None of the Soviet leaders appreciated bodyguards like Leonid Brezhnev
9th KGB Directorate: 1964-1982
Unlike his predecessor as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev treated the officers of his personal security very attentively and even mentally. None of the guards was considered untouchable, but Leonid Ilyich truly appreciated his people, moreover, understanding their role and place in his life, he patronized them before their leadership. The secretary general's security officers paid him the same.
Central Authority
The times when the Soviet Union was headed by Leonid Brezhnev, for some reason it is customary for modern "historians" to call the era of stagnation. The country in those years lived a calm life - in someone's opinion, perhaps even too calm. But Leonid Ilyich himself only dreamed of peace. As the researchers note, Brezhnev simply attracted all kinds of dangers. He was a participant in two Kremlin conspiracies at once: in 1953 he opposed Beria, and in 1964 he led a "party coup" against Khrushchev. During the long work of Leonid Ilyich in the party leadership, his life was repeatedly endangered, and there were more than a hundred threats against him.
At the same time, since the beginning of the 60s, the bodies responsible for the security of the first persons of the state experienced very difficult times. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev should be “thanked” for this, who in 1960 began a tremendous reduction, as they would say now, of the power structures - from the army to the state security agencies. It seems that he did not remain without "gratitude": according to some versions, it was the discontent of the military with Khrushchev's reforms that soon became one of the reasons for his dismissal from the post of head of state …
Be that as it may, reductions also affected the personnel of the Nine. First of all, senior officers and employees of the department were dismissed, but sometimes they did not reach retirement age. The system, whose tasks were not at all reduced, was forced to regroup the forces left to it. The workload on the personnel increased in direct proportion to the number of dismissed officers. In order to effectively balance the guard schemes, the management of the Directorate required a great deal of practical work.
The head of the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR under the Council of Ministers from December 8, 1961 to June 2, 1967 was Vladimir Yakovlevich Chekalov. The next head of the "nine" is his deputy Sergei Nikolaevich Antonov. It is interesting that Antonov became the head of the department only on February 22, 1968, and before that he performed his functions only as an "acting". Unlike his predecessors, Sergei Antonov then went on a promotion and became the head of the 15th Main Directorate of the KGB, ex officio being one of the deputy chairmen of the KGB.
A very bright period of Soviet history fell to the lot of the next leader of the "nine" Yuri Vasilyevich Storozhev. He served as head of the 9th KGB Directorate from August 16, 1974 to March 24, 1983, when he was transferred from the Nine to the same position, but already in the 4th KGB Directorate. This was the decision of Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov.
During the leadership of Yuri Vasilyevich, the structure of the 1st department of management underwent a significant change. The 20th department of the 1st department of the 9th Directorate, which was engaged in operational and technical inspections of protected places and special zones, was allocated to an independent department. In the future, this division received not a number, but a special name - the Operational and Technical Department. He was supervised by the deputy head of the department, the youngest participant in the 1945 Victory Parade, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Mikhail Stepanovich Dokuchaev.
When Yuri Storozhev was the head of the 9th Directorate, such a large-scale event as the increase in the status of the KGB happened. On July 5, 1978, the committee was transformed from a department within the Council of Ministers of the USSR into a central body of state administration and became known as the KGB of the USSR, and not the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, as it was before.
Family business
It can be said that the leadership of the Nine coped with all the tasks facing them with dignity. And Leonid Ilyich himself, who led the country in 1964, was very lucky with his bodyguards.
For many years, the head of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev's security was Alexander Yakovlevich Ryabenko. Their acquaintance began back in 1938, when a strong 20-year-old guy was assigned to the 32-year-old head of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as a driver. The war temporarily separated them, but after the victory they met again and from 1946 they were together until Brezhnev's death in 1982.
Here, too, a professional feature is visible: just like Nikolai Vlasik under Stalin, Alexander Ryabenko, among other things, took on the responsibility of caring for Leonid Ilyich's children. His deputy, Vladimir Timofeevich Medvedev, also had to deal with family affairs.
“Before Ryabenko appointed me his deputy,” recalls Vladimir Medvedev in his book “The Man Behind the Back,” an interesting story happened. In 1973, Brezhnev invited Lyudmila Vladimirovna, the wife of Yuri's son, to rest in Nizhnyaya Oreanda. She took with her Andrei, who was then six or seven years old. Leonid Ilyich loved his grandson very much. A mobile, curious boy, exploring a large suburban area, disappeared for long hours, the household was worried every time, he had to be searched for with the help of guards. Leonid Ilyich asked Ryabenko to allocate someone so that Andrei would be under constant supervision. The choice fell on me.
… Once I was a little late, and Andrey left alone. I found him in a small bamboo grove, the boy was breaking young trees. There were very few of them anyway.
“Andrei, you can't,” I told him.
- Well, yes, no, - he answered and continued to break.
And then I slapped him in the back seat. The boy was offended:
- I'll tell my grandfather, and he will kick you out.
He turned and went home.
What could follow if the grandson told that he was spanked? I was an ordinary security guard. The slightest displeasure of Leonid Ilyich is enough for me to be no longer here. But it seems that I already knew the character of this man, who not only madly loved his grandson, but also tried to be demanding of him.
As I later understood, Andrei not only to grandfather, in general, did not say anything to anyone about our quarrel …
… After some time, Alexander Yakovlevich Ryabenko, in a rather relaxed atmosphere, by the pool, announced to me:
- You are appointed as my deputy.
“I’ll try to justify your trust,” I replied in a military manner.
Before that, Ryabenko had a conversation with Leonid Ilyich. The head of the security, as it should be in such cases, described me: he knows the case, clear, consistent, does not drink, does not talk.
- What is this Volodya? - asked Brezhnev. - Who walks with Andrey?
- Yes. He, by the way, has been replacing my deputies for two years now.
- Aren't you young yet?
I was 35 then. And Ryabenko recalled:
- And when I was waiting for you, Leonid Ilyich, for the first time at the regional committee, how old were you?
There were no more questions. I entered this family as mine. Up to the point that I collected and put all things for Leonid Ilyich in a suitcase when we went on a business trip.
