OSINFO - Open Sources Information

Text of report by Russian Defence Ministry newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on 19 December

[Interview with Gen Sergey Smirnov, first deputy director of the Russian Federal Security Service, by Aleksandr Bondarenko, headlined "Our most important tradition is love of and loyalty to our motherland and our people"]

[Bondarenko] Sergey Mikhaylovich, our country's security agencies will mark their professional holiday tomorrow: The legendary Cheka [acronym for the ChK, the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, a Soviet security agency in 1917-1922; chekists is a collective noun for staffers of intelligence agencies] was founded on 20 December 1917. Please remind our readers what is considered the main milestones of the 90-year history of the VChK-KGB-FSB [present-day Federal Security Service]?

[Smirnov] Let us make it clear that the history of the security agencies is inseparably intertwined with the history of our state and therefore, the main political events which have been taking place in the country have always influenced those agencies' goals and activities. After the October Revolution, the Soviet of People's Commissars [Sovnarkom, the early Soviet Government] established the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage. The VChK departments were executive bodies of the Soviet state and were intended for conducting inquiries and preliminary investigations. It has to be noted, by the way, that despite the difficult situation in the country, the punitive agencies of the Soviet republic, including the VChK, did not resort to severe repressions against the enemies of the revolution.

[Bondarenko] But how about the infamous "red terror"?

[Smirnov] The decree on starting it -in retaliation to the "white terror" of the counterrevolution -was issued by the Sovnarkom on 5 September 1918. Back then, after the attempt on Lenin's life, the VTsIK [All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the supreme Soviet legislative body of the period] declared the Soviet republic a military camp. Already by the end of the Civil War [ 1918-1921], the need to preserve the VChK's extrajudicial functions was obviated. In mid-January of 1920, the VTsIK and Sovnarkom abolished capital punishment under the revolutionary tribunals' and extraordinary commissions' sentences.

[Bondarenko] The VChK was reorganized altogether soon after that, right?

[Smirnov] Of course, during the transition from war to peace, the nature of the security agencies' activities had to change too. The State Political Directorate, GPU, was established in February 1922, and after the creation of the USSR, it was transformed into the Joint State Political Directorate, OGPU, of the Sovnarkom of the Soviet Union, a department which coordinated the republics' efforts in the area of combat against the political and economic counterrevolution, espionage, and banditry. Back then, in the late 1920's -early 1930's, the period of industrialization and collectivization, the staffers of OGPU and NKVD [People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs] were increasingly frequently involved in dealing with domestic political issues, which was an uncharacteristic activity for the security agencies and had nothing to do with intelligence or counterintelligence. The assassination of [Soviet functionary Sergey] Kirov [in 1934] marked the beginning of the tragic period in the history of the security agencies, which is associated with implementation of a repressive policy....

[Bondarenko] Many people are certain today that precisely the NKVD staffers are guilty of the repressions -they say it was their initiative....

[The passage between the obliques is the newspaper's biographical note and is not separated from the main text]

/Business Card

Sergey Mikhaylovich SMIRNOV was born on 12 October 1950 in Chita. He graduated the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communications in 1973 and the Soviet Union Council of Ministers' KGB Higher Courses in Minsk in 1975. He has been working in the security agencies since 1974. In 2001-2003, he headed the St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Directorate of the Russian Federation FSB. Smirnov was appointed first deputy director of the Russian FSB in June 2003. He was awarded the For Military Merits and Honour orders, the Honorary Counterintelligence Officer badge and numerous medals. Master of sports at handball./

[Smirnov] The activities of our security agencies were always guided by the party or state authorities and were based on the legal framework of the period. For instance, the Communist Party line towards stepping up the class struggle had a negative effect on the work of the security agencies in the 1930's. The extent of repressions grew substantially, the unkenneling of the "enemies of the people" spread to include the vital portions of state and society, including the security agencies themselves. That type of a policy resulted in a huge damage to the country's defensive ability in the conditions of the imminent aggression against the USSR by the Nazi Germany and its satellites.

[Bondarenko] Did the wave of repressions start right after the assassination of Kirov?

[Smirnov] On that same day of 1 December 1934, even without any formal approval by the TsIK session, the TsIK decree came into legal force, which required that investigations of the terrorist acts had to be completed within the 10-day period and heard by courts in the absence of prosecution and defence. Cassation appeals and petitions for pardon by the sentenced were not allowed, and sentences had to be carried out immediately after they were imposed. This was how the "legal framework" of repressions was established, and as for implementation of these provisions, it was assigned to the security agencies and prosecutor's offices. This is why the decree "On arrests, prosecutor's office's supervision, and conduction of investigations," which was passed by the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Central Committee and the USSR Sovnarkom in 1938, held the USSR NKVD and USSR Prosecutor's Office responsible for mass terror in the country. The repressions were presented as an outcome of the "enemies of the people" from among the NKVD staff.

[Bondarenko] That happened after [Lavrentiy] Beria replaced [Nikolay] Yezhov in the post of the People's Commissar, right?

