Illegal scouts: friends among strangers

[Объединенное Детективное Бюро]

Scouts are illegal: their own among strangers.

In February 2009, the Polish counterintelligence arrested a GRU scout who had been illegally living in Poland for ten years. The detained Russian was fluent in Polish, had a residence permit and owned a small company with a wide range of activities, which, among other things, was engaged in the sale of optical sights for hunting rifles. Among his clients were senior generals of the Polish Army and owners of enterprises in the energy sector. During a joint hunt, the spy allegedly was actively interested in plans to modernize the Polish army and energy enterprises.
The officers of the counterintelligence department of the Polish Internal Security Agency who exposed the Russian intelligence service were presented to government awards. According to the Polish media, one of the reasons for the resignation in April 2009 of the head of the GRU, Army General Valentin Korabelnikov, was the failure of his subordinate. The latter is at least ten years in prison.

Illegal Scouts - Who They Are
Undercover intelligence is carried out from legal and illegal positions. In the first case, a staff intelligence officer travels abroad with a passport of his country. In the second case, the illegal scout uses false documents of a citizen of the host country or of the third state. Let us explain this with an abstract example. Suppose the president of Power A decided that Region X was a zone of vital interests, for example, oil was exported from there. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to this territory and prevent the establishment of control of the main enemy - Power B. One of the means of maintaining control is the use of intelligence intelligence resources. This will not only provide effective monitoring of the controlled territory, but also provide an opportunity to carry out various active operations. For example, a military coup or revolution can be organized with the aim of bringing to power a government loyal to Power A.
Intelligence A decided to work in Region X from a legal perspective. To this end, it sent many of its staff members there, who will extract information of interest to the Center, as well as recruit local agents. Most scouts will work under the guise of diplomats, journalists, businessmen, etc. The rest will receive the posts of military attachés. Since the 19th century, these positions have traditionally been occupied by military intelligence officers. One of the problems that employees of legal residencies will face is the active opposition to local counterintelligence. It is clear that counterintelligence officers will follow around the clock and in every way impede the secret activities of numerous "diplomats", "businessmen" and other "knights of the cloak and dagger."
Another problem - in region X there are areas that are closed to foreigners, or local residents are aggressive towards strangers. Therefore, employees of legal residencies cannot get into these areas.
The third problem is that many local residents are extremely reluctant to communicate with foreigners, so it is very difficult to recruit or at least establish friendly relations with them in order to further use the formation of the anti-government opposition or lobbying the interests of Power A in local authorities.
And what to do in such a situation? Conduct undercover intelligence from illegal positions. In this case, a small group of illegal illegal scouts will be sent to region X. Unlike their colleagues, they will act under the guise of a third state or local residents. And no different from them. In fact, scouts will dissolve among the indigenous population of region X and therefore will be able not only to avoid increased attention to their person from the side of counterintelligence, but also to freely visit territories closed to foreigners. In addition, they can effectively communicate with local residents and even take their rightful place in the political or business elite of the region.
The main advantage of working from a legal position is the ability to train quite a lot of professional intelligence officers in a relatively short period of time, who will not only be ready to go to Region X, but will also agree to such a trip. Indeed, in the event of failure, they will most likely simply be expelled from the country, and State A will do everything to save its citizens.
When working from illegal positions, the Center needs to solve many problems. Find the right candidate and train him. At the same time, a person is well aware that in the event of failure he will have many years in prison or the death penalty. It may happen that state A, for one reason or another, abandons its own subject. It is necessary to create an appropriate cover for the illegal intelligence officer: to actually develop a new biography, which should withstand the verification by the enemy counterintelligence staff. Therefore, the illegal preparation process can take several years.