… I still believe that personal security is called personal because in many respects it is a family matter."
In June 1973, Vladimir Timofeevich accompanied Leonid Ilyich on a historic trip to the United States. Natural professional interest in him was aroused by the American organization of the security service, which, by right of the receiving party, was also responsible for the security of the leader of the USSR.
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and Richard Nixon on the White House lawn in Washington. 1973 Photo: Yuri Abramochkin / RIA Novosti
“The gallant Marines who lived there were guarding the Camp David residence,” he recalled. “Our guards are stationed next to them. It was very interesting to observe our American colleagues - how they serve, how they rest, and how they eat. And again - the comparison is not in our favor. Meat steaks, juices, water, vitamins. Our nourishment from them is like heaven from earth. According to tradition, their secret service carried security and our general secretary … At the end of the visit, Nixon invited Brezhnev to his ranch in San Clemente - a place not far from Los Angeles, on the Pacific Ocean … On June 23, 1973 in the evening there was a rare event. The US President's security gave a reception in honor of … the KGB officers. The meeting took place in a restaurant in a relaxed, cheerful atmosphere. Probably, in the entire history of our relations, neither before nor after there were no such friendly feasts of the two greatest secret services ….
Continuity of professional traditions
During the times of the Politburo of the era of Nikita Khrushchev, the first officers of Leonid Ilyich's bodyguard group were Ereskovsky, Ryabenko and Davydov. After the retirement of the aged Ereskovsky, the security group was headed by Alexander Yakovlevich.
Among his subordinates was the hereditary bodyguard Vladimir Viktorovich Bogomolov. In the late 30s, his father began his professional career in a unit that strengthened Stalin's security at the facilities of his stay.
During the Great Patriotic War, Viktor Stepanovich Bogomolov, through the NKVD of the USSR, was attached to the legendary Soviet commander, twice hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky. It was officer Bogomolov who was with General of the Army Chernyakhovsky at the very moment when a shell fragment mortally wounded his guarded one. A detailed story about his father's military past was forever remembered by his son Vladimir. And also the story of how, after the war, the attached Lavrenty Beria, agitated Viktor Stepanovich to go to his personal protection group.
It is quite possible that it was the father's professional path that determined the fate of his son. Vladimir Viktorovich graduated from the special school No. 401 for the training of the KGB of the USSR in Leningrad and, after working for several years in one of the departments of the 9th Directorate, and then in the 18th department of the 1st department, in 1971 he was appointed an officer of the visiting security of the General Secretary Central Committee of the CPSU.
One of the legendary security officers of Brezhnev was Valery Gennadievich Zhukov - in those years he was a little over 30. Leonid Ilyich only cordially called him "Vanka Zhukov". "Vanka" not only looked like an epic hero from the famous painting by Viktor Vasnetsov, but also naturally possessed extraordinary physical strength.
Thus, during one visit to Prague, Zhukov, as part of the duty shift, accompanied the Secretary General on his walk with the head of Czechoslovakia through the territory of the state residence "Czech Castle". As the professional science of security personnel requires, the route of the protected person must be free of any foreign objects and obstacles. And when on one of the paths, which the guarded persons came to, Valery saw a stone flower bed, which obviously could interfere with the movement, he, without hesitation, sat down deeper … grabbed this "stone flower", stood up and carried it a couple of meters from the path. No one would have paid attention to this, but literally half an hour later, four (!) Czechoslovak security officers, no matter how they tried, could not not only return this flower bed to its place, but even just raise it.
And Valery Gennadievich became truly legendary in the professional circle after he was twice removed from work by Alexander Yakovlevich - and twice returned to it at the direction of Leonid Ilyich. As they say, feel the moment …
After Brezhnev's death, Valery Zhukov continued to work in the 3rd operational group of the 18th department of the 1st department of the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. In 1983, Vyacheslav Naumov took over command of this group from the legendary Mikhail Petrovich Soldatov. It was Vyacheslav Georgievich who instructed Zhukov to become the mentor of the future president of the National Association of Bodyguards (NAST) of Russia, our expert Dmitry Fonarev.
Since 1974, the son of Viktor Georgievich Peshchersky, Vladimir, has been working in the shift of Valery Zhukov's visiting guard. Viktor Georgievich began his professional career in 1947 at the State Educational Institution of Nikolai Vlasik and worked on the routes of Joseph Stalin. From 1949 to 1953, Viktor Peshchersky was attached to one of the Soviet nuclear physicists until the removal of protection from all participants in the project. Viktor Georgievich completed his career in 1973 as head of the security department of a member of the Politburo (Presidium) of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Gennady Ivanovich Voronov, with whom he worked since 1961.
Speaking about the continuity of professional traditions, of course, one cannot belittle the role of the fathers who raised and sent in their footsteps the sons worthy of their military merits. But there could be no talk of any "pull" in the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. Heredity as a way of protectionism and easy career growth was categorically discouraged by the personnel services. The sons had to prove by personal achievements their right to be enrolled in the department where their fathers served.
And few succeeded. Well, those young officers who reached this professional peak always proudly carried their legendary surname in management, never in history having questioned the honor of the family. Such officers were Evgeny Georgievich Grigoriev, Viktor Ivanovich Nemushkov, Dmitry Ivanovich Petrichenko, Vladimir Viktorovich Bogomolov, Vladimir Viktorovich Peshchersky, Alexander Mikhailovich Soldatov.
Thanks to these people, we can restore the very history of the "nine", which is not recorded in any document, protocol or online help. This story of the formation of professional traditions from their fathers is passed down by the sons by word of mouth, and only to those whom they consider worthy of this story. We will turn to their memories more than once.
Thousands of dollars from Gaddafi
As already noted in the materials of this series, the tasks of the "nine" included ensuring the security of not only the country's leadership, but also the distinguished guests who visited the USSR at the invitation of the party and government. The leaders of the Arab states were frequent guests in the capital of the Soviet state. According to the status, they were provided with a guarded place of residence in state mansions on the then Lenin (and now Vorobyovy) Hills. The protection of this unique complex was provided by the 2nd commandant's office of the 7th department of the 9th Directorate.
