Secrets of the Cleaner. Legendary "Alfa" about spies and traitors. How did Sorge die? New facts about the exploits of Soviet illegal intelligence officers

Everyone loves spy detectives and from childhood remember phrases like "The turnout failed" or "Encryption from the center is late."

The stories of agents that we will tell you also probably began with a childhood love for spy novels and James Bond films. Each of them once came to intelligence, but left his invisible front in disgrace.

Anna Chapman and all-all-all

They also used public Wi-Fi for data transmission and gave away laptops to FBI agents posing as electronics repairmen. And although some of them have been active in the US for almost a decade, they have collected so little information that they have not received accusations of espionage.

Unsuccessful landing on the American coast

On the beach, they were immediately noticed by a coast guard officer, but they tried to pretend to be local fishermen. Unfortunately, one of the spies spoke German, while the other was still wearing his wetsuit pants. They tried to bribe the officer, fled, but were immediately put on the wanted list. All four were caught in less than a week after one of them turned himself in to the FBI.

No pool - no intelligence data

Nicholson was so narcissistic that he hung a poster with his own portrait in his office, and so confident in his elusiveness that he continued to search the databases for information regarding Russia, even when he did not need them. After being captured in 1996 and imprisoned for 23 years, he added another 8 years to his term for trying, through his son, to collect the rest of the money owed to him for selling secrets back to the Soviet Union.

Avalanche and tracking device

Their ascent was interrupted by a blizzard. Instead of going down with the instrument, they tied it to a rock to take it to the top later. When they returned six months later, he was gone. Expensive spy device powered by a nuclear source swept away in an avalanche.

The mole that caught the mole

As a result, the master of espionage was caught on one of his features - everyday racism. Hanssen often used a strange expression that insulted the Japanese. After some time, it turned out that the “mole” also uses the same phrase. It remains only to add 2 and 2.

American women are not tempted

The "Russian Trio" was not distinguished by the subtlety of its work, having come to the attention of the FBI more than 50 times in two years. During telephone conversations they used code words, but didn't bother to cover up, constantly talking about delivering some kind of "tickets" to each other, but never going to the movies or to the stadium.

Conspiracy? No, I haven't heard

He also counted money, sorted it by face value and put it in bundles even during meetings with other agents. Pitts continued to sell secrets even after learning that his own wife had turned him in to the FBI. He is currently serving a 27-year sentence.

Life beyond your means

I'll put on boots and a red coat

It contained detailed instructions to create a mailbox on the site gmail.com for future "secret" correspondence. He also had four pairs of sunglasses with him - despite the fact that the operation was carried out at night. "James Blond" was expelled from Russia a week later.

MI5 miscalculation

Later it turned out that Bettany was indeed spying for Russia, but he did not succeed in this either. After his clumsy attempt to shove a thick stack of classified documents into the embassy mailbox, Russian intelligence decided it was a trap and handed him over to the British authorities themselves.

Without a doubt, one of the first associations with the work of a scout is the fate of Maxim Isaev, who worked in the German Abwehr under cover and under the name Stirlitz. The editorial site offers you a selection interesting facts about the film, which you did not know or managed to forget.
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Recently I received a letter from a former American scout Michael Sellers. He left the CIA and is now working in Hollywood, preparing to make a film about the struggle between Soviet and American intelligence, - says Vladimir Zaitsev. - I participated in the operation to detain Sellers in Moscow in 1986. Now it turns out that I am a celebrity there. And in the 80s, the CIA considered me the main "cleaner" ... This year, my other "acquaintance", Martha Peterson, long retired, wrote a book about her work in Moscow as a CIA officer. I also appear in her memoirs. She then, of course, did not know that the man in the form of a policeman, from whom she skillfully fought back on the Krasnoluzhsky bridge, accompanying karate techniques with a selected Russian obscenity, was me. At that time we could not calculate it for a long time. Firstly, women scouts had not worked on our territory before. Secondly, she deliberately created for herself the image of a broken woman, who either stood with the guards in an embrace, or rested on the steps with a bottle of whiskey ... And recently, a leading employee of an American development structure came to us military equipment(they at one time traitor Tolkachev handed over secret data about the electronic filling of Soviet fighters, including the ability to elude American aircraft and radars, and Soviet MiGs ceased to be invulnerable). This American directly admits that the KGB was one of the strongest structures in those days, everyone was afraid of him.

