History 14/02/20 Hunting Crow: how the KGB wanted to eliminate the traitor Vlasov
the Betrayal of the commander of the 2nd shock army of Andrei Vlasov was one of the most unpleasant episodes of the great Patriotic war. The General, who took anti-Soviet stance was viewed in the Kremlin as a serious danger. During the war the Soviet secret services has repeatedly attempted to eliminate it.
the Raven
Vlasov was captured by the Germans on July 12, 1942. Being in prison he agreed to chair the Committee for the liberation of the peoples of Russia (ACPD) and its military wing – the Russian liberation army (ROA). The General went to the places where he was held Soviet prisoners of war, and exhorted them to follow his example.
In Moscow, more feared than the army that can put together the traitor and the danger it poses to moral and political terms. Anti-Soviet propaganda, Vlasov was regarded by the Kremlin as undermining the stability of the front and rear.
the Defector it was decided to find and destroy. Security officers gave Vlasov alias Raven. According to their plan of physical elimination of the former commander of the 2nd shock army was to contribute to the demoralization of his supporters and in General to cause substantial impact on structures collaborators.
Recruitment Zhilenkov
At first, security officers undertook the development of the immediate environment of the General. Counterintelligence “SMERSH” was able to go on the brigade Commissar Georgy Zhilenkov, who was responsible for the Vlasov anti-Soviet agitation. Zhilenkov decided to persuade to cooperate and to involve surgery to remove the Crow. To this end, in the district of Pskov was abandoned operational group under the command of major Lev Korchagin.
the Last had a letter from the wife of Brigadier Commissioner, who lived in Moscow. With the help of the KGB had intended to blackmail them, alluding to the fact that his choice will depend on the fate of his family.
Despite the fact that development Zhilenkov was conducted for a year, the operation failed. This is supported by the fact that “personal advocate” Vlasov was sentenced in absentia to death only in April 1944, while his boss – the year before.
Intelligence network
in the Spring of 1943, SMERSH has begun to organize a network of agents in cities where it was observed Vlasov. So, in Smolensk operational task force consisted of 22 people, among them agents, in perfectly mastered the German language.
a Large network was created in Belarus. In Minsk, there were four operational groups with a total of 37 people in Western Belarus, there were a few groups – a total of 55 people.
Before them the task was not only to collect all the information on the movement of Vlasov and his closest associates, but also to study the conditions of their life, noticing, for example, such factors as the number of guarding their military. By the summer of 1943 for the Raven already hunted more than 200 professional security officers.
Blast the traitor
Attempts to blast the General made repeatedly. In may 1943 the scouts of the Western front under the command of major Alexander Odintsov received information that from day to day expected the arrival Vlasov in a mansion on Pervomayskaya street in Mogilev. The building was laid magnetic mines. Vlasov, however, there did not appear.
Then there was the elimination of a traitor during his visit to the Russian folk theatre of Smolensk, where he was with the mayor of the city to speak to the local intelligentsia. But by the time the guerrillas arrived in the town, Vlasov has already managed to leave.
Raven For the Soviet secret service raced not only in the occupied territory of the USSR, but also in European countries, even Germany. Berlin was abandoned major S. Kapustin, who introduced one of the closest associates of the Vlasov – major-General Vassily Malyshkin – as a defector. Kapustin had to gain the confidence of managers ACPD and destroy it GLAWoo. The deadline is until the end of 1943. But Kapustin was uncovered and shot by the Germans.
the mission of the brigade commander Bogdanov
In July 1943, Soviet intelligence came to the brigade commander Mikhail Bogdanov, who collaborated with the Germans in the autumn of 1941. Before him was an ambitious task not only to kill Vlasov, but not to cause any suspicion, then to take the position of commander of the ROA. For my mission Bogdanov received the poison, but didn’t use it, explaining that had no access to the kitchen.
According to some historians, the brigade commander could not go on a killing Vlasov, whom he knew to the joint service for over 20 years. Later Bogdanov was accused by the court in non-military order and sentenced to death.
Raven in a cage
Until the end of the war, the Soviet intelligence services never managed to get rid of Vlasov. After the disarmament of the POA in may 1945 the General was trying to hide in the zone of occupation of allied troops. However, during their journey to the city of Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, where the headquarters 3rd us army, Vlasov was captured by the Soviet military, and then delivered to Moscow.
the Traitor knew what awaits him, so at the trial tried to take the blame. At the end of July 1946, the political Bureau of the party Central Committee adopted the decision on the execution of Vlasov and his accomplices. On 1 August he was hanged along with his supporters. Their bodies were cremated and the ashes scattered in an unnamed ravine of the Donskoy monastery.
Ivan Proshkin
Source:
© Russian Seven
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