Throughout history, the Russian Empire always had a strong information and political/secret police structure, regardless of who was in power. In fact, in 1826, Tsar Nicholas I created the Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery. This security body had the task of repressing dissidents and territorial irredentism. Third section, in turn, was replaced in 1881 by theOkhrana (in Russian it means “the guard”), a real political police at the service of the tsar.
With the October Revolution of 1917 the Bolshevik leaders gave birth to the Czech, which went to replace theOkhrana. The I mentioned, in fact, maintained the same tasks and powers as the previous structure. It is important to underline that the new repressive organ depended hierarchically on the Ministry of the Interior and from a political point of view was under the direct control of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Its agents were recruited among the most faithful revolutionaries, and its leaders were chosen among the most trusted leaders of the party.
However, the I mentioned It didn't last long... in 1922 it became GPU (State Political Administration) and shortly after took the name of OGPU (State Political Directorate of the Soviet Union).1
In 1934, the structure took the name of GUBG (General Directorate for State Security) and was incorporated into the NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs). It is worth remembering that a prominent figure of the NKVD It was the infamous Lavrentiji Pavlovich Beria (photo); the latter headed the security organ from 1938 to 1945.
During the years of the Second Word War and partly also in the subsequent ones the Soviet security apparatus underwent numerous transformations. The various security organs changed and exchanged names, were divided, reunified and subdivided again until 1954. In fact, the first real and modern reorganization occurred in the midst of the Cold War (in 1954) with the creation of two very distinct organs: the KGB , MVD.2
La MVD had police and public order duties and was an agency of the Ministry of the Interior; KGB (Committee for State Security), on the other hand, was a real secret service with tasks of espionage, internal security, political police, counterespionage, border control, personal protection of party leaders and confidential communications. It was divided into five general directorates and ten ordinary ones. Regarding the KGB, General Mario Mori writes: “The KGB was a Service that had no equivalent in the Western world: it was a real ministry, which had a complex apparatus and also included ships, planes and over one hundred thousand men”.3 Whoever controlled it had immense power in the Soviet Union.
It is important to remember that alongside the KGB there were numerous information services, direct emanations of the various ministries (foreign affairs, foreign trade, culture, to name but a few) and of the most important political-administrative bodies, which were entrusted with certain surveillance tasks within their own sphere of influence.
However, in terms of importance there was only one service that could be compared to the KGB, and it was the military intelligence service, the CRANE (Principal Directorate for Information). The CRANE was created in 1918 shortly after the October Revolution and had the task of providing the Red Army with the information necessary to counter the counter-revolutionary forces and put the government in a position to face the hostility of the Western powers. It should be emphasized that the CRANE did not undergo transformations over time, unlike other services. In addition, among the tasks of the CRANE included: strategic espionage, operational espionage and war espionage. Furthermore, the service operated both inside and outside the country.
To be specified that CRANE e KGB They were autonomous, independent of each other. Their only common ground was the central committee of the communist party, to which they were both subject for political control.
It can be said that (with the KGB) the CRANE It was the largest Soviet espionage center.
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 also the KGB dissolved, and was replaced with two new agencies: FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation) and SVR (International Intelligence Service). TheFSB deals with internal security and its main skills include counter-espionage, anti-terrorism, the fight against drug trafficking, investigations into certain types of crimes, the fight against organised crime, the protection of economic activities and border control. TheSVR, instead, deals with gathering information abroad. Missions abroad are aimed at gathering information mainly of a strategic, technological, economic, scientific nature, protection of Russian citizens and institutions abroad and electronic surveillance.
Furthermore, among the services created after the collapse of the Soviet Union there is also the FSO (Federal Protective Service). This agency is responsible for the protection of high state officials, the president and certain facilities. Its duties also include the custody of the Cheget, or the Russian “atomic” briefcase. In addition, theFSO He commands the Presidential Regiment, the unit responsible for protecting the Kremlin.
Il CRANE, as previously mentioned, has not undergone any transformations since it was created. In fact, it is still active today and is the military secret service of the Russian armed forces, and among its main activities there is scientific and economic espionage for military purposes through HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT and cyber espionage activities. Furthermore, thanks to its military units, it can carry out a whole series of operations in the field that range from sabotage in enemy territory to the support of allied armies or militias, up to real military operations.
1 It should be remembered that the Soviet Union was born on December 30, 1922.
2 See A. Pagani, Intelligence and Secret Services Manual. Anthology for Beginners, Politicians and Military, Civilians and Ordinary People, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2019, p. 288
3 Mr. Mori, Secret services. Introduction to the study of intelligence, Grisk, Rome, 2015, p. 190
Photo: web / archive RIA Novosti