In 1976, at the invitation of the government of the USSR, the chairman of the Council of the Revolutionary Command of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, paid an official visit to our country for the first time. The security of the distinguished guest, in addition to the "nine", was also provided by the "related departments" - the "seven" (the 7th department of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, at that time performed the functions of covert surveillance and protection of the diplomatic corps), intelligence services, counterintelligence, police and other specialized bodies.
Muammar Gaddafi's official visit to Moscow. Photo: Imperial War Museum
Gaddafi's security group, appointed by the leadership of the "nine", was pre-oriented to his hot temperament and extravagance. But what happened surprised even the seasoned officers of the Nine.
Gaddafi lived on the Lenin Hills in the state mansion No. 8. The standard state mansion invariably was a two-story house with a well-groomed, but cramped area with trees and bushes, a security booth at the gate and mirror-paved paths. All this was protected from prying eyes by an almost three-meter fence with an alarm.
According to the established procedure for ensuring the safety of visits, a duty officer from the 18th department of the 1st department was in the mansion around the clock. In this case, it was Vyacheslav Georgievich Naumov.
The peculiarity of official visits has always been the accuracy of adherence to the prescribed protocol. Not only the security group, but also the entire KGB mechanism involved in ensuring the safety of the visit has always been guided by this official routine, as a polar star. GON's main car was not left at the mansion. The attendant had an accelerating Volga, but both of these cars were in the Kremlin at night, even though they were in immediate readiness. That was the order. On a call from the attendant, the cars could be on the spot literally in ten minutes.
On the second evening after his arrival, young Gaddafi - and he was 35–36 years old at the time (he never advertised his birthday) - became unimaginably bored in a cramped mansion that did not at all resemble either his palace or his beloved Bedouin tent. Apparently, realizing that the car put to him under the windows was not, at about two in the morning, having phoned his Moscow embassy, he asked that an ambassador's car be sent to his mansion. The car, of course, came, but who will let it into the protected area ?!
Muammar Gaddafi, who was not used to waiting and absolutely did not tolerate the slightest restriction of personal freedom, simply found a place where the fence was not high, and … climbed over it. This is the official version of the story from the "nine" for colleagues in the shop. But here it is important to be aware of the situation. Vyacheslav Georgievich is sure that, most likely, Gaddafi simply opened the gate at the gate himself, and the officer of the commandant's office, who was at the post, did not report this to the "duty room". When clarifying the circumstances, the warrant officer stubbornly insisted that the guarded did not go out and how he ended up on the street, he (the warrant officer) did not know … Therefore, to make everything look decent, the leadership was told about the "gymnastic exercises" of the Arab guest.
A car waiting on a deserted street whisked him away across night Moscow to the embassy. Naturally, the all-seeing "seven" traced the route of the car of the Libyan embassy.
In the morning, senior lieutenant Naumov, with the rights of "majordomo" (naturally, at the direction of the management), asked for an official audience with the distinguished guest on the second floor of the state mansion. The guest had already woken up and, judging by the fact that there were no problems with the organization of the conversation, he was in a very good mood. The young KGB officer remarked to the Libyan leader with the highest degree of polite, probably even in an English style, that night walks in Moscow are very romantic moments, and in order to make them better, he would just like to ask the distinguished guest to inform about it in advance via its protocol service to the first floor. Those who understand the specifics of Gaddafi's behavior at the "everyday" level can imagine what Vyacheslav Georgievich could hear in response to his request … But the story itself does not end there.
Since time immemorial, in the field of international protocol, official foreign delegations have developed a tradition of expressing gratitude to the guest for a warm welcome. As a rule, protocol officers, through an attached person, passed gifts for the guards on behalf of the head of the delegation. This procedure was very entertaining and had innumerable pitfalls for the officers of the Nine.
Leonid Brezhnev and Muammar Gaddafi (foreground). Photo: AFP
Gaddafi, despite his youth, apparently already knew about it. Or, more likely, at the very last moment he was prompted by his ambassadorial assistants. Otherwise, it was very difficult to explain the fact that before leaving for Vnukovo-2, Muammar Gaddafi summoned the chief of the mansion, Vyacheslav Naumov, and handed him a suspiciously thick envelope. Through an interpreter, he explained that this is 21 thousand (no more, no less) American dollars, with which the Chekists "can buy whatever they want." In the courtyard, recall, 1976. For the younger generation, it will not be superfluous to explain that there were no exchangers in the USSR. And not even all the cherished Berezka stores accepted foreign currency as payment for foreign goods.
It was strictly forbidden to accept currency as gifts for officers of the Nine. Everyone understood this, although nowhere, in any instructions, such a ban was not spelled out.
As soon as the cars of the motorcade drove to the airport, Vyacheslav Georgievich phoned the deputy head of the department, Viktor Petrovich Samodurov, and arrived at his office in the 14th building of the Kremlin. Putting the envelope in front of him, Vyacheslav Naumov briefly stated the wishes of the Arab guest.
And here happened what is called a professional school in personal protection. Major General Viktor Samodurov, an experienced, cunning man, but with the broadest soul, confidentially, in a fatherly way addressed the young officer: "Listen, Slava, nobody saw how he gave you this envelope?" - "Nobody" - "So, why didn't you divide it all in two: 11 for me as a general and 10 for yourself?" Everyone who went through this school knew that it was at this moment and to this question that Vyacheslav Naumov had one short answer: "Not allowed." This is a challenge. The most sophisticated, complex and difficult thing in the "nine" is a test of conscience. Or, as the veterans used to say, "check for" skinny ".
Vyacheslav Georgievich answered Viktor Petrovich a little differently: "I can't." But the intonation of the spoken (and this is what is not taught: this comes only from within a person, from the formed moral core of the officer) and dry facial expressions meant exactly that proper answer: "Not supposed to."
"That's why I love you!" - answered the father-leader and scooped the green papers back into the envelope.