Many dream, but few fall
The first task that the Center will have to solve is to select a suitable candidate for illegal immigrants. What are the requirements for it? Age - from 20 to 35 years. It is believed that a younger applicant does not have the necessary life experience, and it will be difficult for an older applicant to adapt to a foreign country. Marital status - not bound by marriage or a soul mate will also have to go on a business trip abroad. Health condition - “fit for service in the Airborne Forces”, able to withstand colossal nerve overloads. The candidate must meet all the requirements for intelligence personnel. In addition, he is obliged to show his ability to learn foreign languages, successfully pass multi-stage testing and many conversations with psychologists and human resources intelligence officers, including veterans of illegal intelligence.
Among the topics discussed with the candidate are his readiness for several decades to settle in another country and start life from scratch, and then return to his homeland and start all over again. After all, acquired property, cash accumulations and communications after returning from a special business trip will be irretrievably lost. In order for him to better feel the situation, they say to him: “Imagine that you went to prison for twenty years and then went free and you have to get used to living not according to the laws of the zone, but according to the rules of ordinary life.”
The mention of places of detention is not accidental. Any illegal intelligence officer may be exposed by local counterintelligence. In the best case, he will be deported to his homeland or exchanged for another scout or agent, at worst - the court will sentence him to years of imprisonment or to death. And the candidate also needs to be prepared for such a turn in fate. Not everyone agrees to this.
The next stage of selection takes place during the preparation of an illegal illegal scout. Sometimes it happens that a person himself understands: this is not his profession, and until it’s too late it’s better to do something else. Sometimes an instructor or curator insists on stopping training.
It happens that they break up with a potential illegal intelligence agent during his internship under conditions “as close as possible to combat conditions”. That is, when he lives abroad and impersonates a foreigner. At the same time, he does not engage in intelligence activities, but only leads the lifestyle of an ordinary person, though not a Russian, but, for example, a German or a Canadian. Not everyone is able to withstand many months of round-the-clock acting.

How is “alien” life created
Another important task that the Center has to solve is that each illegal intelligence officer needs to prepare an appropriate “biography” and a set of documents proving his “false” identity. Consider an abstract and greatly simplified situation. In real life, everything is much more complicated, although the principles are similar.
Suppose James Bond needs to illegally settle in Moscow. He wanted to live relatively calmly for several years, without constant chases and shootings. What activities should British intelligence take to realize Agent 007's dream?
Firstly, they need to choose the region where James Bond supposedly was born, raised and lived, before they left for Moscow. Let's say it will be city N in Siberia. After that, a British intelligence officer should visit this city, pick up the house where the superspy’s childhood passed, the school where he “studied”, the factory where he “worked”, etc. All these objects, as well as other attractions N cities are captured on the camcorder. This will be required to familiarize the illegal scout with places of "childhood and adolescence." Suddenly he accidentally meets a fellow countryman with whom he studied at the same school or lived on the same street.
Secondly, you need to pick up a real person. So, in most Western countries, the main document is a birth certificate. By presenting it, you can get a passport, driver's license and other documents. Therefore, during the Cold War, Soviet foreign intelligence officers hunted for information about born and registered Westerners who died in infancy or went missing, for example, during World War II.
Suppose, the colleagues of agent 007 were able to find out that in the city of Nzhil a certain alcoholic Vasya Pupkin, who once went missing. No one wrote a statement to the police about his disappearance, the law enforcement bodies also have no complaints against him, he did not take loans. Suitable candidacy. Therefore, you just need to make a passport and military ID in the name of this person. Maybe even a driver’s license, if they had Vasya Pupkin. The main thing is that the details (number, date of issue, signature, etc.) in the documents of the superagent are identical to those of the alcoholic.
Thirdly, aristocrat and secular lion James Bond needs to reincarnate as an alcoholic and the usual Russian peasant Vasya Pupkin, but at the same time to remain a British intelligence agent at heart.
Let agent 007, as usual, solve the task assigned to him and become Vasya Pupkin. What awaits him next? Arrival in Moscow and the beginning of a new life.

