Military intelligence: how to get into one of the most elite airborne units

To begin with, it is worth remembering that all intelligence officers do not like to be called spies. And then - nothing is impossible. And even a diploma in a specialty unrelated to intelligence is not an obstacle on the path to your dream.

"University profile of great importance does not have, the main thing is a basic level of culture and education, as well as learning ability, including foreign languages,” said AiF head of the press bureau of the Service foreign intelligence Russia (SVR) Sergey Ivanov. Only a Russian citizen, usually aged 22-30, can become a staff member of the SVR. A person must meet the medical and professional-psychological requirements of military service. Anyone who thinks that a “man on the street” cannot get into intelligence is mistaken. There is detailed information on the SVR website step-by-step instruction What should such candidates do?

First of all, you need to fill out two forms by hand (available on the website). Attach to them color photo, photocopies of a passport, diploma or transcript from a record book, if studying at the university is still ongoing. The entire package of documents is sent by registered mail at the address: C Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, PO Box 510, Main Post Office, Moscow, 101000. Or you can personally deliver it to the SVR press bureau at: Moscow, st. Ostozhenka, 51, building 1. “Materials sent by e-mail, fax, etc. will not be considered,” Ivanov explained. “Personal data transmitted via open electronic communication channels may become known to third parties, including foreign intelligence services.” Those whose documents are of interest to the SVR will receive a response from the personnel service within 30 days from the date of their receipt. Candidates will be invited for an interview.

The questionnaire contains both fairly predictable questions (whether we judge or not, whether there are close relatives who are foreigners, etc.), as well as unexpected ones. For example, for intelligence it is important whether among the relatives of a potential candidate there were people who died as a result of an accident, suicide, or under unclear circumstances. And if a person suddenly used drugs and other psychoactive substances, it is necessary to describe what sensations he experienced.

What checks must be passed?

“They come to get a job in intelligence different people. There are also some very strange personalities. Then a subject will come who “can read minds.” If I could, I would immediately understand from my thoughts that I need to run away from here,” jokes Sergei Ivanov. - A woman came who assured that she could teleport. She was immediately asked to demonstrate this “necessary” ability for a scout. She hasn't appeared since then. “Invisible people” and “people who can walk through walls” often try to get a job.

But more often you come across those who pursue selfish goals. These are identified immediately. Even if the candidate has successfully passed the first stage of selection, he will have to communicate with psychologists and undergo a polygraph test, where he is asked “uncomfortable” and tricky questions. Careerists are “declassified” quickly and they try not to hire them, because they cannot be trusted 100%: in pursuit of the next star on uniform, such people can make a fatal mistake.

There are also absolute contraindications to the service. For example, insufficient resistance to psychological pressure. This also includes poor memory, slow reactions, and even poor erudition. Not every profession requires such a broad outlook and flexibility of mind, but a scout has no right to be uninteresting to those people who interest him. So we don’t have slow-witted intelligence officers. A triple filter is provided to filter out such candidates. First, you need to get a higher education. Secondly, you need to pass a special intelligence test. And thirdly, to be tested in practice: specific situations are simulated that make it possible to identify how a person behaves in extreme situation, if confused or very scared. Also, no matter how pretentious it may sound, without patriotism you shouldn’t even get involved in intelligence. “When we talk about the feeling of patriotism, then, believe me, this is not some high words, but an urgent need,” explains Sergei Ivanov. “A person must believe in the rightness of his cause, because he goes through difficulties, hardships, and sometimes risks his life for the sole purpose of serving the Fatherland.”

What salary?

No matter how talented and beautiful a newly minted intelligence officer is, he cannot do without training. They can direct you to courses taught by active intelligence officers and service veterans. Or perhaps they will be individually assigned to a curator who will teach you everything. You won’t be accepted into the Foreign Intelligence Academy from school. “Not everyone we accepted goes on to study at the academy. But everyone who enters the academy is already our employee,” explains the SVR. Moreover, they study here not for 5 years, as in a regular university, but for as long as “recommended by the Center.” They teach a lot of different and interesting things - international law, foreign languages, history of diplomatic relations, political science, regional studies and so on. But first of all - special disciplines in the profession: the theory and practice of intelligence work.

After training, young employees come to service units, where they delve into the situation for some time, and with specific tasks they are sent to the most important place of intelligence work - abroad. If you have a family, then you can go together.