Saddam Hussein's pistol
Continuing to follow the logic of succession in the "nine", we note that at that time Vyacheslav Georgievich Naumov worked in the 3rd task force of the 18th squad, the commander of which was Mikhail Petrovich Soldatov. Because of one long history, Mikhail Petrovich made himself a most dangerous enemy in the person of the chairman of the KGB, Vladimir Semichastny. Imagine the rank and consequences … And after the removal of Nikita Khrushchev from power, he fell into disgrace, but his professional management skills were not forgotten. It's time to go back to the department.
“Father was transferred to another unit - the commandant's office (ensuring the protection of state dachas),” recalls Alexander Soldatov, the son of Mikhail Petrovich, a retired KGB major, a member of NAST Russia. - It's like the head physician of the main hospital in the city is transferred as a junior nurse to a rural hospital. For his father it was a big blow, but the major stars still left him. After some time, one of his old acquaintances, a major leader with the rank of general, arrived there. He recognized his father and asked: "What are you doing here ?!" The father told everything. "And if you have to return to your unit with a big demotion, will you go?" My father agreed at least to a private, but he was indeed returned to the personal protection unit with a demotion: the major was promoted to a lieutenant's position.
My father spent 20 years in the majors, but in the end he waited for a well-deserved promotion. On one of his business trips, he met with Alexander Ryabenko. He decided to plead for his father and once asked Brezhnev: "Do you remember Misha the gypsy who Khrushchev had? He has a wealth of experience." Khrushchev called his father Gypsy: he was dark-haired, wavy hair, he sang "Black Eyes" … And Brezhnev planned a trip to Livadia, to the state dacha. It was Ryabenko who suggested that Soldatov should go first for training. Father was given an assignment, he put everything in order at the dacha. After that, business trips with Brezhnev began throughout the Union, and most often to Yalta.
There were also trips abroad, for example, a very serious strategic business trip to India. My father went there in two weeks. It was necessary to rewrite the entire protocol, rework the entire system of organizing meetings. Initially, it was planned, for example, that Brezhnev would be greeted by an honor guard - well done with axes naked. These axes alarmed the father, and he agreed with the Indian side to replace the armed guard with girls in national clothes and garlands. Brezhnev was very pleased, after the trip he personally invited his father, thanked him for the excellent organization of the visit and awarded him the rank of lieutenant colonel. Father appreciated this very much. Here, he said, Khrushchev gave me the major, and Brezhnev gave the lieutenant colonel.
Due to his completely unique approach to completing assignments, Mikhail Soldatov was attracted to work not only with Leonid Ilyich. It was he who, to a greater extent than other worthy officers of the department, was entrusted with working with the heads of foreign delegations. Especially noteworthy is the history of his relationship (no more and no less) with the then young Iraqi politician Saddam Hussein. Already during Hussein's first visit to Moscow, mutual trust arose between them. Soon a guest from Iraq again flew to the USSR, and Mikhail Soldatov worked with him again.
Leonid Brezhnev and Saddam Hussein. Photo: allmystery.de
“When Hussein was leaving, he gave his father an expensive gold watch as a parting gift,” recalls Alexander Soldatov. - And at that time the security officers were forbidden to accept expensive gifts. And the father was told: it is necessary, they say, to hand over this watch. But there were smart people who objected that Hussein could fly again at any moment, and if he saw that Soldatov was not wearing his gift, the offense would be great. It was decided: "To leave the watch for the soldier." A couple of months later, his father meets Hussein at the gangplank, and he really first of all asks: "What time is it in Moscow?" Father takes out his watch and shows it. Everything is fine".
It is absolutely known that on February 1, 1977, when Saddam Hussein flew to Moscow at the invitation of the CPSU Central Committee, he refused to leave the plane, because … he was not met by the USSR KGB officer Mikhail Soldatov. Foreign ministry translators translated Hussein's question literally as: "Where is Misha?" And "Misha" had a legal day off, on which, as the people say, he had every right to relax. Imagine the surprise of the management when the distinguished guest said that without "Misha" he would not get out of the plane! Saddam's character was already well known, and therefore an operational vehicle literally flew out for the unsuspecting "Misha". As the officers from that remarkable outfit at Vnukovo-2 said, the Iraqi leader sat on the plane for about an hour and a half … Soldiers, delivered to the ladder, were immediately attached to the distinguished guest.
But this is not the whole story of Hussein's visit to the USSR in February 1977. The next day after his arrival, the program provided for a time "for possible meetings and conversations." It was this time that Leonid Ilyich chose to talk with an Arab friend face to face.
And the real problem of the "nine" on this visit was … the personal weapon of a dear friend for the USSR. Saddam, not seeing anything extraordinary in this, brought a combat pistol with him and demonstratively never parted with it, about which the leadership of the Nine was immediately informed. Alexander Yakovlevich was well aware of the ingenuity and ability of Mikhail Petrovich Soldatov for non-standard, but extremely effective operational solutions. Therefore, in the morning Ryabenko “phoned” the attached Hussein and, as a deputy head of the 1st department, ordered (exactly ordered, not asked) him literally “to do whatever you want, but not let Saddam to the general with this pistol”. Easy to say, but how can a proud and hot-tempered Arab agree to abandon his weapon?
It is possible that Mikhail Petrovich's plan matured on the way, and maybe at the entrance. One way or another, at the door of the reception room of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Soldatov, through an interpreter, suddenly asked his unsuspecting guarded person:
- Saddam, are you an officer?
“Yes,” answered Hussein, a little puzzled.
- Me too, - Mikhail Petrovich continued, - do you trust me?
- Yes, - answered the distinguished guest, surprised by the direction of the conversation.
- You see my gun? I leave it here. Leonid Ilyich also does not have a pistol, and if you believe me, then leave yours next to mine, otherwise it turns out somehow impolite …
With these words "Misha" resolutely put his "Makarov" on the desk of the receptionist. On the part of Soldatov, it was an insane risk. But, according to the stories of Mikhail Petrovich himself, Saddam was both literally and figuratively disarmed. Without hesitation, he took out his pistol and placed it beside him.