How to see off and meet illegal immigrants
The ritual of seeing off to Soviet illegal intelligence agents remained unchanged throughout the Cold War. The night before, or in the morning, on the day of departure, a scout, curator, and department head gathered in a safe house. A modest feast with cognac. Good luck in completing the assignment. And after a few hours, a plane, motor ship or train took a person to a new life. So far, a Soviet citizen or a “western tourist” returning to his “homeland”. The illegal scout used to cross the Soviet border documents was destroyed or exchanged with an employee of the Soviet foreign intelligence for others - permanent, with which he had to live for many years in a foreign land.
The ritual of the meeting was different and depended on the quality in which the person returned from the assignment. If it was exposed by the counterintelligence of the enemy and exchanged for a colleague, then everything happened approximately as shown in the Soviet film "Dead Season". In the picture and in real life, the exchange took place on the bridge in the presence of representatives of the KGB, East German special services on the one hand, and American and West German on the other.
Another option: the illegal scout failed, but managed to avoid being detained by the counterintelligence of the enemy or escaped from custody. In this case, he is secretly taken out of the “inhospitable” country, for example, in the trunk of a car or a hare on a ship.
Third option: official return. This is when an illegal intelligence agent has the opportunity to conserve or liquidate his business, inform neighbors and acquaintances about a change of residence, sell all property, etc. All this is done with only one purpose - to lull the vigilance of local counterintelligence. In this case, he can count on a solemn reception at home. In Soviet times, they could file a service black Volga directly to the plane's ramp. Of course, after all the other passengers have already left the cabin. Now the car is waiting in the parking lot in front of the terminal building.

Family life
Perhaps one of the most touching scenes of the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" can be considered a meeting of Stirlitz with his wife in a cafe. And the personal life of Isaev-Shtirlits shown in the film is an attempt to give official ideology the wish for the real life of Soviet illegal intelligence agents. A high-ranking German officer who is not married and not a widower, throughout his career avoiding intimate communication with women, is suspicious. Well, this can not be in real life. On the other hand, if an illegal scout decided to make a permanent girlfriend, then he immediately has a serious problem. At some point, he will be forced to admit to her that he is not the one he claims to be. How will she react to this recognition? He will run to report where he should or become an accomplice. Another problem - it is extremely difficult to lead a double life and hide it from a loved one. A woman might just think that someone on the side appeared at her companion. Scenes of jealousy, attempts to calculate an opponent - all this does not contribute to the fulfillment of the tasks of the Center. And finally, if he was ordered to return to his homeland or was he forced to flee the country, fleeing arrest, what should he do with his girlfriend in such a situation? Leave her alone? And if he loves this woman? Even if the Center allows the two of them to return, will she go and be happy in a foreign country?
During the Cold War, most Soviet illegal intelligence agents traveled on special missions together. Thanks to this, the above problems were solved, but new ones arose. One of them is children. Sometimes it happened that, due to the specifics of the work, the spouses did not acquire offspring. Once, an elderly Soviet illegal intelligence officer who spent many years with his wife abroad, during an interview, looking at a photograph of the deceased second half, said with sadness in his voice: “But we still did not have time to have children.”
Another problem - children born abroad had to be sent to their homeland before they grew up. Otherwise, the process of adapting to a new life will be very harsh for them. There were cases when illegal intelligence agents, after sending their children to the USSR, had to stage their death. And then for many more years to live away from their children, entrusting their upbringing to grandparents.

Alien among his
After returning to their homeland, illegal scouts fell into a completely different world. Most of their work colleagues quit, went on promotion or transferred to other units. Many relatives have died. With friends of youth, the connection is lost forever. And life itself in the Soviet Union or Russia is very different from their usual. Once, in an interview with me, an elderly woman who lived more than ten years in South Korea said that the main problem for her was Russian medicine (the minimum quality regardless of the cost of services) and the boorish attitude of social security officers towards pensioners.
Also, difficulties for illegal scouts raises the question of what to do at home. Of course, you can go to become a teacher of a foreign language, you just have to hide what you did in previous years and avoid asking questions from colleagues. That is, again transformed into an illegal. Therefore, most remain working in various units of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Someone prepares future illegal intelligence officers, someone teaches foreign languages and country studies, and someone serves in the central office.

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

Thank!