The salary is decent. Exact numbers the press bureau does not name them, because they depend on where you are in this moment you work - here in Russia, in the central office of the service, or on a business trip abroad. And on a business trip, there are differences between countries: it all depends on the complexity of the current situation and the tasks being performed. But they advised to focus on military salaries, since all intelligence officers are officers and have combined arms ranks. They are entitled to all the benefits provided to military personnel - a good social package with free medical care, sanatoriums and a military mortgage.

IN Soviet time the KGB carried out selection directly among students of higher educational institutions, they mainly paid attention to students from departments foreign languages. Now the situation has changed. In order to join the ranks of the FSB or military intelligence, the candidate will have to try hard. In most cases, he must independently decide the question: how to get into intelligence and show initiative?

How to get into intelligence by conscription

First you need to get into the elite military units: Airborne Forces or Marine Corps. If you serve in them upon conscription, then under a contract you can get into intelligence. There is also another way to transfer from one part to another during the service. So that during the assignment you are sent to one of elite units, you must have excellent health and psychological compatibility.

Get in touch with officers who are recruiting for different types of troops. Know how to present yourself in the right light and be prepared for the fact that they can test your psychological and physical qualities on the spot.

To fulfill your dream, service in tank and motorized rifle units is also suitable.

You need to act according to the algorithm:

1. Do well on all tests, especially those related to your psychological balance. Obtain a medical report with groups A-1 or A-2.
2. Pass security clearance.
3. Declare your desire to the credentials committee.
4. In the first months of service, try to positively distinguish yourself in order to be able to transfer to the chosen type of troops.
5. Write a report on command to transfer to intelligence. Additionally, verbally formulate your desire to the unit commander.

Positive characteristics from the place where you took the young fighter course can help you get into intelligence. Typically, selection for this unit takes place on a competitive basis. If you are resilient enough, smart enough and don’t get lost in difficult situations, then the path to elite troops will be open to you.

The advantage remains for those applicants who have:

• category for skydiving;
• engaged in shooting;
• had success in strength martial arts.

Please note that it may be closed to intelligence if you or your immediate relatives have, even if expunged, a criminal record.

Contract service

After you've passed conscript service, you can stay on contract in the same part. Such offers are made to most soldiers who distinguished themselves during conscription service. Another way is to contact the selected part. There they will tell you what papers you need to collect and the time for the profile testing.

If you want to serve under a contract, you must submit applications in several parts at once. Perhaps there will be a shortage in one of them, and you will end up in the desired troops. In the future, you can transfer to another unit or, after successful service under a contract in one place, conclude a contract in a more geographically convenient or prestigious one.

Features of the selection of candidates for the foreign intelligence service

To serve in foreign intelligence, you must have a higher education. It is important to have an excellent understanding of one of the following areas:

• political-economic;
• military-industrial;
• scientific and technological.

IN Lately facilities mass media they started releasing everything more messages on the activities of Russian intelligence units. Therefore, many teenagers see the dream of intelligence as a professional career.

Instructions

Intelligence system Russian Federation includes a complex of services, bodies and divisions of various departments of the executive branch of government that collect and use useful and significant information about current state and developing potential foreign countries peace in all areas of activity.

The deepest interest is shown in the military-industrial complex, political-economic trends and scientific and technological development. Therefore, in order to choose your path, more specifically determine your own inclinations for a particular type of activity in order to understand your chosen field at an impeccable level. Deeply study a couple of foreign languages ​​in order to speak them at least at a conversational level. Please note that the most popular at the moment are English, Chinese and Arabic.

The human endurance of a candidate for intelligence officer significantly prevails over physical strength, so engage in those sports that are aimed primarily at developing the inner spirit. Give your preference to Japanese martial arts, where in the learning process, along with dexterity and skill, half of the training is devoted to mental self-improvement.

The course of a young fighter is to acquire and develop abilities, abilities and skills that help the future employee feel normal in any environment, even extreme ones, while taking balanced decisions right decisions for the implementation of assigned operational and service tasks. As an applicant for such a responsible position, be prepared to undergo a challenging course that includes increased physical, intellectual and psychological stress every day for an extended period of time.

A person can serve in intelligence if he realizes that for a long period of time he will mostly be in openly hostile conditions, under which the likelihood of outside help practically disappears. Therefore, get used to thinking for yourself, thoroughly weigh each step, calculating the likely consequences.