Then the entire 18th squad wondered, what would Soldatov do if Saddam had not agreed to leave his pistol? But no one dared to ask this question to Mikhail Petrovich himself. Everyone knew that in return they could get a referral to an address well known to every Russian person …
Proactive work
What did the security officers save Brezhnev from? Probably, it would be easier to talk about what they did not have to save him from …
The most famous attempt on Brezhnev's life in the USSR took place in 1969. This incident is mentioned in many memoirs, kilometers of film were shot about it. The antihero of this story is the schizophrenic junior lieutenant of the Soviet army Viktor Ilyin. The conviction ripened in his head that by killing the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, he would change the course of the history of the USSR. Ilyin left his military unit near Leningrad, taking with him two Makarov pistols with a full set of cartridges, and on January 21, 1969, on the eve of a solemn meeting of the cosmonauts of the crews of the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 spacecraft, he flew to Moscow. Recall that there were no inspections at the USSR airports at that time. In the capital, Ilyin stayed with his retired uncle, a former police officer.
On the morning of January 22, having stolen a police overcoat from his uncle, Ilyin went to the Kremlin. Due to a monstrous coincidence for the "nine", Ilyin found himself next to the Borovitsky Gate inside the Kremlin. When the government motorcade began to enter the gate, the attacker let the first car pass (for some reason he thought that Brezhnev would follow in the second) and … opened fire from both hands on the windshield of the second car. As it turned out, cosmonauts Georgy Beregovoy, Alexei Leonov, Andrian Nikolaev and his wife Valentina Nikolaeva-Tereshkova were traveling in it (their "space wedding" was widely covered in the Soviet press). Attached in this car was the officer of the 1st department of the "nine" Captain German Anatolyevich Romanenko. In 1980 he will become the head of the legendary 18th Branch of the 1st Division.
The driver of the car, GON officer Ilya Zharkov, was mortally wounded. The car began to roll back towards the gate. German Anatolyevich jumped out of the car and held a huge ZIL while the cosmonauts were transferring to another.
The main car, in which Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and Alexander Ryabenko were, in accordance with the protocol of the meeting, left the motorcade on the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, right in front of the Borovitsky Gate, and went to the Kremlin Embankment, so that, having entered the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate, to meet at the Grand Kremlin Palace conquerors of space.
The attempt on L. I. Brezhnev in 1969. Photo: warfiles.ru
According to the recollections of the nine veterans, the decision to “rebuild on the bridge” was made by Alexander Yakovlevich in accordance with the protocol. The signal about the situation was received by the department early in the morning, but by the time the government motorcade entered the Kremlin, operational measures to search for Ilyin and orientate towards him did not give any results.
In the booth of the internal post at the Borovitsky Gate, Igor Ivanovich Bokov, an officer of the 1st department of the 5th department of the 9th Directorate, was on duty. Mikhail Nikolayevich Yagodkin worked at the post of observation of the Borovitsky entrance to the Kremlin.
President of NAST Russia Dmitry Fonarev, who for many years was an officer of the headquarters of the Nine, clarifies that in 1988, Igor Bokov, the senior operational officer of the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, confided in him about everything that happened on the day of the assassination attempt:
“… In winter we took up posts in bekesh and felt boots. In the morning, people began to gather on the patch of Borovichi. I see a policeman appeared next to me. Those who worked at this post knew that policemen of the 80th police department kept posts nearby, who monitored order and admission to the Diamond Fund and the Armory Chamber. I look, and he hides his hands in his overcoat. I say to him: "On the mittens, warm yourself", and he "Yes, I don't have much time left." Well, when he started firing with two hands, it was six meters from me to him. Bullets even hit my booth. Immediately Mishka Yagodkin jumped up to him and knocked him out with his fist.
You need to understand that eight shots from a ready-to-fire Makarov take two or three seconds … In total, 11 bullets hit the car out of 16, one of them went through Alexei Leonov's overcoat, leaving a noticeable mark on it. Of the other five, one bullet hit the arm of the motorcyclist of the honorary escort of the Kremlin regiment Vasily Alekseevich Zatsepilov. His jacket with a bullet hole still takes its place in the Hall of Fame and History of the FSO of Russia, which is located in the Arsenal of the Moscow Kremlin.
Ilyin, who was in prostration, was taken to the Arsenal. The first to interrogate him was the legendary "nine" Vladimir Stepanovich Rarebeard. Then Ilyin was taken for a conversation with the chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov. According to the results of a medical examination, Ilyin was declared mentally ill. In fact, contemplating the crime, Ilyin was guided by approximately the same logic that was inherent in the regicide terrorists of the second half of the 19th century: it is necessary to eliminate the main "totalitarian" figure in the state, and the system will collapse. For the second half of the 20th century, such a logic cannot be called anything other than flawed. However, people obsessed with manic ideas are found at all times and pose a threat to the life of statesmen. And therefore, their timely identification is one of the key tasks for analysts of the state bodyguard service of top officials of any country.
The very next day after the assassination attempt on Leonid Brezhnev, by order of the head of the 9th Directorate, a field guard was attached to the three top leaders of the USSR. In addition to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the "leading troika" included Chairman of the Council of Ministers Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny. The Stalinist traditions of the "leading center" of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the party remained dominant up to the moment of the disappearance of the USSR … The exit guard was obliged to accompany the guarded person around the clock and everywhere.
In addition to measures to strengthen the security of the three guarded at the exit, after the assassination attempt at the Borovitsky Gate, the leadership of the Nine decided to maximize the mobility of medical workers of the IV Main Directorate under the USSR Ministry of Health. In the early 70s, this department was equipped with special "sanitary" "ZILs": two specialized ZIL-118A, two reanimation ZIL-118KA, three sanitary ZIL-118KS and two cardiological ZIL-118KE.
Attempts to assassinate Leonid Brezhnev have been repeatedly recorded abroad. So, in 1977 in Paris, the leadership of the "nine" received a reliable signal that a sniper was about to fire at the Arc de Triomphe. The visit was very significant and no protocol changes were allowed. In this situation, the security group decided to use in the indicated place … ordinary rain umbrellas.
