Presents Russia's intelligence service from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century as a czar's secret police force, to the communists' KGB, to the creation of the SVR in the 1990s by Yeltsin.

This is an unclassified overview of Russian Intelligence Agencies edited from open source material.The Intelligence Community in Russia consists of a complex series of intelligence agencies operating under the supervision of the National Security Council of Russia. The main Russian governmental services responsible for gathering foreign intelligence are: 1. Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) - The Foreign Intelligence Service reports directly to the President of Russia. 2. The GRU - Main Intelligence Directorate of the Military of Russia. 3. 12th Chief Directorate - 12th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, responsible for Nuclear Security & 4. The Federal Security Service (FSB) - (formerly the KGB) The Federal Security Service is responsible for counter-intelligence, state security and anti-terrorist operations. The GRU first predecessor in post-tsarist Russia was created on October 21, 1918 under the sponsorship of Leon Trotsky, who was then the civilian leader of the Red Army. It was originally known as the Registration Directorate (RU). The GRU is the foreign military intelligence main directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (formerly the Soviet Army General Staff of the Soviet Union). The official full name is Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The GRU is Russia's largest foreign intelligence agency. In 1997 it deployed six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR, the successor of the KGB's foreign operations directorate. It also commanded 25,000 Spetsnaz troops in 1997. This book gives an unclassified overview of The Russian Intelligence Community.This book is designed to be a state of the art, superb academic reference work and provide an overview of the topic and give the reader a structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible.The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.

Russia, the world’s largest country in total area, remains one of the most unknowable. Russian intelligence agencies play a major role in protecting their country and their espionage missions from the eyes of outsiders. In 1565, the ruthless Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible created a 6,000-member security force called the Oprichnina. Officers of the Oprichnina dressed all in black and rode black horses. They terrorized the Russian people, killing thousands whom they blamed for made-up acts of treason. Many rulers after Ivan also created their own security forces to spy on Russians at home or living outside the country. The Russian security forces of the 20th and 21st centuries—known at different times as the Cheka, NKVD, KGB, and SVR—have added to a long tradition of power, fear, and secrecy that began more than 400 years ago. Read all about these formidable Russian intelligence agencies, their spy networks, and their surveillance operations around the world. Michael E. Goodman was born in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Yale University and graduate school at Brown University. He began as a high school English teacher in Providence, RI, and Teaneck, NJ, before turning to writing and editing and serving as an executive in corporate communications. He is a former senior editor at Scholastic and Prentice-Hall and executive editor at Peoples Education.

Russia's tumultuous early history is unearthed with a view to deciphering the strategies and stratagems that prevailed. Written by best-selling Russian author Vladimir Plougin, a professor at Moscow State University, the stories are drawn from ancient chr.

An introduction to Putin's formidable intelligence and security organization Since its founding in 1995, the FSB, Russia's Federal Security Service, has regained the majority of the domestic security functions of the Soviet-era KGB. Under Vladimir Putin, who served as FSB director just before becoming president, the agency has grown to be one of the most powerful and favored organizations in Russia. The FSB not only conducts internal security but also has primacy in intelligence operations in former Soviet states. Their activities include anti-dissident operations at home and abroad, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, criminal investigations of crimes against the state, and guarding Russia's borders. In The Russian FSB, Kevin P. Riehle provides a brief history of the FSB's origins, placed within the context of Russian history, the government's power structure, and Russia's wider culture. He describes how the FSB's mindset and priorities show continuities from the tsarist regimes and the Soviet era. The book's chapters analyze origins, organizational structure, missions, leaders, international partners, and cultural representations such as the FSB in film and television. Based on both English and Russian sources, this book is a well-researched introduction to understanding the FSB and its central role in Putin's Russia. Concise Histories of Intelligence Series Christopher Moran, Mark Phythian, and Mark Stout, Series Editors