For combat support troops the most important type is military intelligence. It carries out the tasks of obtaining and studying information about the enemy, the terrain and the area of ​​upcoming combat operations, which are necessary for units and subunits to complete their assigned tasks. Service in the ranks of intelligence agencies is always perceived with respect among the population.

Instructions

Know that desire alone is not enough to serve in military intelligence. Reconnaissance units and units are the elite of the ground forces. The selection of personnel for their ranks is carried out very strictly and amounts to big competition among young people. Having a dream to get into reconnaissance, prepare for this test seriously and in advance.

Start with the most important thing - by passing a medical commission to determine your suitability for military service. At the military commissariat at your place of residence, check the medical selection criteria for conscripts in this type armed forces. Go through the commission and receive a conclusion in form A-1 or A-2.

After passing the medical examination, write an application addressed to the military commissar with a request to send you to serve in ground troops. In it, explain your desire to serve in military intelligence. In your report, indicate your reasons and sports categories, profession. Skydiving, driver's license and a shooting rank will increase your chances of getting into the elite troops. Strength martial arts classes are encouraged. This statement will be added to your personal file and it will be your calling card.

Remember that the service is military intelligence directly related to the secrecy regime. This means working on various types of equipment, using secret documentation and maps. Pass security clearance.

At the credentials commission, where you will be present in person, once again declare your desire to serve in military intelligence.

Arrive on time at the assembly point of the military commissariat according to the received summons. When selecting teams to go to your duty station, show persistence and ingenuity. First of all, this concerns geographical location parts. Get in touch with the officers who arrived to collect the conscripts. Tell them the essence of your request and list your advantages. Be prepared for the fact that they can check a number of qualities on the spot. It is important to convince of the sincerity of your intentions. To fulfill your dream, try to get into motorized rifle or tank troops.

When selecting for a specific unit, show maximum diligence and effort to pass the tests. The main emphasis will be on physical endurance and psychological compatibility.

Do not despair if you are not immediately assigned to the ranks of a reconnaissance company. Please know that recruitment to these units is always competitive. There is always a chance to distinguish yourself and get into scouts. Write a report to the command, where you express your desire to serve in intelligence. Make an oral request to the head of intelligence of the military unit. At positive characteristics road to the military reconnaissance will be open to you. But do not forget that the work of a scout is not easy and it is necessary to prepare for it in advance.

Helpful advice

An important factor when selecting for military intelligence, in addition to physical training, is psychological stability and compatibility.

How to get into the GRU special forces? This question does not allow many boys to sleep peacefully, who dream of becoming on par with men in military uniform. The guys are interested in what they should prepare themselves for, what qualities they need to develop in order to join intelligence services.

Would you like to know how to get into service in the GRU? Then read this article to the end. But let’s say right away that you shouldn’t look for easy ways and hope for concessions. Serving in intelligence is a very serious matter. The main enemy on the path to your dream will be banal laziness, and your ally will be hard work.

Story

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) dates back to 1918. In the interests Armed Forces The Russian GRU is engaged in all types of intelligence - electronic, space and human intelligence. The budget and headcount of the organization are classified.

GRU special forces (read below for how to get there) were created in 1950. The department was assigned several main tasks: conducting reconnaissance behind enemy lines, destroying terrorists, sabotage activities and counterintelligence. GRU special forces units had a huge influence on the course of the Afghan and Chechen wars. Currently, the GRU is the most closed and probably the most combat-ready unit of the Russian army.

How to get into the GRU?

The most important thing to do is serve in the army. Otherwise, the path to special forces is closed. And if you want to get into the GRU, you will have to achieve certain successes in the service. Sometimes upon admission to this unit they require maroon beret. Familiarize yourself with the basic requirements for a candidate to serve in the GRU.

Primary requirements

1. Warrant officers or officers are recruited into special forces. The former must have at least a secondary education, and the latter must have a higher education.
2. Preference is given to candidates who are (or have been) trained at the special forces department.
3. The height of the applicant must be at least 175 centimeters. However, the lack of this parameter can be compensated by some professional qualities.
4. The candidate's age is no more than 28 years. Separate consideration is given to soldiers wishing to transfer from other units.
5. A recommendation from a paratrooper who served in the GRU would be a huge plus.

Five main qualities of a special forces soldier. Caution

Intelligence has the right to select soldiers from any army unit. The very first question candidates are asked is: “Why are you joining special forces?” Applicants who do not know how to get into the GRU most often answer: “To become a Hero of Russia!” These don't qualify. Of course, they will become heroes, but posthumously. At the same time, they will take the lives of their colleagues. Recklessness is certainly needed, but only if the enemy has you pinned against the wall. Then you can take the machine gun and shout “Hurray!” run towards the enemy. Victory, from the point of view of the GRU special forces, is if you followed the order and returned alive.

