Military counterintelligence of the
Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was controlled by the nonmilitary Soviet
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
throughout the history of the USSR.
The
counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
departments of the Armed Forces of the USSR existed at all larger military formations and were called ''Special Departments'' (Особый отдел) or third departments/sections. The staff of the Special Department would usually establish a secret network of
informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
s.
''TGU'' (ТГУ КГБ СССР, 3 ГУ КГБ СССР ('third')) functionaries were responsible for protection of the military units, important soldiers e.g. commanding officers against activities from
military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
offices
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
s.
Timeline
*Initially there was no common counterintelligence directorate. Various
Armies
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and
Fronts had their "Special Departments".
*Military Department of
Vecheka, Военный отдел ВЧК
*Special Department of Vecheka, Особый отдел ВЧК,
*Special Department of Secret Operative Directorate of
GPU NKVD RSFSR, Особый отдел СОУ (Секретно-оперативное управление) ГПУ, July 1922
*Special Department of
OGPU
The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...
, Особый отдел ОГПУ, September 1930
*4th Division of the OGPU Special Department, 4 отделение Особого отдела ОГПУ
*Special Department of the
GUGB
The Main Directorate of State Security (russian: Glavnoe upravlenie gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, Главное управление государственной безопасности, ГУГБ, GUGB) was the name of the Soviet
most importa ...
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, Особый отдел ГУГБ НКВД СССР (July 1934 –)
*5th (Special) Dept. of
GUGB
The Main Directorate of State Security (russian: Glavnoe upravlenie gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, Главное управление государственной безопасности, ГУГБ, GUGB) was the name of the Soviet
most importa ...
, 5-й (особый) отдел ГУГБ December 1936 –
*2nd Directorate of NKVD (Special Departments), 2-е Управление (особых отделов) НКВД СССР June 1938 –
*4th (Special) Dept. of
GUGB
The Main Directorate of State Security (russian: Glavnoe upravlenie gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, Главное управление государственной безопасности, ГУГБ, GUGB) was the name of the Soviet
most importa ...
, 4-й (особый) отдел ГУГБ September 1938 – Feb. 1941
*3rd Directorate of
People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (russian: народный комиссариат; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917– ...
of Defense,(UKR НКО) Третье Управление НКО February 1941 – July 1941
*3rd Directorate of
People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (russian: народный комиссариат; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917– ...
of
Soviet Navy (UKR NKВМФ), Третье Управление НКВМФ February 1941 – January 1942
*3rd Dept. of NKVD, (OKR NKVD) Третий отдел НКВД February 1941 – Jul. 1941
*
Directorate of Special Departments of NKVD, (УОО НКВД) Управление особых отделов НКВД СССР July 1941 – April 1943
*
SMERSH
SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...
(ГУРК НКО) 1943–1946
*Third Chief Directorate of
MGB of the USSR, Третье Главное Управление МГБ СССР, May 1946 – 1953
*Third Directorate of
MVD
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
of the USSR, Третье управление МВД СССР, March 1953 – 1954
*Third Chief Directorate of
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
by the
Council of Ministers of the USSR
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
, Третье главное управление КГБ при СМ СССР, March 1954 – 1960
*Third Directorate of KGB by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Третье управление КГБ при СМ СССР, 1960–1978
*Third Directorate of KGB of the USSR, Третье управление КГБ СССР, 1978–1982
*Third Chief Directorate of KGB of the USSR, Третье главное управление КГБ СССР, 1982–1991
Notes
{{Authority control
Military of the Soviet Union
KGB
NKVD
Military intelligence agencies
Counterintelligence agencies