In fact, this is the plot of the Anglo-French film "The Day of the Jackal" (premiered in 1973), based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsythe. The book was based on the real events of one of the attempts on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle in the early 60s. It is possible that the idea of killing the Soviet leader in someone's inflamed brain was born precisely after watching a sensational movie …
A similar incident occurred with the protection of Leonid Ilyich in the Federal Republic of Germany in early May 1978. In the same way as in France, the "nine" were promptly informed that during the visit of the Soviet leader an assassination attempt was being prepared on him. It was supposed to take place in the castle of Augsburg after a gala dinner, which the German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was going to give in honor of the Soviet guest.
Leonid Brezhnev (second from left) and Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Helmut Schmidt (second from right), after the completion of negotiations during L. I. Brezhnev in Germany. Photo: Yuri Abramochkin // RIA Novosti
Brezhnev developed a good relationship with Schmidt. Leonid Ilyich's photographer Vladimir Musaelyan recalled how in Augsburg the general showed the FRG chancellor his photo from the 1945 parade and said: "Look, Helmut, how young I am at the Victory Parade!" Schmidt paused and asks: "What front did you fight on, Mr. Brezhnev?" - "In the 4th Ukrainian!" - "It's good. I was on the other. It means that you and I did not shoot at each other …"
On that day in May, no shots were fired in Germany either. Perhaps because the security group of the Soviet leader had experience of working in a similar situation.
In December 1980, the "nine" received information about the preparation of a terrorist attack against the leader of the USSR during a visit to India. In such situations, when the so-called signals are received, the guards can only rely on their experience and understanding of the operational situation. None of those responsible for the operational support of the KGB services would risk giving unverified or approximate information about the assassination attempt on the first person. Behind the shortest reference is the work of a huge number of specialists who are responsible for what they report to the "top".
In preparation for the visit, the advance group reported that, according to the established order of the meeting in Delhi, the main car will have to move practically "on foot" during the last one and a half kilometers to the place of the meeting with the Indian leadership. The details were not disclosed, but the visiting party knew about this, and therefore it was decided that the officers would accompany the main ZIL on foot. And just before the visit, the special services informed the "nine" that three months before Leonid Ilyich's visit to Delhi, a cobra had been thrown into the open windows of the car of a foreign minister of one of the European states passing by the Indian minister's car. This was a complementary remark to the basic information. An armored Mercedes 600 was sent to Delhi by a special plane on this trip as a reserve vehicle.
Armed not only with service weapons, but also with preemptive information, a group of Nine employees did their job at the proper level. According to analytics, terrorists who are preparing an attack on a protected person, first of all, rely on guards' mistakes. And if the guards admit even the slightest inaccuracies, then the terrorists' chances of realizing their plans increase. But if the security, on the contrary, strengthens the regular mode of work, then the terrorists simply do not have a chance. In the professional world, this is what is called “proactive”, not “confrontational”.
It was at the end of the 70s that a technological sequence of operational priorities was formed in the "nine" at the level of personal protection officers: to predict the threat, to avoid the threat and only as a last resort, when all forces and means were used to prevent the manifestation of the threat,confront her.
Safety on water and on land
In addition to external threats, Leonid Ilyich himself brought great trouble to the protection. First of all, his passion for driving. He learned to drive cars of different brands at the front and drove them desperately. Moreover, the passages of the guarded persons were provided not only by the special subdivision of the traffic police, but also by the whole 2nd department of the 5th department of the "nine". Therefore, the operational "ZILs" responsibly plowed free of any interference, including cars pressed to the side of the road.
In the entire history of the state security in the Soviet period, except for Leonid Ilyich, none of the protected persons in the desire to drive their car was not noticed. All interested persons were well aware of this habit of the general and, most importantly, the peculiarities of his driving, since not always and not all such passages of Leonid Ilyich ended harmlessly.
Brezhnev continued to drive until one day on the way to Zavidovo he almost got into an accident, practically falling asleep while driving after taking a sedative. And only the reaction of the driver Boris Andreev, whom Alexander Ryabenko put in his usual place (the front one next to the driver's seat), helped to avoid the tragedy.
Besides driving, another passion of Leonid Brezhnev was hunting. When he hunted wild boars from a tower, after a successful shot he liked to go down and approach the killed animal. One day he knocked down a huge boar, went down and walked towards him.
“There are about twenty meters left,” recalls Vladimir Medvedev, “the boar suddenly jumped up and rushed at Brezhnev. The huntsman had a carbine in his hands, he instantly, offhand, fired twice and … missed. The beast recoiled and ran in a circle. The bodyguard that day was Gennady Fedotov, he had a carbine in his left hand and a long knife in his right. He quickly stuck the knife into the ground, threw the carbine over to his right hand, but did not have time to fire - the boar rushed at him, hit the knife with his snout, bent the knife and rushed on. Boris Davydov, the deputy head of the personal guard, backed away, caught his foot on a hummock and fell into the swamp - the boar jumped over it and went into the forest. Leonid Ilyich stood nearby and did not even raise an eyebrow. Boris, with a Mauser in his hand, got up from the swamp slurry, dirty water flows down, covered in algae. Brezhnev asked: "What were you doing there, Boris?" - "I defended you."
Growing up on the banks of the Dnieper, Leonid Ilyich was an excellent swimmer. Swimming gave him special pleasure, and not in the pool, but certainly in the sea. The water temperature didn't matter. And this circumstance also posed certain tasks for the group of his protection, since Leonid Ilyich sailed for a long time. According to the recollections of Vladimir Bogomolov, the longest swim in the Black Sea was four hours (!). Either the attached or the on-site security officer always floated next to the guarded person. At a distance of several meters behind them in a lifeboat, as a rule, the officers of the exit guard sailed. Under the water, a group of, as they were called in the department, "dives" from the officers of the 18th department was involved.
Leonid Brezhnev at the Black Sea. Photo: historicaldis.ru
A special group of divers was created in the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR shortly after the 59-year-old Australian Prime Minister Harold Edward Holt disappeared while swimming in Melbourne on December 17, 1967 while swimming in front of friends. The prime minister swam superbly, sharks were not found in those places. In Australian English, the expression "to do the Harold Holt" even appeared, which means to disappear without a trace. As it turned out, two days before the tragedy, the prime minister's security noticed suspicious divers and reported it to their leadership, but the guarded person was not notified, and no additional security measures were taken.