When a soldier joins the special forces, from the first days they put into his head the attitude: “You are the coolest!” This important feature psychological preparation. And you have to believe it! If you can’t believe it, you can forget about what GRU special forces are, how to get to serve in this department, etc. You will simply be transferred to regular infantry.

The paratrooper runs and shoots around the clock. At the same time, he is periodically beaten on the sly. But this should not be confused with hazing. Commanders deliberately turn the barracks into enemy territory. They can come up and slap you, put a noose around your neck, or mine the bed. All this is done with one goal: to force the special forces to be in a state of constant combat readiness. After six months of service, the soldier “grows” eyes on the back of his head, and he sleeps so lightly that he wakes up from one glance in his direction.

Endurance

Advice on how to get into the GRU special forces, successfully pass the selection and interview, etc., will be useless if the fighter is not distinguished by endurance. After all, a paratrooper’s legs help him survive. Why? Because if a reconnaissance group is spotted, it will be caught up and destroyed in about 6 hours. When a special forces soldier is exhausted and can no longer run, he remains in place to cover his comrades.

Endurance will also be needed during the learning process. After all, in the first month the fighter is allowed to sleep only 4 hours a day. The remaining 20 he works hard. Rise at 6 am, then water procedures, stretching and jogging with a backpack on your back. During the run, the commander can give additional tasks: shooting, going to a goose step, crawling, etc. After the run - hand-to-hand combat, physical training and combat tactics classes. And so every day.

In the GRU special forces, a soldier’s mental stability and endurance are tested “at the races.” It looks like this. A group of soldiers are sent into the forest for a week without provisions. The commanders periodically chase this group around, not letting anyone sleep. This continues until vomiting, loss of consciousness and other unpleasant things. All those who did not pass the test are sent to the combat troops. A lot of people are dropping out. Races are held every 6 months and are a kind of test for lice.

Determination

Trains very well during hand-to-hand combat. They put protection on the soldier and put a stronger opponent against him. This is how the determination to go to the end is formed and the fighting character is strengthened. Moreover, this is not a banal beating. The paratrooper is given the opportunity to defend himself. Anyone who does not do this and surrenders is sent to serve in other troops.

Determination is also trained through a series of “audacity exercises.” For example, they run into the washbasin big rat and together with her they close the naked soldier. The fighter must strangle her. Experienced commandos know: when a rat has nowhere to go, it attacks, and this is real “tough.” As a result, if a paratrooper can kill a rat with bare hands, then no person will be afraid of him.

Aggression

Aggression is one of the main qualities of a special forces soldier. The soldier must fear the sergeant (who, by the way, knows exactly how to get into the GRU) much more than the enemy, and run towards the enemy with a clear desire to completely destroy him. Hand-to-hand training fights are not complete without blood. Sergeants deliberately injure soldiers. This is done so that they get used to the sight of blood and get angry. The commander's swearing is added as a soundtrack. Under conditions of such severe pressure, a fighter’s feelings are heightened to such an extent that all the knowledge he acquired during the training period will remain with him until the end of his life.

Cleanliness

People who know how to get into GRU intelligence will confirm that special forces are paranoid about personal hygiene. Since fighters are very often away from their deployment point, they must be able to keep themselves clean under any conditions. Each special forces soldier arriving at the location must immediately change clothes and wash his uniform.

Training principles

Most of the time, the paratrooper is far from his permanent deployment sites. Therefore, his physical training consists of learning to skillfully use any available means during training. The most important thing is to maintain strength qualities and develop endurance. The latter will be very useful when hiking in the mountains or cycling.

Trainings are conducted on a daily basis. And not for the standard six or eight weeks. You need to work for at least a year. There is no special diet. You just need to eat as much as possible.

Four pillars of fighter training. Crawls and jogging

Every day you need to run 10 kilometers. Sometimes on Sundays they organize " sports festival"-run 40 kilometers. A fighter must run ten kilometers in less than 60 minutes. At the same time, he is fully equipped (additional 50 kilograms!). Running alternates with crawling. Such exercises work well on ligaments and small muscle groups. There are three types of crawling: on your back, on your bellies, and moving through a minefield (the fighter crawls and feels the unevenness; if something causes suspicion, he moves to the side).

