The modern history of the state security organs in the troops in Russia began in July 1918. At first, these were the scattered bodies of the Military Control, created by the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, as well as emergency commissions to combat counter-revolution, formed by the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on the Eastern and other fronts.

On December 19, 1918, by the decision of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the front and army Chekas were merged with the military control bodies, and on their basis a new body was formed - the Special Department of the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. This day is traditionally celebrated as a professional holiday for employees of the military counterintelligence agencies of the Federal Security Service of Russia.

Later, with the formation of special departments of the fronts, military districts, fleets, armies, flotillas and special departments under the provincial Cheka, a unified centralized system of security agencies in the troops was created.

From the very first days, special departments have always carried out their activities in close cooperation with the military command. This approach to organizing the activities of military counterintelligence later became one of the fundamental principles of their work. At the same time, another principle of military counterintelligence was born, the significance of which has never been questioned by anyone: close ties with the personnel of military units, employees of military facilities, headquarters and institutions that are in operational support of the security agencies in the troops. These principles are strictly followed today.

The organs of military counterintelligence largely contributed to the victories of the Red Army during the civil war.

The Great Patriotic War became a serious test for military counterintelligence officers. On April 19, 1943, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the NPO "Smersh" ("Death to Spies") was formed. He, among the paramount ones, was entrusted with the task of combating espionage, sabotage, terrorist activities of foreign intelligence services and taking measures together with the command to exclude the possibility of enemy agents passing through the front line with impunity. Thanks to well-established work behind the front, army security officers often had detailed information about enemy agents even during their training in intelligence schools. The Smersh authorities identified 1,103 enemy agents.

In total, during the years of the Second World War, military counterintelligence officers neutralized more than 30 thousand spies, about 3.5 thousand saboteurs and more than 6 thousand terrorists.

Many military counterintelligence officers have been combat-hardened, ensuring the security of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The combat readiness of the military Chekists was also confirmed in the course of their participation in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Repeatedly, military counterintelligence officers participated in the implementation of special operations, withdrew personnel from the encirclement and did everything possible to reduce losses among soldiers and officers.

The activities of military counterintelligence agencies are not limited to combat zones. Regardless of their location, they are constantly working to identify and neutralize intelligence and other subversive aspirations of foreign special services, foreign extremist organizations against Russian troops, fight against illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs, and assist the command in increasing the combat readiness of formations and units. As a result, dozens of employees of military counterintelligence were awarded state awards for military distinctions and success in operational work.

Currently, military counterintelligence is part of a single centralized system of bodies of the Federal Security Service and is directly subordinate to the FSB of Russia. Its tasks, as well as its purpose, composition, legal foundations, principles and directions of activity, powers, forces and means, are defined by the law "On the Federal Security Service" of April 3, 1995, with appropriate amendments and additions, as well as the "Regulations on directorates (departments) of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies (security bodies in the troops)”, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 7, 2000 No.

Military counterintelligence officers are military personnel serving under contract in the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. Military counterintelligence officers can become military personnel and persons from among civilian youth who have passed special selection and training in educational institutions of the FSB of Russia.

To successfully perform official tasks, a military counterintelligence officer must be observant, able to analyze events, be able to notice and capture the external manifestations of the inner world of people, understand their feelings, experiences, motives, motives and goals, recognize the mental properties of a person.

Military counterintelligence officers often have to work in extreme conditions that require great personal courage, resourcefulness, perseverance, good memory, the ability to make decisions quickly and calmly, a high level of self-organization and emotional stability.

Very little is said about counterintelligence officers who are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, intelligence agencies of foreign states, criminal individuals and groups. Among the legendary counterintelligence officers are Lieutenant General Ivan Lavrentievich Ustinov, Alexander Ivanovich Matveev, Major General Leonid Georgievich Ivanov and others.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

When is this holiday held? Day of military counterintelligence is annually celebrated in Russia on December 19.

How is Military Counterintelligence Day celebrated?

How is the celebration going? Due to the specifics of this profession, public events are not organized, however, on Counterintelligence Day, the leadership awards the best specialists, and festive evenings are held.

History and traditions of Counterintelligence Day

Let's talk about the history and traditions of the Military Counterintelligence Day. The date of this holiday is not chosen by chance. On December 19, 1918, transformations were carried out in the system of power structures of the Soviet state, thanks to which this service appeared. It was called the Special Department of the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

In the first years of work, the main task of the service was the fight against counter-revolution in various forms. Counterintelligence was engaged in the suppression of manifestations of terrorism, espionage, sabotage, and banditry.

