Soviet double agents
IV Soviet Occupation, III National Partizans

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In the early 1950s, the US intelligence service CIA began to play an increasingly important role in intelligence operations against the USSR, initially coordinating its activities with the British MI-6. The British at that time positioned themselves as experts in activities on the territory of the USSR, having both infiltrated agents and information. They also shared general information about the USSR with the Americans. All this information actually turns out to be Soviet counterintelligence disinformation.

Consequently, priorities in Soviet counterintelligence changed in 1951. Before that, the main direction of counterintelligence was the British and the USSR MGB 2. In the structure of the main administration, according to the Slavic alphabet, part 2A was counterintelligence operations against England, part 2B – counterintelligence operations against the USA, and part 2V – counterintelligence operations against Latin American countries.

On December 25, 1951, a reorganization took place, during which the letter designations were changed to numerical designations. The main direction of counterintelligence became the USA. Thus, in the 2nd Main Directorate of the MGB of the USSR, the 1st Division was responsible for counterintelligence operations against the USA, the 2nd Division for counterintelligence operations against England, and the 3rd Division for counterintelligence operations against the FRG. This arrangement remained in effect until the collapse of the USSR.

The USSR intelligence service had agents in both the British and American intelligence services, who leaked information to the USSR intelligence service and acted against the West. They were part of much broader measures implemented by the Moscow “center”, as a result of which specially prepared disinformation was “leaked” to the special services of Western countries. For these purposes, in the early 1950s, a fake Forest Brothers unit was even created in Latvia to demonstrate to British intelligence agents a “real national resistance movement”. Soviet counterintelligence managed to fool both the British and real national partisans, as well as the main opponent – the US CIA, which at that time directly launched operations in Latvia

More information sources

https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/dzive--stils/vesture/kgb-slepenie-arhivi.-spiegu-speles-latvija-cia-agenti-psrs-dienesta.a261845/ 

https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/dzive--stils/vesture/kgb-slepenie-arhivi.-spiegu-speles-latvija-patiesie-strikisu-raustitaji.a260177/

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