One of the most effective intelligence services in the world in the post-war years was the Soviet GRU. The secrets of military intelligence are securely stored in the archives, some of them do not have a statute of limitations. The success of our agents often has to be judged only after their failure or after many decades.
The Russian intelligence service as an organizational structure emerged in the 16th century. Ivan IV the Terrible established the Ambassadorial Order, whose functions included the collection of information useful for the most rational conduct of foreign policy.
The great poet A. S. Griboyedov also combined diplomatic and secret work, whose fate showed how dangerous the profession of a scout can be.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Russian agents had an extensive network in almost all countries of the world. Equipped with excellently trained personnel, it operated successfully and efficiently.
The events of 1917 and the ensuing Civil War had a detrimental effect on the state of the special services, their structure is actuallywas destroyed. The new government had to create intelligence anew.
According to the then fashion for abbreviations and abbreviated spellings, the service that collects information of military importance received the name “Registupr” (1918), which is insignificant for the uninitiated. This structure was subordinate to the Field Headquarters of the Red Army, and we can say that the modern military intelligence of the GRU is its direct descendant. The further transformation of the Register and renaming it to the Intelligence Directorate (RU) expressed the desire to streamline the activities of Soviet agents abroad.
To increase the reliability of the information received, the sources were diversified. Information was supplied by the world's largest and unsurpassed network of agents of the Comintern, army intelligence, the NKVD and several other services working abroad, including diplomats.
The military intelligence service worked effectively during the Great Patriotic War on a par with the 4th Directorate of the NKVD. The staff was created after careful selection and training. In 1945, this army structure received the name that has survived to this day.
The main sources of foreign secrets in the post-war period were the department "C" of the MGB (hereinafter the KGB) and the military intelligence of the GRU. The functions between them were divided, but the specifics of illegal work did not allow a clear line to be drawn.
Economic and technical information, the production of which was the responsibility of state security, often intersected with information of a military nature. However, suchdepartmental competition did not harm the common cause, but rather contributed to success. Thus, the role played by the NKVD and the military intelligence of the GRU in obtaining atomic secrets of the Manhattan Project, along with the foreign service, can hardly be overestimated.
In the second half of the 20th century, complex tasks were set for Soviet agents. The gap in the technological backlog of the USSR from Western countries increased, reliable information was required on the technical characteristics and design solutions in the field of modern military equipment. Military intelligence did not remain aloof from these problems either. GRU special forces took part in secret operations far beyond the borders of their homeland. During the Middle East conflicts, the Vietnam War and other episodes of armed confrontation between opposing systems, the latest samples of tanks, aircraft and electronic equipment of a potential enemy were mined and delivered to the USSR.
The military intelligence of the GRU of modern Russia is structurally divided into 13 departments according to territorial division and functional purpose. They employ specialists of various profiles, from analysts and economists to experts in the methods of psychological warfare and sabotage. The geography of the work areas is the entire globe, over which the bat depicted on the emblem of the service has spread its wings.
