Customer Reviews

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

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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

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.

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.

The book by Alexander Kouzminov, "Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services," certainly left me with mixed, disturbed feelings. On the positive side, it is interesting in what it tells about a previously unknown aspect of Soviet/Russian espionage - how it was concentrated on collecting information on biological developments in both civilian and military applied microbiology throughout the democratic nations. Kouzminov's claims that the Soviet secret service had spies in both the UK and US biological warfare (BW) programs, if true, has frightening implications because it indicates yet more counterintelligence failures by these countries and, of course, information vital to our security would have been compromised.
But on the negative side, little actual information is provided about the accomplishments of these Soviet/Russian intelligence activities. The spies in the West are not named and the information that was collected about the UK and US BW programs is not specified. I read again and again about "significant" information being collected by Soviet agents, but little if any clue is provided as to what this information was and why it was significant. And the author is needlessly secretive about some facts; for example, he mentions that there were two BW facilities near Pushchino, but does not name them. Of course, it is well known in the West that a Biopreparat facility in Obolensk and Ministry of Defense institute in Zagorsk (now Sergiyev Posad) fit the bill because they are near Pushchino, so why the hesitancy about naming them?
I was also troubled by scientific/technical inaccuracies. For a supposed biomedical expert, he should know that the bacterial pathogen Bacillus anthracis is not a virus and that the bacterial disease tularemia is not caused by a virus. Even a first year student in microbiology knows this. There are other, equally obvious technical mistakes.
The book's final chapter is almost a joke, was it not that for the possibility that misguided or ill-willed persons might disseminate Kouzminov's absurd claims as facts. The KGB had plenty of experience doing so in the early 1980s when as part of a disinformation campaign they publicized claims made by an East German scientist that HIV was created in Fort Detrick. If Kouzminov is to be believed, almost every unusual disease outbreaks in the 1990s and early 2000s was caused by a deliberate release of a BW agent or an accidental release from a BW facility. Even in Africa and India, where it is hard to imagine why anyone would use biological weapons or that biological weapons laboratories exist and are operating. His claim that the strain of Hantavirus that caused a Hantavirus disease outbreak in Four Corners in 1994 probably was engineered to attack specifically Navajo Indians of "middle height" is ludicrous. It is as if he neglects a huge body of scientific literature demonstrating clearly that persons throughout North America of all races, ages, and sizes have been the unfortunate victims of Hantavirus disease since 1994.
In the final analysis, I had the feeling that Kouzminov might have made a deal with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) along these lines; "I get to publish a book about a potentially interesting subject, but you get to edit it so it contains no really important or interesting information. This way the exploits of the KGB and, by extension the FSB, are glorified at no cost in terms of loss of security. Further, if some of its information is misused to denigrate the U.S. or other Western democracies, so much the better." Or it could be the start of another disinformation campaign, but one that this time is carried out by the FSB. Anyway, in the final analysis, the book is a huge disappointment.

Raymond A. Zilinskas

Alexander Kouzminov's Biological Espionage: Special Operations Of The Soviet And Russian Foreign Intelligence Services In The West provides an eye-opening coverage not just of modern biological threats as depicted in the news, but of the history of Department 12 special operations, the elite core of the KGB charged with encouraging biological espionage and terrorism. This is no rumor title: one of the KGB's top operatives writes this expose, breaking silence for the first time to outline plans, tactics, and what others in the West and developing world are capable of achieving.

This book offered first hand information about biological warfare, especially the efforts made in this direction by the former USSR. The author, himself a specialist in microbiology, made an useful attempt to reveil the secrets of his work in particular. The author covered the activity of the Departament 12 (biological espionage) from Directorate S which deals with Illegals.
In the first chapters the book described the origins of the biological activities/warfare and the steps taken in his country for creating/stealing the germs/viruses. The latter is covered in the chapter named VOLNA, the secret transportation by air of the spies work (samples of biological materials).
One of the most interesting chapters treated the life/activity of KGB agents in target countries. Their stories are useful, as their achievements.
The conclusion as shown in the chapter 8 has a very interesting question about international biological security. Here were also presented some scary incidents in different locations, having the hallmarks of some created biological agents.
Finally, there are some useful appendices with structures, organizations etc.
Overall, despite it treated a niche subject, it is really a very useful book for the fans of intel operations.