Throughout the historical development of mankind, wars of various scales took place. Some arose due to resources, others due to ethnic hostility, and others became a successful political move. But one way or another, people die in any war. At the turn of the century, “scientists” in the field of military art began to come up with ways to minimize human losses in various military conflicts. In the process of finding a solution to such a problem, a lot of ideas arose. All kinds of machines were invented, which made it possible to hide a person during a battle, tactics, diplomatic moves, etc. But all this could not be compared with intelligence. Military spies and spies were actively used during the American Revolutionary War, and after that in other military conflicts. Over time, in almost all world states, professional intelligence organizations began to emerge. But, along with this, the experienced military understood that preventing spies and reconnaissance of the enemy from entering their territory was also an important task. Thus counterintelligence arose.
What is counterintelligence?
To date, counterintelligence is a specific activity of certain public services that are authorized to identify and suppress intelligence or espionage activities, special bodies and agents of foreign states. The presence of such tasks largely distinguishes it from other military departments. Thus, counterintelligence is also a combination of public services whose purpose is to suppress intelligence activities in the state. Counterintelligence organizations very often engage in related tasks: the fight against terrorism, dissent, surveillance, policing, and protecting state security. The question often arises, how is intelligence different from counterintelligence? Before answering it, it is necessary to analyze the development of anti-espionage activities and the bodies that conduct it on the territory of modern Russia.
History of domestic counterintelligence
The history of counterintelligence activity in the territory of modern Russia originates during the Great Patriotic War. SMERSH counterintelligence is today the subject of ongoing discussion and debate, as well as an excellent topic for feature films.
Nevertheless, even half a century ago, SMERSH terrified even domestic soldiers. This abbreviation is the name of several independent and completely independent counterintelligence organizations operating with a common goal - to suppress foreign espionage. The SMERSH included the following services:
1. The Smersh Office of the People’s Commissariat of Defense is a military counterintelligence organization.
2. Management "Smersh" People's Commissar of the Navy.
3. Special department "Smersh" in the internal affairs bodies.
The Soviet counterintelligence has largely developed thanks to the Second World War, as evidenced by the further development of this activity in the Soviet services.
SMERSH Tasks
Since counterintelligence is that unit, which was one of the main cogs helping to win a protracted and exhausting war with Hitler Germany, SMERSh was assigned specific tasks, namely:
- The fight against scouts, spies and terrorists in units of the Red Army.
- Fighting people who preach anti-Soviet ideology.
- Creation of the necessary regime in which foreign intelligence forces can go beyond the front line.
- Fight against traitors and deserters.
- A detailed check of persons who were held captive by the enemy.
- Performing special tasks.
To fulfill its functional tasks, the SMERSH counterintelligence service had the following rights:
- Create an agent network.
- Search, seize, and listen to individuals suspected of espionage.
- Conduct investigative measures.
- Conduct operational investigative measures to capture and track down foreign spies.
SMERSH personnel were created for the most part from employees of special departments of the NKVD, because they already had experience in operational investigative work. But the military also recruited into counterintelligence.
Further development of counterintelligence
After the end of World War II, counterintelligence began to develop in a different way. Firstly, hostilities were no longer underway, and the Soviet government did not have to catch all kinds of terrorists sabotaging the rear. Nevertheless, espionage activities of foreign countries flourished, because no country needed a strong and developed USSR. Thus, military counterintelligence has become less popular and has largely delegated its functions to the Office “K” of the State Security Committee. Throughout the history of its activities, the committee conducted a large number of operations. Employees managed to identify many agents of foreign intelligence services. The KGB counterintelligence, over a long period of its existence, has developed innovative methods for conducting operational-search measures in this branch of its activity. Many tactics are still used in the counterintelligence agencies of the FSB, but more on that later. Many modern historians believe that the “longevity” of the Soviet Union depended largely on the existence of professional and mobile counterintelligence services.
In modern Russia, the FSB counterintelligence has existed since 1995. The service is rightfully considered the successor to the KGB, as many aspects of the activity were borrowed from the latter.
FSB - general concept
Earlier, we found out that counterintelligence is a special activity for disclosing espionage and exposing foreign agents who carry out such activities. Today in the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service is doing this .
The FSB is a special agency, or rather, an executive body that performs special tasks in order to ensure the security and state integrity of the Russian Federation. It should also be noted that the security service has the right to conduct investigative, operational-search measures, as well as inquiries. Nevertheless, intelligence and counterintelligence activities are a priority in the system of functions of the FSB. An interesting fact is that the security service does not have a departmental regulatory body. The FSB reports directly to the president of the Russian Federation.
