Since the British Ministry of Defense recently revealed that the dreaded Soviet counterintelligence operation known as SMERSH (loosely translated: "death to spies") has been "reestablished," Kremlinologists have been wondering just what President Vladimir Putin is up to by bringing back an agency that operated under fellow strongman Josef Stalin from 1941-46.
Although it was closed after World War II, SMERSH became known worldwide in the 1960s through Ian Fleming's novel "From Russia With Love" and the subsequent movie featuring Sean Connery as super agent James Bond.
Bond fans are familiar with arch-villainess Rosa Klebb (played in the film by Lotte Lenya), famed for the poisoned daggers in her shoes, and assassin Red Grant (played by Robert Shaw), both of whom are SMERSH operatives bent on killing Agent 007.
In its wartime heyday, SMERSH quashed dissent in territory occupied by the Russian army as well as dissenters within Russia who were branded traitors — rightly or wrongly.
As to why an organization known for its savagery is coming back, Russian dissident Ilya Ponomarev told Newsmax: "I believe the internal threat is now too high and well-recognized by the Kremlin. They understand that both Ukrainian saboteurs and Russian resistance groups are literally everywhere. Especially after the recent attack on the BAM [Baikal-Amur Mainline] railroad tunnel, which disrupted trade with China and weapons deliveries from North Korea."
Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian Duma (Parliament) and now a leader of the "shadow Parliament" of Russian expatriates in Ukraine, emphasized, "Desperate times [require] desperate measures. And the SMERSH name is to stress that they will act seriously, to scare out the inflow of new resistance fighters. Their numbers are approaching 10,000 already, to our knowledge."
David Satter, former Financial Times correspondent in Moscow and author of several critically acclaimed books on Russia, told Newsmax the revival of SMERSH is part of the attempt to cast the Ukraine war in the image of World War II and, at the same time, intimidate the population.
SMERSH is definitely associated in the popular mind with the Stalin period and the savage punishments that were handed out to those suspected of disloyalty. As the war drags on and discontent mounts, this is a not very subtle warning that dissent will not be tolerated.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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