[Smirnov] Right, repressions eased up somewhat after that. But their initiators and organizers were not ChK staffers, but heads of the party and Soviet organizations!

[Bondarenko] But "Stalin's iron People's Commissar" Yezhov himself too was a party functionary since 1922, and from 1935 he was a secretary of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Central Committee....

[Smirnov] However, all strata of society were involved in the mechanism of suppression of freedom of thought, but the leaders of the party apparatuses of the republics, krays and oblasts were the foremost masterminds. Precisely they were members of [tribunal] "troikas," and they were the people who handed down capital sentences to innocent people. In general, a powerful punitive system was at work in that period in the country, which included the Soviet, party, and state apparatus, NKVD bodies, prosecutor's offices, courts and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.

[The following passage appears as a separate paragraph]

"The history of the security agencies is inseparably intertwined with the history of our state."

[Bondarenko] In my opinion, the issue of repressions requires comprehensive research and analysis. But, although the country was weakened, it still managed to survive the blow of the Hitlerite armies....

[Smirnov] I have to say that it is hard to overestimate the Soviet special services' contribution to the victory in that war. A lot of work was done right after the beginning of the war to fundamentally reorganize the operations of the security agencies: Within a short period of time, the issues of operational-mobilization deployment were resolved, and changes were made to the structure, forms and methods of chekist activities. The state security agencies were doing the complex and hard work of organizing the struggle against the fascist invaders, exposing and curbing the enemy subversive activities, ensuring security at the key industrial and other important facilities of the economy and maintaining high alert, discipline and order. They supplied the country's leadership with information which was obtained using the security agencies' capabilities to operate on the other side of the front line. Working in close contact with the guerrilla movement and patriotic underground on the occupied territories, they started to organize intelligence, subversive and counterintelligence activities on the other side of the front line, in the enemy's rear. These activities were carried out by NKVD directorates of four Soviet republics and NKVD kray and oblast departments.

[Bondarenko] The activities of the directorate which was headed by General [Pavel] Sudoplatov are now widely known....

[Smirnov] What is known much less today is that the security agencies' contribution in the process resolving the economic problems associated with providing assistance to the front was tremendous. ChK staffers exposed the facts of gross violations of the manufacturing technologies, unravelled the causes and conditions of emergence of negative phenomena which hindered the development of the country's military and economic potential and resulted in moral and political damage, fought against embezzlement and abuse of power. Already by 1942, a centralized and efficient system of local and all-Union search for the enemy agents, traitors to the motherland, and other dangerous criminals was created within the security agencies.

[Bondarenko] You are talking about the work of territorial departments....

[Smirnov] Yes, I am, because the military counterintelligence -GUKR "Smersh" [Main Counterintelligence Directorate "Death to Spies"] -was assigned special tasks. The main directions of their activities were organizing defences of the Red Army support areas, combating cowardice, alarmism, unauthorized leaves from the battlefield, high treason in the form of crossing over to the enemy and desertions, and organizing counterintelligence work on liberated territories to identify the enemy agents who were left behind, German punishers, collaborationists and military criminals. I know that Krasnaya Zvezda has more than once written on all this.

[Bondarenko] We will keep writing about this -the military counterintelligence will mark its 90th anniversary next year, and we too will commemorate it.

[Smirnov] Let us move on to the post-war period, then: Already in 1946, our former allies in anti-German coalition started the Cold War. Our security agencies were assigned the task of confronting the subversive activities of foreign intelligence services, identifying traitors to the motherland, spies and collaborationists of the German aggressors among the repatriated and re-emigrants..... And today, the main objective of the Federal Security Service is safeguarding the security of the Russian Federation. The functions of the FSB are defined by the Russian law and are performed in the areas of counterintelligence, intelligence, border control, combat against crime and terrorism, safeguarding of information security, as well as in the field of identification and prevention of new threats to and challenges of our Fatherland. And now, in peace time, our staff does its professional duties, sometimes even risking their lives. Russian FSB Director Nikolay Platonovich Patrushev said that some 500 staffers of the security agencies have already been awarded state and department decorations this year.

[Bondarenko] I understand that all these materials are kept in the archives of your agency. Can they ever become public?

[Smirnov] Take into account the fact that the Central Archive of the Russian FSB alone stores more than 700,000 stock units. A huge number of documents about the activities of the state security agencies on the territory of the former USSR and, later on, in the modern-day Russia are kept at the archives of the territorial bodies of the Federal Security Service. Without studying these materials, it is impossible to fully understand historical processes which were unfolding not only in our country, but also in the countries of the near and far abroad. It has to be said that the FSB archives are bringing into academic circulation documentary materials which are used by historians and researchers. Documentary scientific films and museum expositions are produced on their basis. Staffers of the special services' archives are playing an important role in this.

[Bondarenko] Which documentary publications on the history of the security services are of particular interest?