This body was established in 1995, when the President signed the Federal Law “On the bodies of the federal security service in the Russian Federation”. This normative act is still the main legal source of activity of the FSB along with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Security Activities
Counterintelligence and intelligence are not exclusive activities of the FSB. The service also faces a number of other functional tasks that determine the presence of several areas of activity, namely:
- The fight against terrorism.
- The fight against crime, which takes on a particularly dangerous form.
- Protection of the state border and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.
- Ensuring the security of information.
Some functions are stipulated by the existing legislation of Russia. For example, taking into account the development of corruption in the highest echelons of state power, the fight against corruption is an important area of activity of the FSB .
To understand how intelligence differs from counterintelligence, it is necessary to consider the functional features of these areas separately. Also quite important is the issue of staffing the FSB, because this factor directly affects the quality of the tasks performed by this body.
Frames for the FSB
Counterintelligence and intelligence - these are two examples of labor-intensive activities that require a large number of employees. Therefore, the FSB authorities everywhere equip their personnel with military and civilian personnel. As a rule, military personnel with officer ranks are recruited from the border service and other military branches. Along with this, there are specialized educational institutions in which professionals are trained for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. In addition to basic physical training, FSB officers must have a sufficiently high psychological and mental potential, because counterintelligence and intelligence activities require, first of all, extraordinary tactical and analytical abilities.
Counterintelligence Activities of the Federal Security Service
Russian counterintelligence is represented by two services that are part of the FSB. The first of these is the Federal Counterintelligence Service, and the second is the Military Counterintelligence Service under the FSB of the Russian Federation. The FSB counterintelligence is needed to identify and suppress the intelligence activities of agents of foreign special services, as well as private organizations and individuals. The FSB also covers the activities of foreigners who collect information in order to damage the political regime, territorial integrity and security of the Russian Federation. In the media today there is not enough information about the FSB counterintelligence units. For example, the existence of the Counterintelligence Department became known only after the identification of the CIA agent, Ryan Fogl.
In addition, the security service has clearly divided the areas of work against certain foreign services. The mentioned Department of the DKRO FSB is a structural unit whose employees are exclusively involved in identifying spies and fighting the CIA. Given the high level of secrecy on the basis of which counterintelligence of Russia is directly carried out, it is very difficult to judge the activities of special bodies in this area. Nevertheless, the actual disclosure of a foreign agent, as mentioned above, indicates the high professionalism of the FSB counterintelligence officers.
Russian counterintelligence - structure
The Federal Security Service has developed a fairly effective and reliable counterintelligence service structure, which operates with a fraction of small changes to this day. The structural element, the service, is led by the head of counterintelligence. Further division takes place into departments and departments, which are entrusted with the performance of certain special functions. Thus, the structure of the counterintelligence service consists of the following elements:
- Department of counterintelligence operations.
- Office of coordination, analysis of counterintelligence activities.
- Office of special events.
- Department of military counterintelligence.
- Office of counterintelligence activities at the facilities.
- Information Security Center.
The created structure allows you to quickly, accurately and efficiently perform the functional tasks of the FSB counterintelligence service.
What is military counterintelligence?
Currently, military counterintelligence units also exist in the Russian Federation. It must be understood that this specific type of activity differs in many respects from classical counterintelligence. The latter is most often aimed at identifying foreign spies in peacetime, when they collect information about the economy, combat effectiveness, and state security. Military counterintelligence is carried out by the military departments (in Russia, by the Department of Military Counterintelligence). Most often, this activity is carried out during the wartime, in order to prevent the collection of information about the armament and combat potential of the state. However, even taking into account various tasks, the methods and methods of military counterintelligence are in many respects similar to its classical appearance. Next, we will look at a similar military term, and also try to answer the question of how intelligence differs from counterintelligence.
Intelligence versus counterintelligence
So, in the article we found out that counterintelligence is, roughly speaking, an activity against intelligence. There are many differences between these two activities. To understand how intelligence differs from counterintelligence, you need to consider the concept of the latter. Modern historians of the special services decode intelligence as an activity aimed at collecting and processing information about the enemy’s manpower, its defenses, economic and combat potential. Intelligence is carried out using special tactical and operational techniques. Thus, intelligence is the collection of information, and counterintelligence is the activity to suppress the first.
In conclusion, it should be noted that counterintelligence is a key way to protect the defense capability of the state in the modern world. As the intelligence techniques evolve, counterintelligence techniques are also being improved, which testifies to the general development of the military art of mankind. In addition, a great contribution to the development of such activities is made thanks to scientific work in the study of techniques and tactics of counterintelligence.