The first swimmers of the special group were employees of the 18th department of the 1st department of the "nine", as they already had experience working with guarded persons on vacation. The pioneers of the underwater posts were V. S. Rare-bearded, N. N. Ivanov and V. I. Nemushkov, V. N. Filonenko, D. I. Petrichenko, A. A. Osipov, A. N. Rybkin, N. G. Veselov, A. I. Verzhbitsky and others. Every year this group underwent professional underwater certification in one of the capital's military centers. Vladimir Stepanovich Rarebeard was responsible for this.
It is worth especially mentioning the role of sleeping pills in Brezhnev's life. He began to take it after the death of his mother, whom he loved very much, and, experiencing this loss, Brezhnev practically lost sleep. Doctors headed by the head of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health Yevgeny Ivanovich Chazov, naturally, prescribed sedatives for him.
At some point, Alexander Ryabenko began to literally hide these pills, trying to reasonably limit the consumption of a sedative, which had an effect at the most unexpected time. Finding no medicine, Leonid Ilyich began to ask for sleeping pills even from members of the Politburo. Then Alexander Yakovlevich began to give the general secretary pills-dummies.
In the last years of his life, Leonid Ilyich felt weak and tired. He consciously and voluntarily wanted to retire. As Vladimir Medvedev recalled, the wife of the General Secretary Viktoria Petrovna, seeing in the next program "Time" her husband's speech with a tangled tongue, said: "So, Lenya, it can't go on any longer." He replied: "I said they won't let you go." Indeed, on this issue, the Politburo veiled, but firmly said "no", motivating its decision by the fact that "Leonid Ilyich is needed by the people." In fact, the old in every sense of the word, the guard of the country's political leadership understood that as soon as Brezhnev left, their turn would immediately come. Therefore, members of the Politburo awarded him new orders and said that it was too early for him to rest …
Was not noticed in the lordship
For all 18 years of his tenure at a high post, Leonid Ilyich has not changed almost any of his security personnel. He even stood up for those who committed seemingly unforgivable offenses. We have already talked about how he twice returned officer Valery Zhukov to work. But there was also such a typical case. In the GON group, which provided the needs of the security department of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, there was one young driver who liked to indulge in alcohol in his spare time. Once he "added" to the point that he began to catch some non-existent spy on the street - he raised a lot of noise, alarmed everyone.
The drunk driver was taken to the police, and from there, as was the custom in Soviet times, the incident was reported at the place of work. The GON bosses did not stand on ceremony: the officer was fired, and Brezhnev was assigned a different driver. Here is a story about what happened next, attributed to Alexander Yakovlevich Ryabenko:
“Brezhnev asked:
- And where is Borya?
I had to tell. Brezhnev was silent for a while, then asked:
- Except for catching a spy, there was nothing behind him?
Checked - nothing.
Leonid Ilyich ordered:
- We must return Borya.
- But he can get drunk behind the wheel. After all, it carries you …
- Nothing, tell them to return.
After that, Borya literally idolized his boss: this is necessary, he stood up! And for whom? For a simple chauffeur … Leonid Ilyich did not suffer with anything, but lordship”.
And this is just one example of Brezhnev's attitude to his guards, there were many such cases. None of the guarded leaders of the USSR showed such concern for the members of the security group.
On the shoulders of bodyguards
At the end of 1974, Brezhnev's health deteriorated greatly and from that moment only worsened. His guards began a very difficult life. Here is what Vladimir Medvedev writes about this in his book:
“When we were shooting, hand-to-hand fighting, pumping up muscles, swimming, running cross-country, playing football and volleyball, even when for a formal show we, obeying the official plan, absurdly paddled on skis on the spring water, we prepared ourselves to guard the leaders. And even when we were sitting at empty party meetings or service conferences, and then they prepared us, albeit stately, not always cleverly, but they prepared everything for the same - to protect the leaders of the country.
According to the instructions, I leave the entrance - in front of the chief, assess the situation; down the street - from the side of people or bushes, or alleys; along the corridor - from the side of the doors, so that someone does not fly out or simply knock the boss with the door; on the stairs - slightly behind. But we, contrary to instructions, when our aged leaders go down, we go a little ahead, when they go up - a little behind.
As a result, it turned out that they need to be protected not from external threats, but from themselves, this is not taught anywhere. The theory of escorting the guarded exists to protect normal, healthy leaders, but we take care of helpless old people, our task is to prevent them from collapsing and sliding down the stairs …
In the GDR, in Berlin, our government cortege was greeted festively, with flowers and banners. In an open car, welcoming the Berliners, Honecker and Brezhnev are standing side by side. Photographers, television and cameramen, not a single person knows, does not see that I was sprawled on the bottom of the car, stretched out my arms and on the go, at speed I hold the overweight Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev by my sides, almost in weight …
Where, in what civilized country of the world is the personal security of the head of the country doing this?"
However, as practice shows, the main thing for security personnel is not what they have to do for the guarded person, but how he treats them. Whether they appreciate their hard work, whether they see people in them, whether they sympathize with them, whether they are ready to intercede for them, and so on. If so, the guards will tolerate anything and carry out any assignment, even if it looks ridiculous.
Leonid Brezhnev, accompanied by personal protection in the pool Photo: rusarchives.ru
On March 24, 1982, the accident at the Chkalov Tashkent aircraft building plant became an incident that, according to the generally accepted opinion, had a fatal effect on the already weakened health of the 76-year-old secretary general. In March, Leonid Brezhnev went to Uzbekistan for festive events on the occasion of the awarding of the Order of Lenin to the republic. At first it was decided not to go to the aircraft plant, so as not to overwork Leonid Ilyich. But it turned out that the previous event passed easily and quickly, and the secretary general decided that it was necessary to go to the plant: it’s not good, they say, people are waiting …
Since the trip to this plant was initially canceled, the proper procedure for arming the facility was not followed. There was no time left for full-fledged carrying out of regular security measures. Well, the workers, of course, could not miss the opportunity to see the first person of the state. When the delegation entered the assembly shop, a huge crowd followed. People began to climb the scaffolding above the aircraft under construction.