[Smirnov] Over the last decade, FSB experts, in collaboration with different research organizations, produced fundamental works, such as "Sovershenno Sekretno. Lubyanka -Stalinu o polozhenii v strane. 1922-1934" ["Top Secret. Lubyanka to Stalin on situation in the country. 1922-1934"], "Vysylka vmesto rasstrela" ["Exile instead of shooting"], "Organy bezopasnosti v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyny" ["Security agencies during the years of the Great Patriotic War"], "Russkaya voyennaya emigratsiya" ["Russian military emigration"], "Sovetskaya derevnya glazami VChK-OGPU-NKVD" ["Soviet village through the eyes of VChK-OGPU-NKVD"], "Tragediya sovetskoy derevni" ["Tragedy of the soviet village"] and many others. The books: "Lubyanka, 2" and "Smersh," which include our specialists' articles on the history of counterintelligence and military counterintelligences. They are richly illustrated with documents and photographs from the archives.

[Bondarenko] Can it be assumed that you will be declassifying your archive materials?

[Smirnov] No, by fart not all the documents in the security agencies' archives will be accessible to researchers. According to the norms of the law currently in force and laws "On state secret" and "On the federal security service," documents and materials which contain information on the personal composition of the agencies' bodies, persons who provided or still provide assistance to these bodies on a confidential basis, or on organizational structure, tactics, methods and means of conducting counterintelligence, intelligence, operational and investigative activities cannot be declassified.

[Bondarenko] I see. But still, what we are discussing is how precisely those types of activities were organized. It is known that the "voenspetsy" -former [tsarist army] officers -were very helpful when the Red Army was being created. Is it possible to say that the VChK used experience and the best traditions of the pre-revolution state security agencies?

[Smirnov] The history of Russian counterintelligence is many centuries long, and this art has come a long way of development from the seemingly elementary operations and measures to the exceedingly convoluted combinations. However, after the February Revolution [ 1917], the tsarist-era organizations of political investigation were abolished, and the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission was established soon after that. It was seen as an interim special body intended for carrying out the primary tasks facing the new authorities: The combat against the counterrevolutionary organizations, sabotage by public officials, anarchy, banditry and profiteering. At the initial stage of their activities, the Commission staff were elaborating and identifying the most successful methods of combat against the enemy of the existing system by trial and error, so to speak. Their main methods were mass searches, round-ups, ambushes....

[Bondarenko] Presumably, large-scale measures of those kinds were not particularly helpful in terms of boosting the reputation of VChK or, for that matter, the new authorities....

[Smirnov] That's right, although already back in the beginning, great importance was attached to relations with the public and to reacting to the reports from the citizens. Methods like using undercover agents and secret equipment to obtain intelligence information, on the other hand, were considered "provocative" in VChK's work.

[Bondarenko] But precisely the agent networks form the backbone of the security agencies, right?

[Smirnov] Right, but it took some, albeit quite short, time to realize that. Practical work proved that the imperial security agencies had accumulated unique experience of conducting intelligence and counterintelligence activities. The VChK drew on that experience, and later it was transformed into a government structure which combined the functions of intelligence, counterintelligence, personal security of government officials, and search and investigation of cases involving crimes against the state.

[Bondarenko] We mentioned succession and traditions. Let us discuss the events of the Great Patriotic War, which made for the proudest pages of the history of our security agencies....

[Smirnov] The People's Commissariat of Defence Main Counterintelligence Directorate Smersh was created by decree of the USSR Sovnarkom on 19 April 1943. Among its primary objectives were tasks of combating espionage, subversion, terrorism, activities of foreign intelligence services, and taking in cooperation with the command of measures to preclude the crossing of the front line by enemy agents with impunity. Thanks to well-organized operations on the other side of the front line, the Army chekists [intelligence officers] often had detailed information about the enemy agents as early as when those agents were undergoing training at the intelligence schools. From October 1943 to May 1944 alone, our counterintelligence deployed 345 agents in the enemy-controlled territories. Of these, 102 returned on completion of their missions, and 57 penetrated into the enemy's intelligence schools and continued carrying out the assignments of the military counterintelligence. During the same period, Smersh identified 1,103 enemy agents.

[Bondarenko] With what assignments were the German agents sent to our territory?

[Smirnov] In the summer 1943, for example, Smersh staff found a fascist agent, who was sent to assassinate Colonel General Leonid Govorov, commander of the Leningrad Front. In 1944, operation of the German intelligence and sabotage centre Zeppelin, which aimed at physical liquidation of Supreme Commander Iosif Stalin, was thwarted with participation of the military counterintelligence officers.

[Bondarenko] Obviously, those German agents were extremely well trained....

[Smirnov] An important part of the secret war of the army chekists with the Hitlerite military intelligence was carrying out measures of misinforming the enemy about the plans and actions of our troops. The effective method of misinformation was radio games with the enemy, which were taking place from the very beginning of the war. When Smersh was put in charge of this activity, misinformation became a strategic field. Texts of radiograms were composed by the counterintelligence in cooperation with the Red Army General Staff, and the most important ones -in cooperation with the Supreme High Command General Headquarters. In total 183 radio games were conducted. During these "battles on the air," some 400 agents and staffers of Hitlerite intelligence agencies were neutralized. Misinformation was an important factor in the success of the Battle of Kursk, Belarusian, Yassk-Chisinau, Baltic and Wisla-Oder operations.

