You have read a book about intelligence and scouts, about ordinary people engaged in unusual work. Why did they choose her? Some, perhaps, in pursuit of money, others - because of the adventurous nature of their character, and still others - due to the prevailing circumstances. But the majority became scouts out of persuasion. Patriotism, willingness to risk their lives for a just cause, for the honor of the Motherland were the main motivations for their choice.
And now about the business and everyday qualities of an intelligence officer. Only in movies are scouts continuously shooting, jumping from one car to another or from an airplane to a boat, breaking into safes, seducing women, and so on. Everything in life is both simpler and more complicated. The scout needs persistence and creativity in achieving the goal, a well-developed memory, the ability to analyze, quickly get used to a new situation and accept independent decisions, take reasonable initiative and take reasonable risks. He must have the ability to learn foreign languages, communication skills, the ability to make the necessary acquaintances and fit into any society. And of course, he must have the qualities inherent in a person, about whom they say: "I would go to intelligence with him," namely: high decency in relations with comrades, honesty and conscientiousness in the performance of official duties.
He must be bold. Not only in the usual sense of the word, but also in the ability to defend one's position (not to be confused with stubbornness!). In the ability to argue with a serious, can be dangerous, enemy, to impose his point of view on him.
He must be flexible, able to act as a representative of different professions - politician, businessman, scientist, journalist, etc.
How do you become professional scouts?
Not everyone who would like to become a scout is suitable for work in intelligence. After reading the previous essay, you probably came to the same conclusion.
In order to become a professional intelligence officer, you need to have the qualities mentioned above, the appropriate education, not to have bad habits and reprehensible connections.
For work in intelligence, people are selected who can be unconditionally trusted and not doubt their boundless devotion to the Fatherland and their profession.
For the training of intelligence officers, there is a Foreign Intelligence Academy - a special educational institution, whose existence was classified until recently. Young people who already have higher education, so you can't go there right after school. It is desirable to have a driver's license and be able to drive a car, be able to work on a computer, speak a foreign language.
The applicant fills out detailed questionnaires about himself and his relatives. All these data are carefully checked. He is also tested on a polygraph (better known as a "lie detector"). This is not a manifestation of mistrust, but a concern for his future safety, a desire to determine more deeply his personal qualities and the direction in which he is best to specialize.
He must also fill out a questionnaire in which there are questions regarding his abilities, habits, addictions. There are such, for example, questions: "Indicate five of your positive qualities"," Name five of your negative qualities that you would like to eliminate "," List at least seven major events your life "," How do you rate your memory ".
The last question of the questionnaire is as follows: "Taking into account the questions of the questionnaire and what you previously knew about foreign intelligence, has your desire to serve in the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia changed?"
Those who have passed all the tests and are fit for health reasons become students of the Foreign Intelligence Academy, where in two or three years they acquire intelligence skills, improve their knowledge of foreign languages, and actively go in for sports.
Graduates work both in Russia and practically in all countries of the world.
First-hand
VIKTOR VASILIEVICH, what are the features of the intelligence officer's psychology in comparison with other military professions?
First, let me clarify what human psychology is in general. The definition in Dahl's dictionary is closest to me: "Psychology is the mental life of a person in the flesh." It is mental life in all its fullness of perception of reality, with experiences, reflections. This is evidenced by both my experience and the communication of the experience of my colleagues. For example, when I first found myself in such a prosperous capitalist country as Switzerland was in 1948, I was in a state of shock.
- In what sense?
Only three years have passed since the Victory. Switzerland did not fight and was inundated with all kinds of goods, fruits, food. Yes, such that we have not even dreamed of. To be honest, we have not yet gorged ourselves with simple, high-quality bread, but here is a fabulous abundance.
- Did this difference in the welfare of countries hinder, distract or help in your work?
It evoked a range of feelings. In addition to surprise, there was not envy, but resentment for our country and people, who for centuries were not allowed to live in peace and achieve the same well-being. Now - the Horde, then the Poles and Swedes, then the invasion of Napoleon, then the First World War, then the Second┘ There was anger at all this and a great desire to help the Fatherland. That is, to fulfill the reconnaissance task assigned to me. At the same time, there was pride in the Motherland, which defeated Nazi Germany, for its rapidly growing great authority. After all, no major international issue could be resolved without it.