Circuit training

It has long been proven that circular training of GRU special forces increases the strength of a soldier to the maximum level. This principle was taken from the Soviet school of sambo and boxing. Circuit training helps develop explosive strength and endurance. It also “dries out” and fosters anger (hatred) towards the authorities. The number of repetitions of any exercise will depend on the mood of the sergeant.

Overall standard circuit training GRU special forces lasts 40 minutes. The aforementioned 10-kilometer run is followed by a five-minute rest and then 5-6 rounds of exercise. Moreover, they must be performed one after another without interruption. And only after completing a full circle can you rest for 5 minutes.

The circle itself looks like this:

• Jump – jumping out of a sitting position with a clap (10 times).
• Push-ups on fingers (20 times).
• Jump (10 times).
• Fist push-ups (30 times).
• Jump (10 times).
• Push-ups on fingers (5 times).

After completing the circle, the abs are pumped to failure, and only then a break is taken. If desired, the training includes throwing stones.

Constant load

Candidates who know how to get into the GRU special forces understand the importance of the daily workload in the army. That is, each fighter must perform a certain number (constantly increasing) of sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, etc. If you can’t do this in one workout, then you need to gain the required amount in a day. This is the constant combat readiness. In addition, exercises with a belt (isometrics) according to the A. Zass system are performed throughout the day.

Hand to hand combat

• Hands. Side and straight punches are the same as in boxing. But the latter are very difficult to train. Only special forces with extensive training experience have a strong direct blow. Since sometimes a fighter’s training is at an accelerated pace, then there are no restrictions in striking technology. You can hit from any angle and position. Moreover, it is advisable to strike the enemy in the throat with the first blow. In close combat you need to fight with your elbows. Knockout punching power is trained with the help of exercises with a sledgehammer (a fighter strikes a buried or lying tire with an iron sledgehammer in three directions: right, left and above).
• Legs. There is no special technology. It all comes down to a hard blow to the groin. Don't forget - this is not a sports ground.
• Head. We turn on the head in close combat. With the frontal part we hit exclusively on the nose. If the enemy grabs you from behind, then hit him in the nose with the back of his head.
• Stall. This is exactly why fighters train strength and grip. After the enemy is knocked to the ground due to the strength of your hands, you must finish him off with a blow to the back of the head or step on the throat.

Conclusion

Now you know how to get into the GRU. From what you read above, it becomes clear that this is difficult not only from a moral, but also from a physical point of view. You must have excellent health and excellent physical fitness. In addition, you must have a stable psyche. The main thing is to decide on the main life goal. If this is service in special forces, then take actions to achieve it.

Don't forget the importance of sports. They should be studied since school. It is better to receive higher education in specialized institutions, where there is a special forces department. This will significantly increase your chances of selection.

We hope that the article was useful, and you will no longer wonder: “How do you even get into special forces?” GRU special forces belong to the category of elite troops, and to get there, you will have to make a lot of effort. So take action. All in your hands!

So the almost two-meter “baby” son told his father with a grin. And then, quite seriously, the Moscow State University graduate asked: “Who is hired for intelligence?” The AN columnist sought the answer to this question together with staff members of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

The modern Russian intelligence officer bears little resemblance to the hero of spy action films. He doesn't bed stacks of Hollywood beauties like James Bond does. Chases and pistol shooting for a real intelligence officer are so a rare event, which is comparable to failure. And although the profession is not devoid of romance, this field is not for those who seek fame or big money. And yet thousands of boys and girls dream about her.

Alas, we have to disappoint our very young readers who dream of the laurels of Stirlitz and Sorge. There is a strict age limit in intelligence. Only the FSB Academy, where they train mainly counterintelligence officers, can enroll immediately after school. And the Foreign Intelligence Academy takes people from higher education. The admission rules are dry but clearly stated: “A candidate for military service In the SVR of Russia, a citizen of the Russian Federation aged 22 to 30 years can become operational personnel positions.”

Dispute about selection

It is not easy to get into service in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. To do this, you need to go through a long and complex professional selection process. As the former director of the SVR, Army General Sergei Lebedev, told an AN observer, future intelligence officers are looked for after the first year of university. Then they carefully study for three or four years potential candidates. Those who are prone to excessive adventurism or were members of radical youth organizations or religious sects are immediately eliminated. They look at the student's record book very carefully. For some reason, it is believed that there is no place for C students in Russian intelligence. I think this is a controversial opinion.