Life is like a movie

Yulia Borta, AiF: And now they are not afraid of the FSB?

Vladimir Zaitsev: They are afraid, but the situation has changed. When the USSR ceased to exist in 1991, and with it the KGB, there was such confusion that American intelligence officers walked around the country as if they were in their buffet. During this time, they could acquire sources of information among our citizens, which intelligence is still counting on. In addition, there are no restrictions on travel abroad. It is difficult to predict who and on what they can recruit there ...

But have the methods of work changed? Spies used to have wigs, false mustaches. And now?

These methods still work. Three years ago, an American spy was caught using a wig and a fake mustache. Then, even in the press, an indignant howl arose: they say, the FSB tells us fairy tales - what kind of wigs and mustaches are in our time ?! How else can you change? The same Sellers liked to go out on espionage operations in a ski cap with hair glued under it and with a fake mustache. I even have a photo where he first with a mustache and a hat, and then without them - a completely different person (the attributes of the spy caught by the FSB in 2013 were very similar to those that were confiscated from Sellers at one time, which led our scouts to the idea that they are still manufactured by the same company. - Ed.).

In the mid-80s, Americans were very fond of using inflatable mannequins, and for some time they managed to lead the "outdoor" by the nose. They did this trick like this: as soon as the car with the American intelligence officer found himself in the “dead zone”, breaking away from surveillance for a moment, he jumped out of the car, and his partner, who was driving, pressed the button, and ... a rubber doll jumped out of the seat. The passion for masquerades among American agents was incredible. Even rubber masks were used, like the one in the famous film by Fantômas. They also liked to dress up in women's dresses. True, this did not save them. Experienced detectives "outdoor" always first memorized the gait of the object, and then all other external signs.

There are many fairy tales about scouts. It's only in the movies that surveillance gets up in the "tail" and follows the alleged spy. But in fact, 20-30 machines could work behind one object.

Detention of Martha Peterson. Photo: From the personal archive of Igor Atamanenko

- How did you treat employees of foreign special services?

Sincerely. They did their job, we did ours. Traitors are another matter: such people deserve neither justification nor indulgence. Especially when they began to actively use ampoules with poison. For example, traitor gardener poisoned his wife with poison obtained from American intelligence when she began to guess about his espionage. And he himself during the detention, according to one version, committed suicide with the help of poison hidden in the pen. After that, all those suspected of espionage immediately after the arrest were changed and their personal belongings were taken away. So, when they took another traitor, Smetanin, they noticed that he was always reaching for his glasses, although he was not at all short-sighted. It turned out that there was also poison in the temples of the glasses: if he touched them with his hands, the poison would instantly penetrate the skin and kill him. In such cases, when innocent people could die, they had to act tough.

People don't lie

- Work in "Alpha" was not limited to catching spies?

The range of tasks was very wide. They helped the criminal investigation department to catch bandits, went to Chekist-military operations, neutralized terrorists. They even collected information among the population. Let's say, some decision was made in the Central Committee, the party leaders need to find out: how do people feel about it? Little was believed in the reports that were sent from the district committees and regional committees. For example, the district committee receives information that there will soon be a storm at the plant, but does not want to show the authorities that it can’t cope, and in the report it writes about 2-3 renegades who are making trouble for the people. And there, in fact, the entire working team is close to rebellion. Sent employees "to the people": someone on the train long distance started a conversation with fellow travelers, others “walked” around Moscow ... And we transmitted information firsthand, without smoothing, so that we could make adjustments and reassure people.