- How successful was the adaptation to the new environment and unusual circumstances?
I had to adapt on the fly. We were people from another world, we lived behind the "Iron Curtain". Everything else is psychology, mentality, ideology. It was really not so easy to master. And here knowledge of a foreign language played a huge role. Then in our country there was no such a developed system of teaching languages as it is today. And without fluency in the language, continuous difficulties arise, a feeling of inferiority, inferiority appears. This greatly interferes with business. In Switzerland, Austria and Germany, I spoke fluent German, which I studied at the Higher Intelligence School. In Sweden, in Stockholm at diplomatic receptions and in government institutions it was still possible to communicate in German. But the further from the capital, the more difficulties ...
Of course, I had to learn Swedish. I found one of the best teachers, who, by the way, did not know completely Russian. And after three months he already talked with the Swedes, after six months he began to work on it. That made my life and professional activity much easier.
By the way, once a poor knowledge of the language put our intelligence officer in an unpleasant position. In the suburbs of Stockholm, he checked the presence of "tails" behind our employees. Took a suburban bus. And this transport was already very comfortable in Sweden. On the armrest of each seat there was a button to call the driver. By pressing it, you signal that you need to get off at the nearest stop. Without a signal and in the absence of people at the bus stop, the buses do not stop. You cannot stand in the cabin, only the seats are filled. The entrance to the salon is through the front door, and you immediately pay the driver a fare. The exit is through the back door.
The bus my colleague boarded turned out to be the latest design with an automatic tailgate opening. For which it was only necessary to stand on its bottom step. The sign informed about it. Our man could not read it. It's time to get out. He presses a button and walks to the door. The bus stops. The passenger gestures to the driver to open the door. The latter shouts something to him, and the comrade stands and waits. The whole salon is gradually included in the explanations. But a colleague does not understand them ... Imagine his condition, because he should not attract attention to himself. Finally, the driver could not stand it, went to the back door, pressed a step ...
"When I got off," my employee later said, "I felt stripped naked and, moreover, as if everyone was looking at me." Worried, frustrated and angry with himself, he said he continued on with the task. That was, in general, ineffective and unacceptable in such a psychological state.
- What character traits are developed abroad by a scout?
Preparedness for extreme situations, heightened perception of the surrounding world. Analytical thinking, the ability to foresee danger, alertness develops. At the same time, taste appears, or rather, an excitement to overcome obstacles.
- Does he look a bit like the courage of a trainer when he enters a cage with his predator-artists?
In some ways, yes. And without this courage, it should be noted, passivity sets in, which is unacceptable in intelligence. You begin to evaluate the events taking place in two ways. In relation to your cover, so as not to be revealed. And in relation to the intelligence tasks facing you. This is a normal working dichotomy. Conspiracy and clarity in their actions are developed.
And yet the scout is under constant stress day and night. Psychological discomfort is inevitable. Is it always possible to reduce it?
Not always, to be honest. While working abroad, I personally had an inner feeling of insecurity in front of the intelligence services not only of the country in which you work, but also, strange as it may seem, in front of my own intelligence service. In what sense? Anxiety and insecurity was explained by the frequent change of leadership at the Center. You leave for an assignment from one leader, and you return and report to another. It came to curiosities.
In a certain European country, I met with a very valuable agent for us. He conveyed very important information. And he should have been handed 10 thousand dollars. The meeting went well with no deviations. But with the money it turned out to be an overlap: the station did not receive an order to give it to me. When I returned to Moscow, I understand the reason: the head of our department has changed. I report to the new boss about what happened and hear the following remark: "Well, you know, comrades, you can't work like that! We got a task and must complete it. Since the residency didn't give money, and we'll figure it out, we had to intercept it from someone at the embassy." We would then return immediately. " It remained only to be surprised at the unpreparedness and incompetence of this man who came to us from Staraya Square: our ambassador at that time received less than half of the amount I needed per month┘
The feeling of insecurity led to the fact that some scouts were once again reinsured. And time passed, and the tasks were not completed. I, perhaps, by my stubborn Siberian character and by my naivety, go ahead like a bulldozer. Sometimes without undue caution. Now, evaluating my actions, I understand that not everything was correct. In some places, one had to be more careful. But, as they say, God had mercy, I did not fail a single important intelligence event.
