Presidential Library told about contribution of counterintelligence agents to liberation of besieged Leningrad

On November 20, 2024, the Presidential Library hosted a lecture about the work of Smersh agents during the Great Patriotic War to protect Leningrad. The event took place on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, which will be celebrated in 2025.

Smersh, short for Death to Spies!, were the military counterintelligence organizations and units within the People's Commissariats of Defense, Navy, and Internal Affairs during the Soviet Union. They were established during the Great Patriotic War in April 1943 to combat espionage, sabotage, terrorism, and other subversive activities by foreign intelligence services within Red Army units and institutions at the front and rear.

Anatoly Kontashov, the chairman of the Regional Association of Veterans of Military Counterintelligence of the Leningrad Military District, spoke about the work of Smersh agents, including Meletiy Malyshev. Malyshev was a Soviet intelligence officer who, undercover as a defector, was sent behind enemy lines into German-occupied territory. There, he managed to gather valuable information about the operations of the Abwehr, the military intelligence and counterintelligence agency of Nazi Germany.

The lecture took place as part of the Knowledge of Russia video lecture series organized by the Presidential Library, continuing a series of talks on the history of Russia's state security agencies. The goal of the series is to promote a positive image of Russia and its domestic intelligence services.

At lectures on the history of state security agencies, students learn about outstanding employees, the most striking and significant operations and events in the history of Russian special services, as well as the main activities of these agencies.

The recording of the lectures is available on the Library's Rutube channel and on social media platforms such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.