Michael Sellers, a CIA agent who worked undercover as the 2nd Secretary of the US Embassy, ​​was detained on March 10, 1986 during a meeting with KGB Major S. Vorontsov. Sellers handed over to the Americans samples of the “spy dust” used by Soviet counterintelligence officers to process the cars of American diplomats suspected of espionage.

Marta Peterson was caught in 1977 while laying a hiding place for the traitor A. Ogorodnik, an assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. The secret services led her from the embassy itself. In the cinema, where she came under the guise of a spectator, the spy managed to put on a bright White dress black suit, completely transformed. Connoisseurs identified her by her gait and caught her red-handed.

Thank you for your help in preparing the material Igor Atamanenko, writer and historian of special services, lieutenant colonel of the KGB of the USSR.

The author of the book, deputy editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, twice winner of the literary award of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Nikolai Dolgopolov told AiF about the heroes of the book, many of whom he knew personally.

Presentation opened director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin. “The history of the country's foreign intelligence, or rather, that part of it that has been removed from the secrecy stamp, should become public. The heroic fates of many legendary scouts- This good example for everyone, especially for the younger generation of our citizens,” the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service emphasized.

18 heroes, 17 names (one name is still classified), both familiar to everyone and remaining ordinary intelligence soldiers for many. Richard Sorge, Rudolf Abel, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Alexei Kozlov, Ivan Mikheev, Elena Modrzhinskaya, spouses Michael And Elizaveta Mukasei, Klaus Fuchs and many others.

Scout Letters

“I tried to open to readers the heroes who for some reason are considered “scouts of the second plan” in our country, although I absolutely disagree with this characterization,” said Nikolai Dolgopolov. - In intelligence there is no second or third plan. She is always at the forefront. And in the book, I returned to my favorite characters again. One of them is Rudolf Abel (real name William Fisher). Not so long ago, I received new documents from his adopted daughter, Lidia Borisovna Boyarskaya, who died in April 2016 at the age of 93. We were family friends. Lidia Borisovna called Abel "Uncle Willy." When we were sorting through the archives of her foster father, she gave me some of the documents, asking me to publish after her death. These were Abel's letters from the American prison in Atlanta to his relatives in Moscow. True, they were all addressed for the purpose of conspiracy to Leipzig, where, according to legend, his daughter and wife lived. Everything is on English language. It is curious that letters from a house in Moscow were first written by his wife in Russian, then her daughter Evelina translated into English, after which Abel-Fischer's wife Elena Stepanovna copied the messages with her own hand. And Soviet intelligence sent them to the GDR, from where they were sent to the addressee in an American prison. So the book contains the correspondence of the intelligence officer, who was serving the hardest prison term, with his family and the rarest documents about his release.

Studying the archive of Abel-Fischer, I found the answer to the most difficult question: where did the paintings by William Genrikhovich, created by him in the USA, come from in the Soviet Union? Often visiting his apartment, I saw many paintings on the walls. It turned out that the Americans handed over the things of the colonel to the Soviet embassy, ​​and our diplomats, long before the exchange of the colonel for the spy pilot Powers, safely transported them to the USSR. After the death of Lydia Borisovna, these paintings adorn museums and collections of some collectors. And she gave me a few paintings, which I am very proud of. They are all signed in English with the surname "Abel", or in Russian - "R. Abel".

Scout Tragedy

The fate of some scouts was tragic. There have been failures. Someone was betrayed, someone was declassified by chance, others died, one might say, on the front line, protecting the interests of the country.

“I tried to give my version of the death of the famous intelligence officer, the hero of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, and it does not coincide with the opinion of many intelligence historians that I respect very much,” continues Nikolai Mikhailovich. - Kuznetsov was given out to Bandera. These are people who were in the underground city committee of Rivne. They learned the true name of Kuznetsov and gave Nikolai Ivanovich to the Germans and Bandera. He died on the night of March 8-9, 1944 in an unequal battle with bandits.