- What should it be - this kind of psychological shield of a scout?
It can be very thin and at the same time very strong. Let me give you an example. Constant reminders when receiving a new building of the "under your personal responsibility" type at first somehow mobilized me. Then they began to annoy and suggest different thoughts. For example, what will happen to me if the back ones fail? Punishment? Demotion? Dismissal? Uncertainty began to creep in.
- It turns out that a bureaucratic, standard approach is especially contraindicated for an intelligence officer?
You're right. Moreover, I had something to compare with. When I worked in the early 60s in the GDR under the leadership of an outstanding Soviet intelligence agent, General Alexander Mikhailovich Korotkov, when giving me a serious assignment in West Berlin, he always invited me into his office, left his desk, took - Fatherly hugged and said: "Be careful. Don't get on the rampage. And remember that until you return, I will not sleep!" These words sank into my soul and truly inspired ...
Let me give you one more fact. It is now widely known that during the Second World War and after it, American and British scientists transmitted information and materials to the USSR about the creation in the United States atomic bomb... Our best intelligence professionals worked with them in strict secrecy. Yes, so high-class that they managed to protect these people from failure for a long time. Than significantly helped our scientists to accelerate the creation of nuclear weapons. A great deed was done - the world was saved from a possible atomic war. So what about these intelligence professionals? We returned to work in the Center, got lost in the crowd of ordinary, mediocre employees. Colonels resigned. Whereas there were more than a dozen of parquet generals. Only half a century later, these scouts were remembered and they deservedly appropriated the Heroes of Russia.
- What is the deep "core", emotional and psychological foundation and basis of our intelligence officers?
The core is patriotism, love for one's Motherland. In addition, every intelligence officer is an officer, a military man who has taken an oath. He is obliged to fulfill his duty, to defend his country, being in peace and wartime on the secret front. The scout either unravels secret, hostile intentions, or contributes to the development of the Fatherland in the economic, scientific, technical and other directions.
Having worked for a long time in European countries, I, for example, could not get used to the way of life in them. Everything was alien to me. About the same as many of our displaced citizens who settled in Sweden. Here small example... Once they sent us from the Center, at the request of one of the Russians who settled in Sweden, a photograph of his village. It is a typical landscape: an old hut, a rickety black wooden fence, near which several old women are sitting. He, who settled well in Sweden, looked at this picture, looked. And suddenly tears gushed out. And through sobs he said: "No urine I want to go home┘ To this old fence┘ We have a completely different air!" I, my wife, and many of my fellow intelligence officers had a similar mood in the midst of the well-organized Western world: my native land is dear to the depths of my soul, whatever it may be.
What should a scout be like?
You have read a book about intelligence and scouts, about ordinary people doing unusual work. Why did they choose her? Some, perhaps, in pursuit of money, others - because of the adventurous nature of their character, and still others - due to the prevailing circumstances. But the majority became scouts out of persuasion. Patriotism, willingness to risk their lives for a just cause, for the honor of the Motherland were the main motivations for their choice.
And now about the business and everyday qualities of an intelligence officer. Only in movies are scouts continuously shooting, jumping from one car to another or from an airplane to a boat, breaking into safes, seducing women, and so on. Everything in life is both simpler and more complicated. A scout needs persistence and creativity in achieving a goal, a well-developed memory, the ability to analyze, quickly adapt to a new situation and make independent decisions, show reasonable initiative and justified risk. He must have the ability to learn foreign languages, communication skills, the ability to make the necessary acquaintances and fit into any society. And of course, he must have the qualities inherent in a person, about whom they say: "I would go to intelligence with him," namely: high decency in relations with comrades, honesty and conscientiousness in the performance of official duties.
He must be bold. Not only in the usual sense of the word, but also in the ability to defend one's position (not to be confused with stubbornness!). In the ability to argue with a serious, can be dangerous, enemy, to impose his point of view on him.
He must be flexible, able to act as a representative of different professions - politician, businessman, scientist, journalist, etc.