[Bondarenko] Again, could you please give us an example?...

[Smirnov] As an example, the radio game "Shturm," which the chekists of the Transcaucasus Front conducted for almost two years. Thirty Zeppelin agents were arrested, and tons of air-dropped German weapons, explosives and ammunition were intercepted. I can say that the military counterintelligence, including the Smersh departments, performed their duties with honour and demonstrated their superiority in the fierce confrontation with the Abwehr and Zeppelin, having thereby made their contribution in the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

[Bondarenko] Can that contribution be defined in any concrete terms?

[Smirnov] Of course! However, Krasnaya Zvezda has already said that during the years of that war, the counterintelligence officers neutralized more than 30,000 spies, some 3,500 saboteurs, and more than 6,000 terrorists. The readers should realize that behind these matter-of-fact numbers signify the rescued lives of our soldiers. Can we imagine the extent of potential damage to the Armed Forces had all the planned acts of sabotage, subversion or terror been carried out in the areas of deployment of our troops or against the frontline communications and had all the agents regularly reported to the enemy on concentration and movement of our troops, plans of the Soviet high command and preparations for combat operations?

[Bondarenko] I think that had that happened, we would simply not have been talking about the victory in the Great Patriotic War now....

[Smirnov] Some more data from that period: More than 6,000 army chekists died when carrying out the assignments of the state security agencies and army and navy command. Thousands of the military counterintelligence officers were awarded orders and medals, and Petr Zhidkov, Grigoriy Kravtsov, Mikhail Krygin and Vasiliy Chebotarev received the honorary title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

[Bondarenko] All four of them died in combat, and the awards where posthumous. Sergey Mikhaylovich, can you explain to me, what it is -the experience and traditions of Smersh? How useful are they to today's military counterintelligence staff?

[Smirnov] I do not want to sound high-flown, but Smersh was an example of the highest professionalism, heroism, courage, bravery, fearlessness and selflessness. It is synonymous with boundless love of and loyalty to the Motherland and the people, integrity, unswerving will, high sense of duty, camaraderie in combat and personal responsibility for the assigned task, close ties with the troops. And I can tell you that the glorious traditions of Smersh, experience of our veterans are cherished and cultivated by the Russian military counterintelligence staff. Direct contacts with veterans, books and articles by the military counterintelligence officer about the confrontation between the army chekists and fascist intelligence -all these are very important factors in patriotic education of our staffers. I mean, in particular, books by Smersh veterans. B.V Geraskin, A.A. Govorov, V.I. Gorbushin, K.I. Danilin, A.S. Yevdokushin, L.G. Ivanov, I.Ya. Leonov, A.I. Matveyev, M.A. Pospelov, A.K. Solovyev, B.A. Syromyatnikov, I.L. Ustinov, G.M. Shumilin and many others. We view the uninterrupted succession of the generations of military counterintelligence officers as an inexhaustible source of our strength and a token of our future successes in ensuring the security of the Russian Armed Forces. The wartime experience of Smersh officers is indeed used by the military counterintelligence officers in practice.

[Bondarenko] Do you want to say that it was used in Afghanistan and during the local conflicts?

[Smirnov] Right, because quite a few military counterintelligence officers received their baptism of fire when they were ensuring the security of the limited contingent of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Army chekists again showed shining examples of courage, bravery and fidelity to their duty there. One of them was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. The combat efficiency of the military chekists was confirmed during their participation in the counterterrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Some of them died a hero's death in battles with armed gangs.

[Bondarenko] What tasks were the counterintelligence officers assigned in the Chechen Republic?

[Smirnov] Their main task was ensuring the security of the troops in the area of operations. Information which they obtained helped prevent acts of subversion and terrorism by the bandits and identify their accomplices. The military counterintelligence officers more than once took part in special operations there, led the surrounded troops to safety, and did their best to reduce casualties among the privates and officers.... But the work of the military counterintelligence is not confined to the areas of combat operations alone. Regardless of their place of deployment, be it Moscow or a remote garrison, they keep working to identify and neutralize the intelligence or other subversive efforts of foreign intelligence agencies and foreign extremist organizations against the Russian troops, continue their combat against trafficking of weapons and drugs, provide assistance to the commanders in raising combat-readiness of units and formations.... As a result, tens of staffers of the military counterintelligence bodies were awarded state decorations for their valour in combat and successes in investigative work. You can see that they are worthy successors to the cause of their fathers and grandfathers, who, working in NKVD departments and Smersh organizations during the Great Patriotic War, made their weighty contribution towards the victory over fascism. The military counterintelligence has been, and remains, a spearhead unit of the Russian security agencies.

[Bondarenko] What are the peculiarities and specifics of the military counterintelligence activities in our time? What are their role and place within the FSB system?

