, in the reconnaissance artillery battalion, and in the first months of the war he took part in many difficult battles, including Smolensk and the battles near Vyazma and Rzhev. “I was in the very first link of army intelligence, which operates directly on the front line,” the future illegal intelligence officer later pointed out in the book “My profession is a scout.” - Take the "language", reconnoiter the location of the firing points - such tasks were set for the soldiers of the unit in which I served.
At the same time, Konon Trofimovich went from private to officer, assistant chief of staff in the unit. And how he carried out the tasks entrusted to him and led his subordinates is evidenced by a photograph of the young lieutenant Molodoy. It shows that the hero’s chest is decorated with the Order of the Red Star, two Orders of the Patriotic War of I and II degrees and two medals (by the way, many of the photographs given in Vladimir Antonov’s book are published for the first time).
Having gone into the army as a boy, Konon the Young returned home after the Victory as a wise front-line soldier, matured and matured. “Maybe it was during the war years that he developed a taste for intelligence, adventurism, without which a person cannot choose this profession,” Trofim Molody later recalled about his father.
FROM SCOUT TO SCOUT
After the war - demobilization, study at the Moscow Institute of Foreign Trade, and from December 1951 - work in the state security agencies, in foreign intelligence. Three years later, he is already in Canada, where he was illegally taken out, and from there, with documents in the name of Canadian businessman Gordon Lonsdale, he moves to the UK, where he heads the illegal residency. Then - many years of fruitful work, but in 1961 - the arrest, which became possible due to the betrayal of a high-ranking employee of the Polish foreign intelligence, Colonel Mikhail Golenevsky, and a sentence of 25 years in prison. However, in 1964, Conon the Young was exchanged for the British intelligence officer Greville Wien and then worked in the central apparatus of foreign intelligence.
The reader can learn more about all the stages of life and professional activity of Konon the Young from the presented book by Vladimir Antonov.
At the same time, it should be noted that the book contains two very voluminous appendices, which provide brief information about the chiefs of Soviet foreign intelligence during the period of Konon the Young's work in it, as well as information about his fighting friends and associates. Among the latter are the legends of domestic foreign intelligence Ashot Akopyan, George Blake, Iosif Grigulevich, Vasily Dozhdalev, Leonid Kvasnikov, Leonid Kolosov, Nikolai Korznikov, Alexander Korotkov, Vitaly Pavlov, Semyon Semenov, Yuri Sokolov and William Fisher. Behind each of these names are years of hard work in the field of foreign intelligence, associated with the solution of the most difficult tasks in the interests of the national security of our state.
The well-known Russian writer Teodor Gladkov, in his book The King of Illegals, dedicated to the famous Soviet intelligence officer Alexander Korotkov, who secretly received the title of “King of illegal immigrants,” wrote: “If you ask ten random passers-by on the street what they think of the intelligence officer, nine will be named as an example illegal ... And this is not accidental, but natural. Since it is in the illegal immigrant that all the general and specific features inherent in the intelligence profession are concentrated to the greatest extent.
One of these legendary illegal intelligence officers is Colonel Konon Trofimovich Molody, about whose bright and rich in unique events life and work (within the limits of what is permitted, of course, since many episodes of the intelligence officer’s biography will remain classified as “secret” for a long time) we can read in the new book by Vladimir Antonov, one of the best authors of NVO, who tells on the pages of our weekly about well-known or little-known to a wide range of readers Russian foreign intelligence officers who gave all their strength for the good of the Motherland.