One of the most important issues in intelligence is its staffing. After all, it is necessary to find and prepare people who can be entrusted with great secrets, the security and reputation of the country, the fate of their colleagues, and finally, encouraged to voluntarily risk their own lives, if necessary. These persons will not be able to leave their business for many years without extraordinary reasons. Since the turnover of personnel in intelligence and counterintelligence is a deadly threat of the spread of classified information regarding the content of the work of the special services, the composition of its leadership, methods of activity and sources of information (including from the camp of opponents or competitors, and sometimes even worse - from the ranks of the allies). An illegal scout must accurately control his behavior all the time he is among strangers and even around the clock - because of the possibility of covert surveillance of him. The bifurcation of consciousness into "own" and "under the legend", exhausting psychological stress - isn't this a direct path to Bedlam (a hospital for the mentally ill near London)? And this is only one - the psychological aspect of the named profession. In addition, if usually when hiring a person is introduced to the details of future work, then they go to intelligence almost "blindly", the specifics of this case do not allow to tell in advance about everything. It is said that 46 professional qualities are required to work as a regular patrol police officer in the United States. How many of them should a scout have then? And which ones?
According to the founder and chairman of the CIA A. Dulles, when choosing personnel for intelligence, they do not go out of some established list of questions regarding the personal qualities of a candidate. However, certain requirements are put forward to him:
Good understanding of people;
- be able to handle people in difficult conditions;
- learn to distinguish facts from fictions;
- be able to distinguish the essential from the non-essential;
- define curiosity;
- to be a very inventive person;
- pay due attention to detail;
- have the ability to express their opinions clearly, briefly and, which is very important, interesting;
- know when to remain silent.
Dulles also adds to these qualities that an intelligence officer must be sensitive to the thoughts of others and to their behavior, even if this is absolutely contrary to his views. A scout should not be very ambitious and want to be rewarded with money and fame - in intelligence he will not receive this. However, he must have the most necessary - interest and feeling is more complex, in the author's opinion, than patriotism - concern about the security of his state. Even education, talent, high reliability will not make a professional intelligence agent out of a person if he does not have motives that motivate him. Depending on the personal abilities of the candidates, further specialization takes place: more frisky, interested, tireless and sociable persons are used as "operatives", and those who are prone to intellectual work and reflections, observations, research work, - as "analysts". In general, Dulles is right, but the list of requirements provided by him can be successfully extended to any person who is engaged in responsible work with people. In our opinion, it lacks a “professional flavor”. The well-known researcher of special services V. Zemlyanov sees the requirements for the qualities of an illegal intelligence officer differently:
Vigilance - the ability to observe your own behavior all the time through the eyes of a very intelligent, educated enemy, avoiding even minor mistakes in the expression of the face, eyes, and the like. In confirmation of the words of the well-known expert in the field of intelligence Ch. Rossel: “The enemy must not be underestimated. He may seem stupid and narrow-minded, but when it comes to intelligence, rate him as the smartest of mortals. Do not tempt yourself with hopes of the foolishness of your opponent, because the stake in this game is your own life. "
Conspiracy - the ability to keep your activities in secret. If it concerns the work of a group, then we are talking about the maximum ignorance about the affairs and connections of each other. For a loner it is not to leave any information anywhere except memory. The two basic rules of conspiracy are: a) who lives alone - he lives longer; b) the most reliable storehouse of secrets is your own head.
Self-control is the ability of a person to control their emotions, overcome psychological stress. Zemlyanov quotes the words of the French writer Same. Kessel: “The threat of being captured at any moment is on his heels. The fear of not withstanding the torture, the fear of giving out appearances and names became a painful obsession in many. People are afraid not so much of torture and torture as of their own weaknesses. No one knows in advance what they can withstand. And people tremble at the thought that they have doomed their comrades to death, have failed the organization, betrayed a cause that is dearer to them than life. For others, this fear has become an obsession. With her they go to bed, with her they get up. They check a hundred times a day to see if they have an ampoule with poison. And they commit suicide before all chances are exhausted. Because the chance to survive poses a threat to them to speak and betray. "
Observation is the ability to notice trifles, facts and details that are hidden from others, the art of leaving everything in memory and then making up from pieces a holistic idea of an event or process. Natural abilities of this kind are developed and consolidated by persistent training: remember small landmarks along the road, while driving somewhere, the list and order of things laid out after one glance at them, large fragments of text after a one-time reading, the faces of people who were met on the street, after a few hours later, and so on.
