Частный детектив. Статский советник. Крым-Москва. said:
In Russia, organized intelligence appeared immediately after the emergence of the foundations of statehood. It is no coincidence that the very first mentions of a spy operation successfully carried out by our ancestors for military purposes date back to 881. She was led by the Prophetic Oleg, the closest relative of Rurik.
Two years after the death of the founder of the Varangian dynasty, Rurik, Oleg, together with the still young prince Igor, left Volkhov and headed a large army to conquer Slavic Kiev. Having captured Smolensk and Lubech, the warlike prince descended on the rooks down the Dnieper and stopped next to Kiev. He liked the place. And he decided to find out who their happy owner is.
A Slav warrior came to the Dnieper coast. Unfortunately, the name of the first Russian intelligence officer remained unknown. The messenger went to the settlement of Kiev and, pretending to be a lone wanderer, collected all the data necessary for his prince. And then he went back to the prince with a report. The two Varangian brothers Askold and Dir reigned there. Oleg ordered most of his soldiers to remain in place, and the rest he “concealed” in the rooks, and, pretending to be a merchant floating by, and moored with a small squad.
New agents were sent to the princes, announcing that they were guests, that is, merchants, and they were going to the Greeks from Oleg the prince and from Igor prince. So the first misinformation was carried out - today it is one of the main methods of work of special services.
Having deceived Askold and Dir, Oleg, on a plausible excuse, lured the brothers to the pier, and then the capture group came into action. The warriors jumped out of the rooks and killed the rulers. This is how the first coup d'etat in Russia took place in Kiev, and the main role in it was played by people who are now commonly called scouts, or a quick reaction group.
It is Oleg who is considered the symbolic founder of Russian intelligence.
The first counterintelligence operation in Russia is associated with Grand Duchess Olga. Immediately after the death of Prince Igor in the Drevlyansk land, Olga managed to lure the murderers of her husband, with whom she considered all the Drevlyans to know, to her territory, to arrest and pronounce him a death sentence.
For many years after this, intelligence was spontaneous. Information was collected from time to time with the arrival of trade caravans, or foreign delegations. And the special services themselves, as such, did not exist. Secret affairs were handled by especially close people of the prince, or governors.