The service was constantly reformed, over time, special departments of fronts, districts and other military formations became part of the unified system of state security organs in the troops.

During the Great Patriotic War, the counterintelligence organization SMERSH (Death to Spies) became famous. She had the right to conduct searches, listen in on persons suspected of espionage, and conduct operational-search activities to capture and track down foreign spies.

The personnel of "SMERSH" was created for the most part from employees of special departments of the NKVD. During the war years, the employees of this service neutralized about 40,000 spies, terrorists and saboteurs.

In the post-war years, the tasks and methods of work of counterintelligence changed somewhat. In 1995, the Federal Law "On the Bodies of the Federal Security Service in the Russian Federation" was signed, according to which the Federal Counterintelligence Service was renamed the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

Currently, Russian counterintelligence includes two services that are part of the FSB. These are the Federal Counterintelligence Service and the Military Counterintelligence Service under the FSB of the Russian Federation.

On Counterintelligence Day, we remember the merits of these specialists to the Fatherland. Counterintelligence officers prevent terrorist acts, suppress the intelligence activities of foreign special services.

The tasks of the service are also the fight against the illegal circulation of weapons and drugs, illegal armed groups, illegally created or banned public associations that encroach on the constitutional system of Russia, etc.

In addition to the Day of the Counterintelligence Officer, our country celebrates the Day of the Military Intelligence Officer, the date of which falls on November 5th.

December 19 is the day of military counterintelligence in Russia. The date was chosen due to the fact that it was on this day in 1918 that a special department appeared in Soviet Russia, which later became part of the military counterintelligence of the GPU.

Special departments of military counterintelligence were created on the basis of the decision of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). According to this decree, the army Chekas were united with military control bodies, and as a result, a Special Department of the Cheka was formed under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

The system was constantly improved, and over time, special departments of fronts, districts and other military formations became part of a unified system of state security organs in the troops.

Military counterintelligence initially set itself the task of identifying provocateurs operating in the ranks of the army, as they said at that time - “counters”, agents of foreign intelligence who ended up in various military positions in the army of Soviet Russia. Due to the fact that in 1918 the army of the new post-revolutionary state was just being formed, the military counterintelligence officers had more than enough work to do.

The work was complicated by the fact that the military counterintelligence system itself was actually written from scratch, since it was decided to neglect the existing experience of pre-revolutionary Russia in terms of counteracting destructive elements in the army.

As a result, the formation and structuring of a special department went through numerous thorns and left its mark on the effectiveness of certain stages in the creation of a monolithic Red Army.

However, as a result of carrying out a truly gigantic amount of work, primarily on the selection of personnel, the effective activities of military counterintelligence were debugged, and in some respects debugged, as they say, to the smallest detail.

Operational officers of special departments (special officers) were attached to military units and formations (depending on rank). At the same time, the special officers had to wear the uniform of the unit to which they were "assigned". What official range of tasks was assigned to operational officers of military counterintelligence at the initial stage of its existence?

In addition to monitoring the morale of the military personnel of the unit and their political views, military counterintelligence officers were tasked with identifying counterrevolutionary cells and persons engaged in destructive agitation.

The special officers were supposed to identify persons who were engaged in the preparation of sabotage as part of the Red Army units, espionage in favor of certain states, and showed terrorist activity.

A separate function of representatives of special departments was to conduct investigative work on crimes against statehood with the transfer of cases to military tribunals.

Memories of participants in the Great Patriotic War regarding the activities of representatives of military counterintelligence can hardly be called exclusively positive. In wartime conditions, there were also outright excesses, when military personnel fell under the tribunal, who were charged with counter-revolutionary activities, for example, for improperly winding footcloths, as a result of which the fighter rubbed his legs to monstrous wounds during foot marches and lost the ability to move as part of the unit during the offensive / retreat.

For modern lovers of tinkering with history, such cases are truly a tasty morsel, with which you can once again spin the flywheel of "human rights activities" and publish another "profound work" about the Stalinist repressive machine. In fact, excesses and unfair decisions are by no means what can be called a trend in the actions of professional military counterintelligence officers.

The trend is that with the help of representatives of special departments, entire networks of enemy agents were really revealed, who acted under the guise of officer epaulettes and not only. Thanks to the activities of military counterintelligence officers, it was often possible to raise the morale of the unit at a time when the fighters were panicked and intended to randomly leave their positions, jeopardizing the conduct of a particular operation.

Many cases were noted during the Great Patriotic War, when it was the employees of special departments who led the units (although this function was certainly not part of the responsibilities of military counterintelligence employees), for example, in the event of the death of the commander. And they were by no means led behind the backs of the soldiers, as adherents of “free history” sometimes like to assert.