The ability to expect. It is necessary for every scout, but peculiar only to highly qualified specialists. Haste and impatience in obtaining information have caused the failure of many brave and courageous fighters on the invisible front. For many, it cost their lives.
Reliability (authenticity) - the ability to impeccably incarnate in your fictional biography ("legend"), not to stand out from others. For the Soviet intelligence officer - the hero of the film "Variant" Omega ", the role played by O. Dahl with talent, in order to deliberately attract the attention of the German counterintelligence service, it was enough" according to Russian habit "to knead a cigarette.
Versatility. A scout needs to possess the skills of an analyst, a cipher officer, a photographer, a radio operator, a driver, to act professionally in the specialty of the "legend" and to be able to do much more, on which the success of his operation and life will depend at the decisive moment. In addition, he must skillfully and instantly transform from one image to another. In the history of the special services, there are many instructive cases when intelligence officers used the art of instant reincarnation, if the situation required it.
In 1930, the Soviet intelligence officer D. Bystroletov had to apply for a fake passport in Danzig to the Consul General of Greece and, at the same time, a member of the international gang of drug dealers Haber, to complete the first assignment. “I (Bystroletov) sat down on the end of a chair and began in English:“ Your grace, don’t refuse to help the unfortunate compatriot whose portfolio with his passport had just been stolen. ” - “Show your birth certificate. Which Greek Embassy do they know you? " - "Unfortunately, not in a cook!" The Consul winced. "And in Greece?" - "Unfortunately, I have long been deprived of the happiness of seeing my homeland!" - "What is your name?" - "Alexander S. Gallas". - "Do you speak Greek?" - "To my shame and grief - no, not a word." The consul makes it clear to the artsy visitor that the conversation is over. The $ 200 bribe offered to Gaber does not help either. Then the situation develops like this: “Well, that's it! - I thought (Bystroletov). - The first mission is canceled! Scandal". But here he decided: “No! You need to knock on doors more vigorously! Well, bolder! " I pulled out a pack of American cigarettes and a box of American matches, put the cigarette in my lips, and struck a match across the document in front of the consul's nose. He leaned back in his chair and stared at me: "What does this mean?" In a hoarse bass voice, I replied in American thug jargon: “I need a ksiva. Quickly. Without a bazaar. " The consul turned pale. "Where are you coming from?" - "From Singapore". - "Why not via Piraeus or Genoa?" “Because tomorrow I'll flush your lousy linden in Geneva in the toilet. Don't worry, Consul: tomorrow your passport will be gone. " The consul wiped his monocle and quietly asked, “There is a mess in Singapore. You know?" These days, the world press reported that the chief of the British police, a colonel, was shot in the back in broad daylight in the city center. The killer managed to disappear. It turned out that the killer was an American, Japanese spy and drug dealer. "I know about this mess." "And do you know who killed the colonel?" - "I know. I AM". The consul's fingers trembled. He opened a drawer, took out a passport form and began to fill it out at my dictation. “Take it. Everything?" The lesson is clear. Do not get lost in front of difficulties, use "brainstorming" against a weak opponent.
Analytical thinking. Intelligence work is by its very nature very complex. intellectual activity with a high coefficient of psychological stress. Sometimes the operation is calculated as a multivariate chess game, in which there are samples of different combinations, and improvisation, and the game, "for the enemy", the forecast of his actions and his own countermeasures. In addition, the focus of this activity is information, its receipt, quick assessment, inclusion in the existing system data and the like. It is hard to imagine a spy with undeveloped analytical thinking, capable only of creating reports by primitive compilation. Therefore, it is believed that the best scouts are people who have acquired the profession and experience of a historian, archaeologist, lawyer, journalist and broker.
As for the counterintelligence officer, in the opinion of O. Pinto, an English specialist in this industry, a counterintelligence officer must have the following qualities:
Phenomenal memory;
- observation, the ability to notice small details;
- ability to foreign languages;
- developed intuition;
- innate acting skills;
- knowledge of practical psychology;
- knowledge of the area and customs in the capitals and largest cities of the world;
- knowledge of international law;
- knowledge of various tricks and twists that are used by enemy scouts.