[Smirnov] Let us note, first and foremost, that the military counterintelligence is part of the unified centralized system of the departments of the Federal Security Service and is directly under command of the Russian FSB. Its goals, as well as its purpose, staff, legal framework, principles and directions of activities, powers, forces and means, are set out in the Law "On the Federal Security Service," dated 3 April 1995, and appropriate amendments and additions to that law, and in the "Statute on directorates (departments) of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military organizations and departments (security organizations of the service)," which was approved by the 7 February 2000 decree by the president of the Russian Federation.

[Bondarenko] And the military counterintelligence in that system is....

[Smirnov] At present, it is the Military Counterintelligence Department of the Russian FSB and security departments in the military units: FSB departments and units in the military districts and fleets, Internal Troops of the Internal Affairs Ministry, Space Forces, Special-Purpose Command, military formations under central command, FSB sections at formations, military units, garrisons, military educational institutions of the Armed Forces, other forces, military units and organizations. The Military Counterintelligence Department is direct command of the security departments in the military units, ensures the security of the central command units of the Armed Forces, other troops, military units and organizations, and in military subunits and organizations in their direct command.

[Bondarenko] And they too work as prescribed in the aforementioned documents, right?

[Smirnov] Of course, the security departments in the military units are guided in their activities by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, decrees and edicts of the president, directives and resolutions of the government, other normative legal acts, as well as international agreements of the Russian Federation.

[Bondarenko] What tasks are the military counterintelligence officers performing?

[Smirnov] Their range is quite broad, but they are all subordinated to a single goal: Ensuring the security of the Armed Forces. First and foremost, this involves identifying, preventing and curbing the intelligence efforts of the security agencies and organizations of foreign countries which are aimed at causing damage to the security of the Russian Federation and its Armed Forces. In addition, the main efforts are concentrated on safeguarding the data which constitute national security information, information on implementation of the plans of military development in the Russian Federation, and obtaining intelligence information on the security threats to Russia and the Armed Forces.

[Bondarenko] In principle, our military counterintelligence people have always been dealing with these issues....

[Smirnov] Certainly. Although today, at a time when international terrorism is more of a concern, the requirements to the military counterintelligence's abilities to protect the weapon stockpiles, especially the arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, ammunition and explosives. In cooperation with the Military Prosecutor's Office and other government bodies, the military counterintelligence combats organized crime, corruption, contraband, illegal trafficking of drugs and weapons and other negative phenomena in the Army and Navy.

[Bondarenko] Yes, all these have already become characteristic of our times....

[Smirnov] I will tell you more: In general, the security agencies' functions in the military units are somewhat broader than the functions of other counterintelligence subunits of FSB because the Armed Forces have no special departments of their own which would be involved in operational and investigative activities in the interest of combat against crimes which do not fall under the FSB jurisdiction.... This is why in the Army and Navy, they listen to the military counterintelligence's opinion when making decisions, for example, on placement of the military cadres. Our service supplies the leadership of the Defence Ministry and General Staff, as well as local commanders, with information on the risk of emergencies in the military units and threats to their security, provides assistance in maintaining the combat readiness and combat efficiency of the military units and formation at the appropriate level.

[Bondarenko] I still think that the main purpose of the service is made obvious by its very name.... Please tell me, is the problem of espionage against the Russian Armed Forces pressing today?

[Smirnov] Measures aiming at raising the defensive ability, including development of new weapon systems, as well as plans of development and progress of the military component of Russia's power, generate unprecedented interest and activity of foreign intelligence services. I can say that their activities in certain fields in Russia are growing excessively bold. According to the materials of the military counterintelligence, spying by 16 foreign citizens, who collected intelligence information in favour of security agencies and organizations, has been curbed in the last two years. We noted special interest of foreign intelligence services in information regarding the development of the strategic nuclear forces and creation of new models of weapons for the Strategic Missile Troops. We received information on the new forms, methods and tactics of intelligence activities of a number of the Western intelligence agencies and obtained equipment which they use.

[Bondarenko] However, no equipment can replace a good agent. How are we doing in this area?

[Smirnov] I understand your question. Unfortunately, among our citizens too, including the military, there are people who are trying to improve their financial circumstances by selling secrets to foreign security agencies and embark on the path of treason. In the last two years alone, security agencies curbed the espionage activities of six agents and so-called "initsiativniki" who collected intelligence information.

[Bondarenko] How do these attempts to "make extra money" usually end?

[Smirnov] Here is a fresh example: On 29 October, the Moscow District Military Tribunal sentenced S.A. Yuren, a staffer of one of the units of the military district, to seven years in prison for high treason in the form of espionage. Yuren was recruited by a citizen from one of the CIS countries to spy for the Polish military intelligence service and passed to the foreigners the information on stationing, subordination and weapons of a number of units and formations. At present, materials against another Russian citizen who was involved in espionage and traced down by the military counterintelligence were sent to court. There are other examples too, which clearly testify that threats to the security of Russia and its Armed Forces are real and serious.

