DOI: 10.20535/2307-5244.48.2019.176390
National Academy of Culture and Arts Management
Based on little-known documents, this article describes organizational and
functional structure of Soviet secret services. The latter were in charge of security
in the Red Army and counteracting Nazi enemy during World War II. The
article seeks to deepen the understanding of complex military and political causes
of the Nazi defeat and liberation Ukraine, as well as to better understand the
operational art of domestic special servises. The novel approach is in focusing
on the organizational evolution and development of the operative functions of
the military conter-intelligence and intelligence services. Those depended on
the changes of the strategical situation on the Ukrainian part of the East Front,
as well as responded to subversive activity of the Nazi special services and its
allies. The aim of the article is to present the organizational structure and operative
functions of the military conter-intelligence services in the context of its
ability to combat the enemy’s secret services in both avant-garde and rear-garde
of the army. The structural-logical and system-functianal research methods were
used to study the development of the organization of the Military Counter-Intelligence
Overview “SMERSH” in the context of military-strategical situation and
as a consequence of Soviet special services transformation. The author tracks
the systemic transformation of the special department of Peoples Comissariat
for Internal Affairs into an independent structure of the Military Counter-Intel-ligence Overview “SMERSH” (“Death to Spys!”), which focused only on securing
armed forces from the enemy impact. The author highlights the development
of its structure, functions, staff. The conclusion is that the highest demonstration
of the conter-intelligence art of the soviet special services was reached in operative
games, which were successfully conducted for the disimformation of the
nazi intelligence. The article also traces a number of limitations and deviations,
caused by the extreme conditions of the war time, as well as by the typical for
the Stalin’s era neglect for law and human rights.
Keywords: World War II, secret services, conter-intelligence, radio-conter-intelligence,
intelligence, operative art.