I also tried to analyze why our resident military intelligence officer Sorge and his group were arrested in Japan. He was hanged in a Japanese prison on November 7, 1944. How did the Japanese get on it? Having considered four versions, I come to the conclusion: there was no failure and no mistakes. The intelligence officer worked in Tokyo from 1932 to 1941, was constantly “under the hood” of the Japanese special services - the time of his illegal work in this country was too long. In support of my conclusions, I cite the opinion of the oldest Chekist of Russia Boris Ivanovich Gudz, who for a year and a half, starting in 1936, led the activities of Ramsay in Tokyo from Moscow.

Chekists in cassocks

It turns out that those who truly served ... God also served in Soviet intelligence. Without abandoning the cassock of a clergyman, Ivan Ivanovich Mikheev was at the same time a career employee of Soviet intelligence and managed to rise to the rank of colonel of the SVR.

“This story is very dear to me personally,” recalls Nikolai Dolgopolov. — I met Ivan Ivanovich in 1997. Operational nickname - "Mikhas". In front of me was a real Orthodox priest with six medal bars! We talked about his life and service, but it was too early to talk about it at that time. And now, 20 years later, I still wrote about his feat. During the years of the Great Patriotic War servant (this is a church term - Ed.) Ivan Mikheev, together with Archbishop Ratmirov, acted in the German-occupied territory in the Kalinin region (now Tver), then Smolensk and other cities, transmitted information about the movement of German troops and uncovered German intelligence networks. One of these networks was organized by the Germans under the guise of a school for the training of priests. This structure of the Abwehr was revealed by Mikheev with the help of the real Archbishop Ratmirov, who was not a scout at all. By the way, in the Orthodox world, Mikheev was better known under the surname Lunev. Being a man of deep faith, he remained a career foreign intelligence officer. Naturally, when meeting with him, I could not resist the question: “How could it be possible to combine faith in God and devotion to Soviet ideals, Soviet ideology?” To which Mikheev replied: “I have two Gods in my life - one in heaven, the other - intelligence service. I served these gods all my life, I never went against my conscience. And God helped my country first win the war, and then ensure the security of the Motherland.” However, what happened to Mikheev later, after the war, I have not ventured to write yet. Who knows, maybe this will be the plot of the next book.

"Cherche la femme"

There are in the history of intelligence, in addition to heroes, and heroines. In particular, Elizaveta Ivanovna Mukasey. Together with her husband, she was an illegal intelligence officer. The couple spent 22 years abroad in the most different countries. They had two children. Daughter Ella Mikhailovna and son Anatoly Mikhailovich Mukasey - People's Artist of Russia, husband of the famous director and actress Svetlana Druzhinina.

“When I tried to find out from Elizaveta Ivanovna in which specific countries she and her husband worked, she always answered extremely carefully and evasively:“ In one country of Eastern Europe, in one country Western Europe...“ - Nikolai Mikhailovich shares his memories of the legendary intelligence officer. “Nevertheless, despite responsible secret work, she somehow managed to escape several times a year to her homeland to see her children. I note that Elizaveta Ivanovna always willingly talked about her family, but never a word about how she managed to get out to the children - an operational secret! I generally noticed interesting detail. In pairs of illegal spouses, women turned out to be completely taciturn. And then they warned her husband: “Have you thought, is it possible to tell this already? I don't think it's time yet." So, contrary to popular belief, a woman in intelligence is even more cautious and vigilant than men.

The expression that the one who owns the information owns the world is known to everyone. That is why the “profession” of a spy is no less ancient than another well-known occupation. But in this environment, not everything is always decided by money. Sometimes secret agents put their lives on the line for high ideas. In our selection, we have collected 10 of the most mysterious and spies in history.