[Bondarenko] With what other types of destructive, anti-state forces the military counterintelligence has to struggle?

[Smirnov] There are quite a large number of them. Some of them pursue political goals despite being militarily oriented. Others take advantage of nationalist and religious factors....

[Bondarenko] What do you mean by "militarily oriented"?

[Smirnov] These types of forces and movements view the potential of the Armed Forces as an effective lever of changing the constitutional system and putting pressure on the political course towards stabilization of the situation in the country. The Army is part of society, which legally possesses modern weapons to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of state.

[Bondarenko] So attempts to penetrate into that social group are inevitable?

[Smirnov] Yes, and only this year, the military counterintelligence officers discovered and curbed the illegal activities of a number of individuals with extremist inclinations, prevented creation of three cells of radical and destructive organizations. In particular, Shamil Akhmedov, conscript serviceman of the Internal Affairs Ministry Internal Troops, was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in standard-security penal colony, inter alia, for incitement of ethnic, racial and religious enmity.

[Bondarenko] How and why did this happen?

[The following passage appears as a separate paragraph]

"Full mutual understanding between the military counterintelligence officers and the command facilitates proper safeguarding of the security of the troops."

[Smirnov] When Akhmedov joined the military service, he was already quite an established extremist in his views. His views did not change in the Army too -he demonstratively expressed his negative attitudes to other service persons who belonged to other religious denominations, many times initiated conflict situations between them on ethnic basis, openly propagandized "inferiority and degeneracy" of the service persons of other ethnic groups, provoked insults against their ethnic dignity. Only interference by staffers of the military security agency helped prevent illegal actions by that extremist, shed light on all of his illegal statements, and avert larger-scale ethnic, racial and religious enmity within the military unit.

[Bondarenko] Unfortunately, these types of phenomena are increasingly dangerous in Russia, as the same Kondopoga riots testified....

[Smirnov] This area of illegal actions has no national borders, which is why the military counterintelligence officers work in close cooperation with foreign partners. In particular, in cooperation with the Kazakhstani National Security Committee, the activities of a radical Islamic cell, which operated near the Baykonur space centre, was curbed in 2006. Its head, Kazakhstani citizen Orazbek, was sentenced by the judiciary of our neighbouring state to three years of imprisonment for extremist activities.

[Bondarenko] It is known that those types of sentiments are often kindled by interested forces -let us put it this way....

[Smirnov] Yes, we have to confront, among others, foreign intelligence services too, which use destructive forces to destabilize the situation in the country.

[Bondarenko] It is clear even without asking on whom our ill-wishers focus their efforts....

[Smirnov] Of course, the spread of nationalist ideas among youth causes our special concern. Unfortunately, cadets of the higher military educational institutions are also prone to manifestations of extremism -the future officer corps, the core of the army, on which the state of all the Russian Armed Forces will depend in the near future. The atmosphere in the military units will depend on their views. This is why we pay special attention to this category of service personnel. We try to resort to so-called "punitive actions" against them as rarely as possible. We are first and foremost trying to "win them back to virtue," knowing very well that they are still just kids, of whose idealism some extremist and other destructive forces are trying to take advantage. Of course, if a person in shoulder-straps does not want to change his erroneous views and continues his extremist activities, we have to take measures to dismiss him from the ranks of the Armed Forces, after all, the Army is no place for such people. Criminal prosecution is also an option in some cases.

[Bondarenko] Sergey Mikhaylovich, could you please explain to me the notion of "extremist activity"?

[Smirnov] Let me draw your attention to the following factor: The material resources which are available to the Armed Forces, as well as specialized knowledge, skills and abilities of the military are very attractive for the extremist organizations in terms of training their own gunmen. Let me give you just one example: In 2005, citing military and patriotic education of teenagers as the pretext, young men aged 20 to 30 were undergoing weapons and demolitions training at one of the military ranges in Moscow Oblast. The military counterintelligence officers found out that they all were members of a radical organization which pursued the objective of changing the constitutional system of the Russian Federation. In think that the purpose of the training is obvious....

The work which I just described is but a small part of the activities of the military counterintelligence bodies aiming at combat with destructive and other anti-state forces.

[Bondarenko] It is possible to say that extremism today is quite closely connected with terrorism....

[Smirnov] Combat against terrorism is the most important priority in operational activities for the Russian Federation FSB Military Counterintelligence Department and security departments in the military units. This is why the counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus turned out to be the most serious maturity test for the military counterintelligence officers -we have already discussed this issue. But the situation there remains difficult to this day, the permanent threat of terrorist activities and intensification of efforts of extremist forces remains real. Leaders of international terrorist and extremist organizations still make attempts to plant the ideology of Wahhabism in that region, instructing their supporters to make the situation "explode" by fair means or foul. One of the targets of their influence is the troops which are deployed in the North Caucasus. The tactic of guerrilla warfare, which the members of underground gangs employ, is especially dangerous, and so are their efforts to restore the system of command and organize the channels of flow of money, weapons and mercenaries, including via the bordering countries.

