Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Alexander Kouzminov (Author)

Book Description

Series: Greenhill Military Paperbacks | Publication Date: February 19, 2006

In the wake of 9/11 the threat of biological terrorism and sabotage has been thrust to the forefront of public consciousness. However, this is far from being a new phenomenon. From World War II onwards, the Cold War powers devoted considerable resources to developing what became known in the military as µbugs and gas'. This groundbreaking study lifts the lid on the top-secret Department 12 of Directorate S (Special Operations) v the elite inner core of the KGB First Chief Directorate and its successor, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. During the 1980s and early 1990s the department encouraged biological espionage, the planning and preparation of biological terrorism and acts of sabotage. Their work was carried out primarily through µIllegals' v intelligence operatives who were secretly deployed to the West and covertly operated there, masquerading as citizens of Western countries under assumed names and cover stories. One of its top operatives, Alexander Kouzminov, has decided to break his silence and reveal in depth for the first time the department's tasks, plans and tactics. More disturbingly, he explores what others in the West and the developing world are and could be capable of. In this remarkable book we learn the secrets of the USSR's elite intelligence operatives v secrets which could prove vital in maintaining international security in today's uncertain political climate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This modest and readable memoir comes from a former officer of Department 12 of the Soviet KGB's foreign intelligence branch. Department 12 had two duties: conducting biological warfare and spying on everybody else's biowar efforts. Joining the KGB after army service and college in the early '80s, the author became a specialist in running spies, particularly the famous "illegals" who might spend most of their working lives abroad. The efforts of the illegals gave the KGB a steady flow of information on foreign biological research, weapons procurement, immunology and other related subjects (the Human Genome Project was a major target). Department 12's work became particularly demanding after DNA research led to genetic tailoring of biowar agents, then became impossible after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After 9/11, Kouzminov and his wife left Russia with the hope of participating in international cooperation against biological warfare. The author does a good job of portraying the labyrinthine bureaucracy and paranoid secrecy of the espionage world, and he is informative about tradecraft. One wishes he could have told more about people like his wife and the avuncular KGB grouch General Drozdov (who played a large role in the Afghanistan invasion), but the book still offers a useful addition to the literature of late Cold War espionage.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; First edition (February 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853676462
• ISBN-13: 978-1853676468
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,260,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needed Remider that Espionage Continues, August 14, 2007

By 

Richard M. Kuntz (Evanston IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

An excellent study of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian foreign intelligence operations against Western biological warfare activities (which the author believes were substantial). This book is to be distinguished from that of another defector, Ken Alibeck, who wrote of the extensive Soviet biological warfare establishment of which he was a part. The book is notable for its description of the extent to which the espionage operations continue under the Russian successor agencies to the KGB

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reality, Truth and Hope, April 19, 2005

By 

Anthony Morrits - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I have read this book in one sitting and found it to be significant. For the first time I have learnt about super-secret Department 12 of Russian and Soviet Intelligence, the tasks of which were biological espionage, preperations and realization of biological acts of terror, in the case of war or military conflict.

Information in this book is quite explosive, even though "Biological Espionage" is clearly not written as a scientific manual or a report for special services. Anyone can understand the main ideas of this book. The voice and emotions of the author are felt quite strongly throughout the whole book. Dr Kouzminov went through a personal transformation from (as he called himself) a "poacher" for Soviets to a person who has made a very important input for the good of world-peace. Clearly the main purpose for the author was to raise the awareness of biological espionage and acts of biological terror on a world-scale. Kouzminov writes about his thoughts for the measures and mechanisms on how we can control epxeriments with bio-hazard materials.

Of course, like any new controversial work, this book would have its' followers, those who want unity between man-kind in order to stop all wars; as well as enemy critics, who would rush to label Kouzminov as a suspicious and non-credible author and a "bad scientist". An example of the latter is the review of R. Zelinskas, (who was a determined searcher for bio-weapons in Iraq). He falsifies the facts of the book and illegally libels Kouzminov. In "Biological Espionage" Kouzminov hopes, believes and suggests, but the reviewer knows everything for sure, (in fact, Puschino is about 300 km away from Zagorsk in an opposite, further part of Moscow region; and a large body of respected scientists around the world currently insist on the possibility of the creation of a genetic weapon - the possibilities of today's biology are so vast, that anything should be taken into account).

The author of "Biological Espionage" calls for us to stop thinking as if we are still immersed in Cold War, as traditional thoughts usually presume that West is always "the good guys" and the East is the "suspicious and agrresive bad guys".

I'm not sure that Zelinskas, after the failure to find weapons in Iraq, has done anything to prevent the invasion and the massive blood-shed of innocent lives. On the contrary, books like "Biological Espionage" call for humanitarian unity - to fight for the peace of the current world and of the future generations.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opening the Veil on Bio-Warfare, March 16, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Biological attacks have long been in the back of people's minds. Then just after 9/11, anthrax was sent to several offices around the United States. (The author is suspicious that this was a small attack, possibly conducted by a foreign intelligence agency, to measure the reaction of the US Government to the application of biological or toxin weapons.)

In this book Alexander Kouzminev, a scientist at the Soviet Union's biological research unit of the KGB tells the story of what the Soviets have been doing in the areas of biological weapons. In this story, he not only talks about the work of their lab, but provides valuable insight into how such weapons work, how they can be distributed, and how frighteningly effective they can be.

This is the first work I've seen that begins to life the veil of secrecy surrounding biological warfare. It's an important book.