“We passed under the wing of an airplane,” recalls Vladimir Medvedev, “the people who filled the forests also began to move. The ring of workers around us was tightening, and the guards joined hands to hold back the onslaught of the crowd. Leonid Ilyich almost got out from under the plane when suddenly there was a grinding sound. The rafters could not stand, and a large wooden platform - the entire length of the aircraft and four meters wide - collapsed under the uneven weight of the moving people! People rolled down an incline towards us. The forests have crushed many. I looked around and saw neither Brezhnev nor Rashidov. Together with their escorts, they were covered with a collapsed platform. We, four of the guards, barely lifted it, the local guards jumped up and, experiencing tremendous tension, held the platform with people in the air for two minutes."
They would not have kept them - many would have been crushed there, including Leonid Ilyich … Together with Vladimir Timofeevich, Vladimir Sobachenkov, who received a severe bloody injury, and the same "Vanka" - Valery Zhukov, were holding the forests. As if providence itself forced Leonid Ilyich to return this particular security officer to the group twice … The main blow of the falling slipway was taken by the field security officer Igor Kurpich.
In order to avoid a crush, Alexander Ryabenko used a weapon - the shots were directed upwards so that in panic arose, the main car, which was already entering the shop, could drive up to the wounded guard. In their arms, the security officers carried Leonid Ilyich into it.
Fortunately, no one died that day. Brezhnev himself received a concussion and a fracture of his right clavicle. After that, the health of the secretary general was completely undermined, and literally six months later, on November 10, Leonid Ilyich was gone.
Shortly before the death of Brezhnev, a tragedy occurred, the reasons for which were subsequently debated for many years. On October 4, 1980, as a result of a car accident on the Moscow-Brest highway, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Byelorussian SSR Pyotr Mironovich Masherov was killed. Some researchers believed that his death was the result of a conspiracy against him in the highest party circles. But, according to Dmitry Fonarev, inconsistency in the work of the 9th department of the republican KGB of Belarus, which was not directly subordinate to the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, led to the death of Pyotr Masherov. So, the driver of the main car was not on the staff of the republican KGB and did not undergo special emergency training. A detailed analysis of the tragedy of October 4, 1980 can be found on the NAST website.
Sterile instrument
After Brezhnev's death, his guards were transferred to the 18th (reserve) department of the 1st department of the "nine". Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, who replaced him at the post of general secretary, was also assigned a special group of protection according to the status.
To some, this may seem strange: why change the security officers who have proven themselves in the best way? But here it is important to clarify that not a single protected person in the USSR, even the leader of the country, had the right to choose his own protection, including those attached. This was not part of his powers and was the sole task of the leadership of the Nine.
So, before Yuri Vladimirovich took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, the head of his security group was Yevgeny Ivanovich Kalgin, who began his career in GON as Andropov's personal driver. And then by the management of the department, and not by order of the protected person, he was entrusted to head the security group of the chairman of the KGB of the USSR, who was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. After Yuri Andropov took over as general secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Viktor Aleksandrovich Ivanov became his chief of security.
General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov. Photo by Vladimir Musaelyan and Eduard Pesov / TASS photo chronicle
The guarded person, however, could reject a candidate proposed to him as a head of security or an attached officer. If this did not happen, then in agreement with the approved head of the group - the senior officer attached - his deputies, attached, and in special cases, officers of the field security were also selected. Therefore, the entire security group in full force never passed from the previous secretary general to the "inheritance" of his successor. This was the unspoken rule of the Nine leadership.
Under Yuri Andropov, the role of the 9th Directorate in the structure of the KGB increased significantly. At the KGB collegium, already in the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, he drew particular attention to the importance of management in the state security system. He also asked to assist in every possible way the work of the Nine and its newly appointed chief, Lieutenant General Yuri Sergeevich Plekhanov, who became a key figure in the USSR state security until the 1991 GKChP events.
On March 24, 1983, Yuri Sergeevich headed the 9th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, and from February 27, 1990 to August 22, 1991, he was the head of the security service of the KGB of the USSR. So the state security department, which is responsible for the personal protection of the country's leadership and never had the status of the main one, acquired a special position in the hierarchy of the KGB of the USSR.
Note that there is a clear logic in the measures taken by Yuri Andropov. As already mentioned, in 1978, on his initiative, the KGB became one of the central bodies of state administration in the Soviet Union, to whose leadership five years later he pointed out the special status of the "nine". Yuri Vladimirovich was fully aware of all the realities of the life of the country, including the dangerous processes of transformation of consciousness among the party leadership, primarily in the capital. And he perfectly understood that it is possible to cope with all the consequences of these processes only with a sterile KGB instrument at hand.
These aspirations also explain the personnel reshuffles made by Andropov at the end of 1982. On December 17, Leonid Brezhnev's protege, Vitaly Fedorchuk, was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR from the post of chairman of the KGB of the USSR in 1982. In this post, he replaced Nikolai Shchelokov, against whom a criminal case was initiated. The post of chairman of the KGB of the USSR was taken by a person worthy in every sense of the word - Viktor Mikhailovich Chebrikov, Yuri Vladimirovich's "right hand", a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, laureate of the USSR State Prize, Hero of Socialist Labor. Firmly continuing his line, Yuri Andropov initiated serious mass measures to strengthen law and order, which affected not only corrupt officials, but also ordinary undisciplined citizens.
The further professional fate of the security group of Leonid Brezhnev developed in different ways. Valery Zhukov died in 1983. Alexander Ryabenko, understanding the situation, was transferred to the protection of the reserve dachas in which former members of the Politburo lived, and in 1987 he was retired. He died in 1993 at the age of 77.
Vladimir Redkoborody was sent to the disposal of the USSR KGB mission in Afghanistan, where he worked in 1980-1984. And the pinnacle of his professional career were the posts of the head of the Security Directorate under the President of the USSR (from August 31 to December 14, 1991) and then the head of the Main Security Directorate of the RSFSR (until May 5, 1992).
In 1985, Vladimir Medvedev headed the security guard of Mikhail Gorbachev, and under his supervision some of the Brezhnev's mobile security officers worked in it.
We will talk about the features of the organization and security of the last Soviet leader in the next article in this series.