Since the Great Patriotic War, the name of the SMERSH counterintelligence organizations has been heard, which got its name from the abbreviation of the phrase “death to spies”. The Main Directorate of Counterintelligence, established on April 19, 1943, was directly subordinate to the People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin.

The need to create such a structure was argued by the fact that the Red Army began to liberate the territories occupied by the Nazis, where accomplices of the Nazi troops could (and remained) remain. SMERSH fighters have hundreds of successful operations on their account. A whole line of activity is counteracting Bandera gangs operating on the territory of Western Ukraine.

Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov, who after the end of World War II was appointed to the post of Minister of State Security, headed the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence SMERSH.

In 1951, he was arrested on charges of "high treason and a Zionist conspiracy", and on December 19, 1954, he was shot on a modified charge of fabricating the so-called "Leningrad case" as part of, as they said then, "Beria's gang." In 1997, Viktor Abakumov was partially rehabilitated by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Today, the military counterintelligence department operates as part of the Russian Federal Security Service. The department is headed by Colonel-General Alexander Bezverkhny.

The tasks of military counterintelligence today are inextricably linked with the identification of destructive elements in the ranks of the units of the Russian army, including those who, in violation of the statutory requirements and Russian law, have contacts with representatives of foreign intelligence services and organizations supervised by foreign intelligence and their derivatives.

This includes activities to identify individuals who publicly publish secret information about new weapons, as well as personal data of Russian military personnel participating in various types of operations, including the anti-terrorist operation in Syria.

This, at first glance, invisible work is one of the foundations for the security of the state and the improvement of the combat capability of the Russian army.

Happy holiday, military counterintelligence!

December 19 - Day of Russian military counterintelligence

December 19 is celebrated in Russia Day of Russian military counterintelligence. Seizure of secret information, objects, persons who own state secrets - all this is of interest to various states. To ensure security and to combat intelligence, Russia's military counterintelligence was created. This professional holiday is dedicated to employees who stop various subversive activities against their state.

As an independent structure, military counterintelligence first appeared in Russia before the Patriotic War of 1812, when the Supreme Military Police was created. It was entrusted with the functions of counterintelligence in the army. Although work on counterintelligence support of the armed forces in the Russian Empire has been carried out since the moment the regular army was formed, that is, at least three centuries ago. It consisted in searching for enemy spies, disclosing possible defectors and traitors in its ranks, and disinforming the enemy.

In 1815 the highest military police was abolished. The prototype of modern military counterintelligence arose in Russia in January 1903, when an Intelligence Department was created at the General Staff, designed to combat foreign intelligence. The progenitor of military counterintelligence is the adjutant general Alexey Kuropatkin, who on January 20, 1903 expressed his thoughts about her to the emperor Nicholas II.

Later, in 1911, special counterintelligence departments were created at the headquarters of the military districts.

During the First World War, the military counterintelligence of the Russian army consisted of the counterintelligence departments of the headquarters of the internal military districts, led by the counterintelligence part of the General Staff, and similar departments of the headquarters of the armies and fronts. The leadership of the counterintelligence of the active army was concentrated in the counterintelligence unit of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In Soviet Russia, counterintelligence activities were initially carried out by the scattered bodies of the Military Control, created by the Revolutionary Military Council, as well as the Extraordinary Commissions (Cheka) for the fight against counter-revolution, formed by the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR at the fronts.

The Great Patriotic War became a serious test for military counterintelligence officers. On April 19, 1943, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the People's Commissariat of Defense “Smersh” (“Death to Spies”) was formed. He, among the paramount ones, was entrusted with the task of combating espionage, sabotage, terrorist activities of foreign intelligence services and taking measures together with the command to exclude the possibility of enemy agents passing through the front line with impunity. General Victor Abakumov, who "beat" German intelligence during the Great Patriotic War.

The Smersh authorities detected 1103 enemy agents. In total, over the years of the war, military counterintelligence officers neutralized more than 30 thousand spies, about 3.5 thousand saboteurs and over six thousand terrorists.

Military counterintelligence officers performed combat missions, ensuring the security of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The combat readiness of the military Chekists was also confirmed in the course of their participation in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.

Modern military counterintelligence is part of a single centralized system of bodies of the Federal Security Service and is directly subordinate to the FSB of Russia. The direct management of counterintelligence operations is carried out by the Department of Military Counterintelligence of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

The military counterintelligence, in cooperation with the military prosecutor's office and other state bodies, is constantly working to identify and neutralize the intelligence and other subversive aspirations of foreign special services, foreign extremist organizations, combats illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs, and assists the command in increasing the combat readiness of formations and units.