[Bondarenko] Is working on these issues an immediate duty of the military counterintelligence?

[Smirnov] Of course it is. This is why the military counterintelligence officers did their best during the special operations to ensure that combat tasks get carried out. Special groups and combat units were created with their participation to reconnoiter the areas under the gangs' control, escort military columns, spot and disarm armed gangs, traced down and destroy their command points and hardware, eliminate their snipers. They collected information -and acted on it after forwarding it to their command -about the ambushes, planted mines along the transport routes and communications lines, industrial facilities, routes of movement of troops. I can tell you without going into details that the counterintelligence officers carried out many other types of activities during the combat operations.

[Bondarenko] And what are the results of those activities?

[Smirnov] In the last two years alone, four terrorist acts were thwarted, more than 20 terrorist bases and 121 weapons caches were found, from which more than 500 fire weapons, more than 900,000 firearm rounds, 1,576 explosive devices and more than 1,400 kilograms of explosive substances were confiscated in close cooperation with the special-purpose units of the Army and Internal Troops. Thanks to the work of the military intelligence officers, illegal activities of more than 10 gunmen, including several odious gang leaders, were curbed. Many military counterintelligence officers were awarded Bravery and For Military Merits orders. Six of our officers were awarded the title of the Hero of Russia, two of them posthumously.

[Bondarenko] You said that one of the most important tasks of the military counterintelligence officers is the fight against corruption and abuse of power. Can you elaborate on that?

[Smirnov] The problem of combat against corruption and organized crime in the Army and Navy has become particularly pressing in view of the dramatic increase in the amount of funds and material resources which are allocated for the defence sector and reforms in the military organization of state. In addition, the "corrupt officials in shoulder-straps," first and foremost high-level officials, cast discredit upon the Armed Forces and damage the country's defensive ability.

[Bondarenko] So what exactly is the military counterintelligence doing?

[Smirnov] Let me first point out that the military counterintelligence conducts its activities in this direction in close cooperation with the command of the Armed Forces, local command, Military Prosecutor's Offices, military investigative bodies and other law enforcement departments. According to the materials of the security departments in the military units, in just two years, 2006 and 2007, more than 600 criminal proceedings were initiated against corrupt officials and embezzlers of budget funds which were allocated for the defence sector. The losses totalling more than 4 billion roubles were averted. More than 500 million roubles worth of funds and stocks were confiscated in favour of the national budget. According to the military counterintelligence's materials, more than 400 people were sentenced for different types of crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

[Bondarenko] These figures are impressive, but what are the facts? Are all wrongdoings not attributed to the "fall guys"?

[Smirnov] Judge for yourself: I will cite some examples of curbing illegal activities of officials. For example, Lieutenant General V.V. Machalnik, former Pacific Fleet logistic chief, was sentenced to two and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Major General S.L. Shpanagel, former head of the Yekaterinburg Artillery Institute was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and a fine. Lieutenant General A.P. Petrichenko, former head of the Russian Defence Ministry central food department, was sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment for abuse of power and causing damages to the state amount to 12 million roubles. And recently -on 28 June -the Moscow District Military Tribunal sentenced Colonel V.P. Doronin, former head of the ministry's construction and investment department, to eight years in prison and dishonourable discharge for financial violations. A little later, on 1 August, the same tribunal sentenced Colonel S.A. Yurasik, former chief accountant of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, to eight years, dishonourable discharge, stripping of awards, and a fine of 300,000 roubles. Action for damages amounting to more than 4.7 million roubles was upheld.

[Bondarenko] Facts are impressive -a serious work is under way....

[Smirnov] Let me add that, according to the military counterintelligence information, more than 40 criminal proceedings were initiated against staffers of the district military commissariats this year alone -first and foremost, for irregularities during the periods of conscription of citizens for the military service. Preventive measures helped substantially improve the situation in those military units.

[Bondarenko] What you say leads to a conclusion that the military counterintelligence officers carry out most of their duties in cooperation with the command of the Armed Forces and commanders of different levels....

[Smirnov] Yes, organizing effective cooperation is one of the essential requirements if the goal of ensuring the security of the Armed Forces is to be achieved. Special departments have been carrying out their functions in close cooperation with the military command from the moment of their creation. Precisely full mutual understanding between the military counterintelligence officers and the military command facilitated the process of reliably ensuring the security of the troops. For its part, the military command has always relied on help from the special departments in fulfilling the military tasks. This approach has become one of the fundamental principles of work which the military counterintelligence units strictly observe to this day.

[Bondarenko] But a number of movies which were produced recently stress an animosity between the military commanders and officers of special departments or Smersh....

[Smirnov] Oh, that is nonsense -just talk to the military counterintelligence veterans! I can say with full responsibility that the leadership of the Defence Ministry and local commanders appreciate the role of the military counterintelligence and importance of the functions it performs, and therefore react properly to the measures which are taken to ensure the security of the troops. I want to take this opportunity and thank the military commanders of all levels from the pages of your newspaper for their help and support to the security departments in the military units in creating favourable working conditions and allotting all the required types of allowances.