Richard Sorge

Soviet spy of German origin disguised as a journalist long years performed secret missions for Soviet intelligence. He spent the last ten years of his life in Japan, a loyal ally of Nazi Germany. There he created a high-class intelligence network, which allowed him to transfer unique secret information to the Soviets. In particular, long before the war, the notorious “Plan Barbarossa”, to which Moscow did not react in any way. In 1941, Richard warned Headquarters that Japan was not going to attack the USSR until the end of 1942. This made it possible for the Soviet government to transfer several fresh divisions from Far East to the front near Moscow. It was these events that largely predetermined the outcome of the entire war. In 1944, Sorge was declassified by the Japanese and hanged after much torture.

Chevalier d'Eon or Charles de Beaumont


Perhaps one of the most mysterious personalities in history. No one still knows what gender the chevalier was. Rumor has it that, having been born a girl, d'Eon was dressed as a boy from childhood in order to receive an inheritance on the maternal side. Becoming an agent of the secret intelligence network of Louis XV, he carried out secret missions in Russia and England. While in London under the guise of a French creditor, d'Eon aroused considerable interest among the highest circles of the English aristocracy. On the London Stock Exchange, they even made bets on what gender d'Eon belongs to. After the death of the king, Charles put an end to espionage activities. Declaring to everyone that he was still a woman, he went to rest.

Olga Chekhova


The famous actress and relative of the famous Russian writer has long been suspected of collaborating with the USSR, although no official data on this matter has been preserved. Hitler's "muse", a close friend of Goebbels and Mussolini - she was an ideal ally for Soviet intelligence. There is an assumption that it was she who was entrusted with the assassination of Hitler. Subsequently, Stalin personally abandoned this idea, considering the Fuhrer too predictable. What could have happened after his death? Olga Chekhova herself denied any connection with the Soviet Union until the end of her life.

Robert Hanssen


Robert Hannsen has never been an adventurer. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a dentist. On the slippery path of espionage, he was pushed by one thing - the lust for profit. Working as an FBI officer in the main department in New York, during the height of the Cold War, Robert regularly "sold" useful information THE USSR. In general, he handed over about 6,000 secret documents. And he was incredibly careful. No one knew the double agent by sight. Packages with "information" and money were always in different secluded places. Even his wife didn't know anything about his secret life. After the collapse of the USSR, Hanssen continued to cooperate with Russia. In 2001, he was declassified and sentenced to life in prison.

Mata Hari


Margaret Gertrud Zelle was the wife of a respectable husband in Holland. After divorcing him, she moved to Paris and took the pseudonym Mata Hari, which means "sun" or "eye of dawn." She made a living by performing exotic dances. In her lovers, she had the most senior people: politicians, military, officials. Having access to secret documents, Margareta began to sell them the right people. Many agree that she was not a secret agent at all, but simply a desperate adventurer, thirsty for profit. For this she paid with her life.

Klaus Fuchs


Klaus Fuchs was a well-known nuclear physicist who became fascinated with socialism at a young age. After the Nazis came to power, he moved to England, continuing to engage in scientific activities. In the midst of the "nuclear race" between the West and the USSR, the scientist absolutely disinterestedly gave the Soviet residents all the information available to him about developments atomic bomb. As a result, the Soviet Union, thanks to the secret information received, developed a new weapon not in 10 years, as expected, but in just three years. The exposed scientist was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After 9 years in prison, Klaus Fuchs was released from prison and sent to the GDR.

Sydney Reilly


This man is deservedly called the "king of espionage". It is also known that he is the prototype of the legendary James Bond. Born in Odessa, Solomon Rosenblum, his real name, left his homeland at the age of 19, sailing aboard an English ship to South America. Subsequently, it turned out that the crew of the ship, under the guise of geological exploration, was performing a secret mission M6. Soon, agent Sydney Reilly, recruited by British intelligence, went to the USSR to spoil the life of the Bolsheviks, which he did very well. He even prepared an assassination attempt on Lenin. But all luck comes to an end. In 1925, Sidney Reilly was caught by NKVD agents and shot.