Also, counterintelligence agencies counteract organized crime, prevent manifestations of extremism and prevent terrorist threats.

Today is the holiday of military counterintelligence

On December 19, 1918, an anti-espionage body arose - the Special Department of the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR

On December 19, Russian military counterintelligence officers celebrate their professional holiday. On this day in 1918, an anti-espionage body was formed - the Special Department of the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, on the basis of which a centralized system of security agencies in the troops was subsequently created. Thus, December 19 became the professional holiday of Soviet and then Russian military counterintelligence officers, or the Day of Special Departments, as it is sometimes called.

In modern Russia, the Department of Military Counterintelligence (DVKR) is the central link in the overall counterintelligence structure of the FSB. The counterintelligence department reports to the director of the FSB of Russia, Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov.

Employees of this department are primarily engaged in the suppression of intelligence and malicious activities of special services and organizations of foreign states in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and in the Russian Federation as a whole. In addition to combating espionage, the DVKR ensures the security of Russian institutions and citizens abroad, controls the entry-exit and stay of foreign citizens in Russia, and fights illegal migration, crime and terrorist activities in the country.

This activity, among other things, involves the joint identification and prevention of crimes related to the sphere of interests of the FSB with other state bodies. This is the fight against organized crime, corruption, smuggling, illegal trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives and poisonous substances, narcotic and psychotropic substances, special technical means designed to secretly obtain information, the fight against illegal armed formations, criminal groups, individuals and public associations which set as their goal the organization of an armed rebellion, the forcible change of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the forcible seizure or forcible retention of power.

Counterintelligence activities fall within the competence of the foreign intelligence agency of the FSB only and are carried out by it in accordance with the Federal Law "On Foreign Intelligence". In addition, counterintelligence activities are possible only in cooperation with the foreign intelligence agencies of the Russian Federation.

Employees of military counterintelligence fought during the Great Patriotic War, took part in all military conflicts of the former USSR and the modern Russian Federation. According to some reports, the combat operations of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan were provided by 1,200 military counterintelligence officers. In the first Chechen campaign of 1994-96. about 2,000 counterintelligence officers operated in the republic captured by bandits, the exploits of many of them were marked by the highest state awards.

In those years, 9 military counterintelligence officers died. Their heroism can be judged by the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to call an unnamed mountain peak in the North Caucasus the peak of Russian Counterintelligence.

The successful operation of the Russian troops to counter the Georgian aggression in South Ossetia in 2008 was largely made possible thanks to the activities of military counterintelligence officers. It is noteworthy that in May of this year, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Russian FSB agreed on the return of Russian counterintelligence officers to Crimea to ensure the security of the Black Sea Fleet.

The strength of any special service lies primarily in its personnel. As before, today military counterintelligence officers have a special price for devotion to the Fatherland, fidelity to duty, professionalism, human decency and discipline.

2018-12-18T15:09:02+05:00 Alex ZarubinDefense of the FatherlandGreat Patriotic War, war, history, special operation, special services, FSBDay of military counterintelligenceDecember 19 is the day of military counterintelligence in Russia. The date was chosen due to the fact that it was on this day in 1918 that a special department appeared in Soviet Russia, which later became part of the military counterintelligence of the GPU. Special departments of military counterintelligence were created on the basis of a decision of the Bureau of the Central Committee ...Alex Zarubin Alex Zarubin [email protected] Author In the middle of Russia

Military professions are diverse. There are doctors, signalers, pilots, and engineers in the army. A special place in military affairs is occupied by the specialty of intelligence officer. People involved in military counterintelligence work for the good and security of their country. They have their own professional holiday. So, our compatriots annually on December 19 celebrate the Day of Military Counterintelligence in Russia.

Service Origin

The Day of Military Counterintelligence in Russia is a great occasion to look at the page of history.

The origins of the special military unit, which will be discussed in this material, are in the distant 1918. Then, at the end of the 10 In the 20th century, there was no full-fledged counterintelligence, as we know it now, but on the territory of the country, nevertheless, there were military control bodies that were under the direct authority of the Revolutionary Military Council. In addition, irreconcilable fighters against the counter-revolution acted within the framework of the state, they were called emergency commissions (abbreviated as the Cheka). The latter saw the light thanks to the initiative of representatives of the organization of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR and carried out the duties assigned to them on various fronts, primarily in the East.