[Bondarenko] The military counterintelligence works with foreign security agencies too today. In which areas do they cooperate?

[Smirnov] Let me make it clear: In accordance with the presidential decree "On approval of the statute on directorates (departments) of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military organizations and departments (security organizations of the service)," the Military Counterintelligence Directorate and security departments in the military units are granted the right on the basis of international agreements to which Russia is a signatory to maintain contacts with security agencies of those countries with which Russia cooperates in military field or which host the military formations and units of the Armed Forces of the Russian federation, other troops or military organizations. When establishing and maintaining contacts with foreign partners, we are guided first and foremost by the long-term plans of the Russian Defence Ministry which stem from the most important foreign economic and military-political priorities of the Russian federation in the field of broadening ties with armed forces of foreign countries.

[Bondarenko] Can you tell me which countries?

[The following passage appears as a separate paragraph]

"In 1944, operation of the German intelligence and sabotage centre Zeppelin, which aimed at physical liquidation of Supreme Commander Iosif Stalin, was thwarted with participation of the military counterintelligence officers."

[Smirnov] At present, the Russian military counterintelligence maintains official contacts with security and intelligence agencies of all the CIS member countries and with military counterintelligence organizations of a number of other foreign countries.

[Bondarenko] What is the purpose of these contacts? Which tasks are performed in cooperation? What are the prospects of this work?

[Smirnov] Practical work shows that we need to broaden our international ties with foreign partners to make the maximum use of the joint operational and other types of potential for the purpose of reliably ensuring the security of the Armed Forces themselves and our military units which are stationed abroad. This is why we permanently keep in focus the need to improve our work in the area of organizing cooperation with foreign partners and adjust this process as necessary. For instance, a legal framework has been created for our cooperation, which will serve as a long-term foundation for our relations and is directly used in practice for the purpose of organization of cooperation with foreign partners on various aspects of counterintelligence activities.

[Bondarenko] And if I asked you to be more specific about what you have just said....

[The following passage appears as a separate paragraph]

"In the last two years, security agencies curbed the espionage activities of six agents and so-called 'initsiativniki' who collected intelligence information."

[Smirnov] ....Then I would be more specific and say that our cooperation has taken established forms, the most important of which at present are routine exchange of information and requests on operational problems, carrying out coordinated operational and investigative measures and working meetings.

[Bondarenko] No more questions. But I think that our readers would like to ask you quite a few questions. The main one is: How does one become a military counterintelligence officer? What are the requirements to join the RF FSB Military Counterintelligence Directorate?

[Smirnov] Let me say first that the military counterintelligence officers are military officers who are in the service under their contracts with the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The specificity of their work is inseparably linked with the Russian Armed Forces, other troops, military units and organizations where the law prescribes military service. The military service personnel and civilian young people who successfully go through a special selection process and graduate from the educational institutions of the Russian FSB can become military counterintelligence officers.

[Bondarenko] And which educational institutions are those?

[Smirnov] The RF FSB Academy and RF FSB Institutes.... There, the future military counterintelligence officers will be taught the basics and acquire the skills required for operative work in the FSB departments. The military counterintelligence officers must abide by law, which is why they need extensive knowledge of law.

[Bondarenko] What personal qualities should a person have if he or she decides to choose a career in military intelligence?

[Smirnov] To successfully perform his or her duties, a military counterintelligence officer should be have good powers of observation, be able to analyse the developments, possess the ability to take note and sense external manifestations of the inner world of a person, understand people's feelings, emotions, motives, incentives and goals, recognize psychological profiles of people. You should keep in mind that their work first of all involves identifying, preventing and curbing particularly grave crimes against the state. The military counterintelligence officers are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, foreign intelligence services, criminals and criminal groups. Therefore, they often have to work in extreme conditions, which require great personal bravery, resourcefulness, persistence, good memory, ability to make quick and self-collected decisions, great internal discipline and emotional stability.... If a young man has these qualities and feels that he is strong and talented enough for this kind of work, I think that he will not have any major problems with joining the RF FSB Military Counterintelligence Directorate.

[The following passage appears as a separate paragraph]

"The military counterintelligence officers are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, foreign intelligence services, criminals and criminal groups."

[Bondarenko] Thank you very much, Sergey Mikhaylovich, for your interview! Let me, on behalf of the entire Krasnaya Zvezda staff and our readers, wish you and, in your person, all the RF FSB officers a happy Day of workers of security agencies! And I wish our friends, the military counterintelligence officers, a happy professional holiday of their own, which is today!

[Smirnov] Let me return best wishes on my behalf and on behalf of the leadership of the RF FSB to the Krasnaya Zvezda journalists and congratulate you all on the 25,000th issue of your newspaper, which contributes to our common cause of enhancing national security of our Motherland!

Source: Krasnaya Zvezda, Moscow, in Russian 19 Dec 07