Manifold modern life(first of all, the computerization of the life of society) expands this range of requirements. Therefore, it is difficult to hope for real success in this area, limiting ourselves to the above. As for the personality of the intelligence analyst, this person, first of all, needs: "density" of thought, observation, ability to synthesis, deduction and content analysis, constant expansion of horizons and spectrum of interests, constant monitoring political news, the ability to quickly navigate large volumes of information materials (work through dozens of newspapers and magazines in 15-20 minutes and “squeeze” the acquired data into the final document within 1.5-2 hours). And, of course, there are many qualities inherent in other employees of the special services.
Finishing the conversation about professional qualities intelligence officers and counterintelligence officers, we will cite the opinion of the magazine "In the world of special services". “Intelligence and counterintelligence is always a risk that must be smart and balanced. And a sense of danger is a reliable protection for any special operation. Caution is never too much. A secret service professional must love his job. Be proud of belonging to this profession. Intelligence and counterintelligence is a calling. You can't just "serve" time here. It takes an obsession, a selfless love for work. They come to the special service forever, and if someone leaves it voluntarily, it is not worth keeping him - there will be no benefit from such an employee. "
Being exposed is the most dramatic result of his work for an intelligence officer. But exposure does not mean complete failure. Illegal Soviet agents found ways to get out of the seemingly deadlock situation with dignity.
Difficulties of the profession
Intelligence is not only dangerous but also thankless work. Only those agents whose activities have been disclosed become famous all over the world. The illegal scouts, who managed to impeccably do their job, have sunk into oblivion. We will most likely never know their names. If such scouts share their memories, then only with the permission of their superiors - all within the framework of strict secrecy.
The training of an illegal intelligence agent cost the Soviet treasury dearly - an average of 3-5 million rubles. It included teaching foreign languages, psychological skills, martial arts techniques and many other subtleties of this difficult craft.
Particular importance in the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR) was attached to the work on the legend of covering the illegal. The trained agent had to convincingly play the role of a person who either did not exist in nature, or does not exist at the moment.
The legend, as the scouts say, was not supposed to look like a Chinese basket: if you pull one rod, the whole structure will fall apart. If, for example, there was a cat in the house of a person impersonating an illegal, then he not only had to know her nickname, color, but also habits.
Mikhail Kryzhanovsky, a former KGB intelligence officer, recalls a case when a married couple on a train traveling between two European capitals tried to recruit him, complimenting him with the following phrase: "You have very accurate political forecasts - you should work in intelligence." Kryzhanovsky decided this: "So my behavior was erroneous, too professional, which did not correspond to my legend of an average businessman."
The scout constantly had to remember that the whole brunt of failure always rests on his shoulders. At best, he faced expulsion from the country, at worst - the death penalty.
Avoid failure
Exposure is the worst result of the work of any intelligence officer. To avoid it, there were a number of instructions, rules, precautions. The basic rule is to avoid anything that could attract the attention of counterintelligence. It could be too high an agent's income, especially from unclear sources, and a lot of extravagance. Life on a grand scale is taboo for a scout!
For example, Harry Houghton, a Polish and Soviet intelligence agent, helped expose himself by spending the extra money he received for espionage on real estate transactions. And Oscar Vassel, a former British clerk who worked for Soviet intelligence, wasted money on expensive clothes. They both spent more than they earned, and sooner or later this should have brought them attention.
The assistant to one of the most experienced Soviet spies, Colonel Rudolf Abel, suffered from another passion - an immoderate craving for alcohol. In the end, he had to let it slip - and so it happened.
The weakness for the female sex could also cost the scout a career. The instructions were clear: the agent should not be seduced by the courting of posh ladies who sit down with him in the bar or emerge from the closets in hotels. If the spy was too fond of the beauty, he could well be recalled to Moscow.
A personnel intelligence officer, unlike a movie hero, practically never carries weapons, disguised wiretapping and video filming devices, encrypted messages, even sewn into the lining of his trousers. If detained, all of this will lead to exposure.
Soviet illegal residencies were notable for their small size, in order to minimize its consequences in the event of a failure. If the residency grew, it was divided in two. When one of the parts was covered, the other should have gone unnoticed.
Threatened by exposure
Assuming a possible exposure, the agent, first of all, must take care of the safety of important, including compromising documents. Finding a cache is difficult. Most often it was placed under the high voltage line. This was a guarantee that nothing would be built there.
