President Vladimir Putin, who started his career as a KGB agent, is apparently set to revive a notorious counterintelligence agency from the days of dictator Josef Stalin.
It appears in a recent intelligence analysis prepared by the British Ministry of Defence.
“At the end of 2023, Russian politicians claimed that the Soviet counterintelligence agency ‘Smersh’ was being re-established,” the British intelligence analysis reads.
The British further write that photographic material from January this year, which originates from a open sourceshows what appear to be operational Russian servicemen equipped with tags on their uniforms that read “Smersh”.
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– Sounds like a re-branding
«Smear” is an abbreviation for the phrase “death by spies”, according to the British intelligence analysis.
– These reports are well thought out by good analysts and should be given weight. Intelligence can of course be wrong, but these open assessments can mostly be trusted, says head teacher in intelligence at the Norwegian Defense Academy, Tom Røseth, to Nettavisen.
– When a new organization for counterintelligence is now apparently registered in Russia, it sounds to me like a re-branding, says Røseth.
– But it may well be that there is a question of increased effort with an additional organisation. It is of course a possibility. Given the capacities of Ukraine and the West, there is certainly an increased use of resources on counterintelligence. In addition, there is probably a degree of paranoia, he says.
James Bond
British intelligence states that it was the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin who established the original “Smersh” organization and that it existed from 1941 to 1946.
There was also a not entirely unknown secret agent who constantly had to take up the fight against “Smersj” in the world of fiction.
“In the West, it was made famous through fictional depiction in Ian Fleming’s James Bond books,” reads the intelligence analysis.
“It is unclear whether the new name indicates any real capabilities or role for Russia’s intelligence function or whether it is just a matter of re-branding. On the other hand, it is yet another example of how the Russian authorities deliberately express the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the spirit of the Second World War, and their strong focus on the alleged infiltration of external threats into the country,” reads the analysis.
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– Recreating a notorious organization from the Second World War, in the true sense of the word (death over spies ed. note), is another attempt to create a symbolic effect and a preventive, deterrent effect. It is in the name that it was a heavy-handed organisation, so to speak, says Røseth.
– But in reality there will probably be no difference to the way Russian counterintelligence already operates today, he says.
2024-01-10 03:59:32
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