Kim Philby


Kim Philby was born into the family of an English officer. But unlike his father, the boy had no sympathy for British imperialism. Communism is the future of humanity. While studying at Cambridge, Philby was recruited by Soviet intelligence. Later, he became an agent of the British Army Intelligence and headed the anti-communism department. Of course, throughout his service, he leaked invaluable information to the Soviets. When things started to smell fried, the USSR secretly sent their best agent to Moscow. This was the end of Philby's espionage activities. Being in the heart of world communism, which he had dreamed of for so long, Philby became bored, and he slowly began to drink.

Aldrich Ames


Another virtuoso double agent. But unlike Philby, this man was driven to exploits not by an idea, but by money. Collaborating with the USSR, the head of foreign counterintelligence of the CIA, Aldrich Ames, earned about $ 4,000,000. Thanks to his work, the US intelligence network and many European countries was almost completely destroyed. Aldrich was still a tough nut to crack. When all suspicions of betrayal fell on him, he "cheated" the lie detector several times. However, the CIA still managed to collect evidence of his guilt and put Aldrich Ames in prison for life imprisonment.

Ian Fleming


The famous English writer and "father" of James Bond worked for a long time in the secret service of the Royal Navy. But risk your life to Fleming in real life was not to my liking. But in the fictional world, he became a virtuoso spy.

How did the first reconnaissance satellites transmit photographs?

In the first series of American and Soviet reconnaissance satellites, the recording was carried out on ordinary photographic film. After filling, the container with the film was dropped to the Earth. Capsules from the American satellites "Corona" were able to both land and splash down, and could also be caught by an airplane right in the air. The containers from the Soviet Zenith satellites were equipped with an auto-detonation system if it landed on foreign territory.

What detail in carefully forged Soviet passports betrayed German spies?

During World War II, several German agents were exposed because of a small detail. The spies were very carefully trained and had immaculately forged Soviet passports. However, passport clips were made from of stainless steel, and when checking, it was immediately noticeable that there was no rust characteristic of Soviet documents in the places where the pages were fastened. For the same reason, during cold war more than one American spy was caught.

Where did the expression "the last Chinese warning" come from?

In the 1950s and 1960s, American aircraft often violated Chinese airspace for the purpose of reconnaissance. The Chinese authorities recorded every violation and each time sent a "warning" to the United States through diplomatic channels, although no real action followed, and such warnings were counted by the hundreds. This policy has given rise to the expression "the last Chinese warning", meaning threats without consequences.

How did British intelligence deceive Hitler so that the Allies could capture Sicily without interference?

In April 1943, a body in the uniform of a major was found on the Spanish coast. marines Great Britain. Handcuffed to his wrist was a suitcase containing secret documents about the plans for the Allied invasion of Greece. As Spain was overrun with German agents, the documents quickly got to Hitler, and he ordered preparations for the defense of Greece and Sardinia instead of Sicily, as Mussolini called for. However, the allies landed precisely in Sicily and without special efforts took over the island. It turned out that it was for this purpose that this operation, code-named " Chopped meat"cranked out British intelligence, putting on military uniform on the body of a homeless man who committed suicide, and taking him to Spain on a submarine.

How did the gift of Soviet schoolchildren to the American ambassador in 1945 help our special services?

In 1945, Soviet schoolchildren gave the American ambassador wooden panel from valuable breeds tree with the US coat of arms. Neither the schoolchildren nor the ambassador knew that the panel contained a listening device, the design of which was developed by Lev Theremin. The "bug" was so well hidden that the American intelligence services did not notice anything, and the Soviets listened in on conversations in the ambassador's office for another 8 years. After the discovery, the device was presented to the UN as evidence of the intelligence activities of the USSR, but the principle of its operation remained unsolved for several more years.