All of the above took place in the summer of 1918. But by December, the current situation had changed somewhat. On the 19th, a resolution of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) appeared and entered into force, according to which the emergency commissions based in the army and at the fronts were merged with the military control bodies. As a result, a fundamentally new body was formed, which was called the Special Department of the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. It is this date - the date of the emergence of the above-mentioned military association - that is considered the birthday of modern Russian military counterintelligence, and therefore the employees of the organization celebrate their professional holiday on December 19, not earlier and not later.

Service Development

During the Civil War, the Special Department of the Cheka continued to carry out the duties of a counterintelligence body. From the middle of the summer of 1919, it was headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky. The body had a number of important powers, absolutely all types of intelligence and counteraction to counter-revolutionary actions were in its competence. On January 14, 1921, an organization appeared, which was called the Secret Operational Directorate of the Cheka. The special department of the Cheka became the basis of the newly minted body of military power. V.R. became the head of the Department. Menzhinsky, who served as head of the Special Department of the Office.

After these perturbations, the Special Department of the Cheka acquired even more expanded responsibilities. Now his employees were responsible for the implementation of counterintelligence in the Red Army, and in addition in the Navy. In addition, representatives of the prototype of the modern military organization we are interested in had to resist the political bandits operating on Soviet lands and take specific actions that prevent foreign states from conducting reconnaissance on our territories. The lion's share of the units of the special department of the Cheka was focused in that era on the fight against espionage.

Reorganization measures

At the start of May 1922, all the special departments that existed at that time were divided. As a result, counterintelligence units of the GPU emerged. Thus the board of the GPU put into practice the decision it had adopted at the conference.

Two months later, Soviet counterintelligence gained relative independence. The position of the first head of the renewed body was taken by engineer A.Kh. Artuzov. The activity of this association at that time was directed mainly against the rebels and foreign spies. The national counterintelligence team was distinguished by its international composition, taking into account the specifics of the Soviet Union as a multinational state. The people working in this organization have carried out many military operations that have gone down in history as brilliant and gained fame.

In 1930, in the fall, the counterintelligence system was the victim of a reorganization. The departments that had ceased to exist earlier returned to the Special Department, namely the Eastern and Counterintelligence. At the same time, the organization of interest to us had a new structure (the departments were replaced by departments) and the states were updated. Now Ya.K. Olsky. True, March 1931 brought the return of the former structural features of the military organization, albeit in detail. In the future, in the Soviet counterintelligence there were many more reshuffles and changes in commanding personalities.

in hot spots

Of particular note is the contribution of military counterintelligence officers during the years of bloody battles taking place both on the territory of our country and in friendly states with the participation of Soviet fighters. First of all, we should mention the activities of the Russian counterintelligence during the Great Patriotic War. The fight against fascism has become a true test of strength for our counterintelligence officers. On April 19, 1943, in the midst of hostilities, the famous Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the NPO "Smersh" (translated as "Death to Spies") arose. The tasks assigned to the new military organization are clear to everyone: this is, first of all, the fight against terrorists, saboteurs and, in fact, spies sent to the Union from abroad, and also preventing by any means the penetration of intelligence officers from the enemy into their native territories, through the front line. Smersh employees worked promptly and harmoniously. To date, they have been able to locate over 1,000 foreign agents.

Another hot spot where these brave guys worked is Afghanistan. As is known, they were present in this state in order to ensure the security of the Soviet military. The need for an important North Caucasian anti-terrorist operation also fell to the lot of Russian counterintelligence officers. Employees of the domestic counterintelligence made incredible efforts in those days to ensure that both ordinary soldiers and officers died as rarely as possible from enemy hands.

The functions of the modern military organization, which you met in the framework of this article, practically do not differ from those performed by their predecessors in past eras. However, among other things, the current counterintelligence officers are also obliged to carry out the fight against the trafficking of narcotic drugs and weapons punishable by Russian law. Under the scope of their attention are the intentions of foreign special services of a subversive and intelligence nature, extremist organizations whose actions may directly concern domestic servicemen.

Since any Russian counterintelligence officer on December 19 is a kind of hero of the occasion, those who have an acquaintance with such a profession should certainly congratulate this person on such an important date for him, on the Day of Military Counterintelligence in Russia. A gift to the specified individual can be a good book on a military theme, which he will read with pleasure at his leisure, or, for example, a work of art on a military theme.

The organs of military counterintelligence largely contributed to the victories of the Red Army during the civil war.

In total, during the years of the Second World War, military counterintelligence officers neutralized more than 30 thousand spies, about 3.5 thousand saboteurs and more than 6 thousand terrorists.

Military counterintelligence officers are military personnel serving under a contract in the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. Military counterintelligence officers can become military personnel and persons from among civilian youth who have passed special selection and training in educational institutions of the FSB of Russia.