"Viktor Suvorov. Inside soviet military intelligence (англ) " - читать интересную книгу автора

districts, four 'groups of forces' - in Germany, Poland, Hungary and
Czechoslovakia - and four fleets - the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea and
Baltic fleets. On the staff strengths of each district, group and fleet
there are intelligence directorates. In all, these directorates number
twenty-four. They are all subject to the GRU and are, in effect, a GRU in
miniature. Each of these mini-GRU's utilises its own facilities. With all
the forces at their disposal, they gather information on the enemy, both in
peace-time and wartime.
When we speak of an intelligence directorate of a district, group or
fleet as a mini-GRU, this does not in the least mean that the intelligence
directorate is small or weak. We only mean that the intelligence
directorates (RU) of staffs are smaller than the chief directorate of the
general staff. But each of these twenty-four intelligence directorates is
sufficiently strong to be able to recruit agents independently in the
territories of countries or groups of countries which are in the sphere of
interest of the given district, group or fleet. Each intelligence
directorate possesses sufficient power to be able, without assistance, to
disrupt life in any contiguous country or group of countries. There is only
one form of intelligence possessed by the GRU which the intelligence
directorates do not possess, and this is cosmic or space intelligence. At
the same time, instead of this, they have a perhaps no less important means,
which are the diversionary Spetsnaz units. In addition to ordinary agents
providing secret information, the intelligence directorates recruit special
agent- terrorists destined to murder statesmen or senior military officers
and to carry out general terror in the country or group of countries. Thus
each district, group of forces or fleet has its own two independent secret
agent networks, the first being the ordinary espionage network, and the
second the espionage-terrorist network called Spetsnaz. To visualize the
strength of one intelligence directorate, it is sufficient to remember that
each one controls an entire Spetsnaz brigade: 1,300 professional cut-throats
continually in readiness to penetrate the territory of a contiguous state
and go to the assistance of the agent-terrorists.
One can best imagine Soviet military intelligence in the form of a
powerful, feudal state - the GRU - with a first-class army. There are
twenty-four lesser satellite states, the intelligence directorates (RU),
subordinated to the head of this state, and each of these in its turn has
its own army, and a strong one at that. But each satellite also has its
vassals each of whom has his own army and his own vassals, also with armies,
and so forth. The only difference as regards this pyramid form of
subordination is that Soviet military intelligence does not operate on the
principle that 'the vassal of vassal is not my vassal'. The GRU fully and
without delegating authority controls every step of the pyramid. These steps
need to be examined.
Each military district and group of forces consists ot armies. Each
fleet consists of flotillas which are equivalent to the armies of the land
forces. On the staff of each army there is an intelligence department (RO)
which is in effect a full vassal of the superior intelligence directorate
and the still superior chief intelligence directorate. The intelligence
department (RO) of an army or flotilla does run an agent network of its own.
On the strength of each intelligence department, and there are in the Soviet