If the threat of failure looms over the agent, then he should worry about how to get out of the water as dry as possible. The spy, caught without compromising evidence, still had the hope of not being exposed.
In the event that a resident was exposed, his deputies, according to a previously worked out scheme, introduced a plan for localizing the failure. First of all, it was required to establish which of the agents was still under threat. With a high danger, communications with agents were temporarily cut off, those who were in some way tied to the spy scandal immediately left the country. Sometimes more stringent measures were taken, up to the physical elimination of the vulnerable link.
The golden rule for every intelligence officer, behind which the locks of the prison cell clicked: "Confession lightens the conscience, non-recognition makes the term easier." The list of rules can be continued: "Think fast, speak slowly", "Mistrust is the mother of security", "He talked too much", "The scout ends when he grabs the pistol."
The most important quality of a scout is the ability to control himself, even in the most extreme situations... In May 1938, a Soviet intelligence agent working in Japan, Richard Sorge, crashed on a motorcycle. The scout, with an incredible effort of will, forced himself not to faint. Only after the transfer of the secret papers to the ransomware Max Clausen, who was called to the scene of the accident, did he allow himself to "switch off." As soon as Clausen had time to seize incriminating documents from Sorge's house, the police raided there.
If a spy is caught red-handed, then not all is lost. The unspoken rule was: "Do not admit anything and deny everything." “I didn’t admit my guilt” - this is a key phrase for any court, including for a Soviet military tribunal.
Writer Viktor Suvorov, who served in military intelligence, described the pattern of behavior of an agent who got hooked in the following way: “Did you pull the folder with secret documents out of my bosom? Yes, you yourself slipped it to me! Did you find my fingerprints on that folder? Yes, you forcibly put my hand on it! "
“The main thing during interrogation is to relax and distance yourself from what is happening, as if it does not concern you, as if you are an observer and you see all this from the outside,” writes Suvorov. - In the answers - no emotions and complete uncertainty: no categorical "yes" or "no". Instead of answering, throw up your hands, shrug your shoulders, portray bewilderment, misunderstanding, meditation on your face. But you can't admit anything! "
Come out dry from water
The most famous case of the exposure of a Soviet resident occurred on June 21, 1957, when, as a result of the betrayal of the radio operator of illegal intelligence Häyhänen, the American special services detained GRU agent William Fischer. Despite the sudden onset of the FBI, Fisher retained an amazing composure.
Having received permission to take drawing supplies with him, the resident pre-cleaned his palette, moreover, with a piece of paper containing a still undeciphered radiogram. In front of the American intelligence services, the evidence was safely flushed down the toilet.
To the first question "What is your name?" The scout immediately replied: "Abel Rudolf Ivanovich." Fischer revealed the name of his colleague. In the USA, except for him, no one knew Abel. It was decided in Moscow that the arrested intelligence officer would hardly conceal such nonsense as his name, which means that he would not "split." They decided to save Fischer. However, it was not until 1962 that William Fisher was returned to his homeland as a result of an exchange for the captive American pilot Francis Powers.
According to General Yuri Drozdov, betrayal is a phenomenon that is very difficult to fight in intelligence. He gives an example of a married couple of illegal intelligence agents, whom he conventionally calls T. and G. Working impeccably in one of the countries, the agents discovered that some kind of leak was taking place. Soon G. noticed the surveillance. T., who was about to give birth, promptly destroyed the evidence and decided to act.
To leave through a third country, she took her sick husband to the south for alleged treatment, and there, together with their two children, they crossed the border of another state. Getting to the USSR was no longer a big deal. Later, the traitor was also identified. It turned out to be a double agent, Oleg Gordievsky, who secretly worked for British intelligence.
With the American citizen Harry Gold, who was engaged in industrial espionage in favor of Moscow, the Soviet intelligence ceased cooperation on its own initiative. The reason is the violation of safety standards by the agent. Indeed, in 1946, the FBI, in conjunction with British intelligence agencies, set up surveillance for Gold.
The instructions stated that if the agent senses danger, then he must stand in a certain place with a smoking pipe. Several times Harry Gold came to the agreed place, lit his pipe, but no one came into contact with him.