Vladimir Putin’s counter-intelligence bosses have re-created the “SMERSH” organisation to hunt down spies targeting Russia, according to UK defence chiefs.
They stressed that this was an example of the Russian authorities “consciously couching the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the spirit of the Second World War”.
They added that it also highlighted their “strong focus on the supposed infiltration of external threats into the country”.
However, they also cast doubt on whether the reappearance of "SMERSH" was a boost to Russia's counter-intelligence operations, or just a symbolic re-creation.
Putin has sort to turn the narrative of his Ukraine war, launched in February 2022, into a conflict with the “enemy” West.
As his soldiers struggle to gain ground with largely static frontlines, the Russian president is seeking to galvanise support for his invasion by portraying it as a fight against Nato countries.
He has sought to justify it as countering a threat to Russia as Moscow and other cities have come under attack from Ukrainian drones.
In London, the Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update: “In late 2023, Russian politicians claimed that the Soviet counter-intelligence (CI) organisation ‘SMERSH’ was being re-established. In early January 2024, an open-source image showed operatives apparently wearing SMERSH uniform patches.
“An abbreviation of the Russian phrase for ‘death to spies’, Joseph Stalin established the original organisation which existed from 1941-1946. In the West, it became known via its fictionalised portrayal in Ian Fleming’s James Bond books.”
The briefing continued: “It is unclear whether the new name indicates any substantive new capabilities or role for Russia’s CI function, or whether it is merely a re-badging.
“However, it provides another example of how the Russian authorities consciously couch the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the spirit of the Second World War, and their strong focus on the supposed infiltration of external threats into the country.”
SMERSH was established during World War ll, taking its name from the Russian Smert Shpionam, or Death to Spies, a title said to have been chosen by Stalin himself.
Its key task was to infiltrate the Nazi secret services and to enforce order and loyalty among Russian troops on the frontline.
It built up a reputation for its ruthlessness, with reports that it shot Red Army soldiers retreating after being hit by German attacks.