For example, legend Soviet intelligence William Fisher, aka Rudolf Abel, was not an excellent student at school, and after graduation he did not receive a red diploma. But he was a talented intellectual. He and his colleagues obtained information about the secrets of the American nuclear bomb. It was about him that the head of the American intelligence services, A. Dulles, said that he would like to have three or four such intelligence officers in Moscow. People who knew him recall that Fischer was brilliantly educated and incredibly talented. He drew at a professional level, played various musical instruments beautifully, had patents for inventions in the USA, and solved the most complex problems. math problems and was well versed in nuclear physics.

Except high intelligence a scout must have good health. In the SVR, selection for medicine is almost like astronaut selection. The military medical commission is literally vicious, cutting for the slightest chronic sore. And although the doctors themselves say that now there is absolutely no healthy people, but there are only insufficiently examined patients, the health requirements for intelligence officers are increased. After all, they can be sent on business trips to any region of the world. Therefore, everyone entering the intelligence service must be prepared to work in an unusual, sometimes difficult climate, in countries with a turbulent situation, or even in crisis situations.

Thanks to strict selection and probably the best in the country medical care Scouts, as a rule, live and work for a very long time. Thus, the oldest Russian intelligence officer Boris Gudz, about whom our newspaper has already written, died at the age of 105. Or the legendary pair of intelligence officers - Mikhail and Elizaveta Mukasey...

On the eve of the war, the Soviet vice-consul in the USA Mikhail Mukasey had to communicate with many great contemporaries - Theodore Dreiser, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin... Cavalier of many state awards Mikhail Isaakovich Mukasey lived for 102 years. Elizaveta Ivanovna was five years younger than him and did not live to reach her 100th birthday.

Special secrecy surrounds professional and psychological selection. His candidates for intelligence officers are required to pass. Here the level of intellectual development is assessed, psychological readiness, quick thinking, communication skills, neuropsychic stability and other professionally important qualities for work. They say that not only a lie detector is used, but also dozens of other instruments and scientific techniques.

In relation to the candidate, with his consent, verification measures are carried out related to access to information constituting state and other secrets protected by law. And here they “examine” all close relatives up to the seventh generation. But as the example of the traitor Poteev shows, a “clean” questionnaire does not guarantee correct selection. Alas, and the Hero's son Soviet Union may become a traitor.

Unfortunately, for some reason Colonel A. Poteev was not subject to the following requirements of the law: a person who has close relatives living abroad and has been observed using narcotic or other psychoactive substances cannot be an SVR employee.

Instead of money, execution on Fridays

Evil tongues say that many billionaires in Russia come from intelligence services. As an example, they point to the banker Alexander Lebedev and the new Tula governor Vladimir Gruzdev. But this is the exception rather than the rule. After all, they were included in the Forbes magazine list after their dismissal from the Foreign Intelligence Service.

As I told you former director SVR Army General Sergei Lebedev: “In 2000, we experienced certain difficulties with financial support, young employees especially suffered. But now, in my opinion, we get enough for a scout to be able to support his family at the proper level, dress and eat normally. But if a candidate comes to us and immediately starts talking about money, then we tell him that he has come to the wrong address.”

Indeed, you can’t buy a six hundredth Mercedes or large apartment in the center of Moscow. Although there used to be a rule: intelligence officers are not sent on business trips abroad if they do not have their own apartment in their homeland. Because for a person working abroad, it is very important to feel that he has his own corner, somewhere to return. This is a significant psychological factor. Now they are relying more on a military mortgage. But it is still far from perfect.

They say that scouts do not live on one salary. While they work abroad, their salary in rubles is deposited in their accounts in Russian banks. But those who work under the “roof” of any department in Russia receive not two, but only one salary. Either in the Yasenevsky forest, or in a civilian institution. It happens that in two places at once, but the “law of communicating vessels” applies here: if the “roof” pays more, then the accountant in the “office” will reduce the intelligence officer’s salary by the same amount. In short, financiers won’t let you show off.

Among the motives for a career as an intelligence officer, money, even now, in our market times, is far from being in the first place among SVR employees. The fate of the Hero of Russia, the famous illegal intelligence officer Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov, is very bright that confirmation.

This illegal intelligence officer in the 80s, according to legend, a German businessman, traveled half the world, went to South Africa to study its secret connections with the West and find out whether there was a program to create nuclear weapons there.

As a result of his betrayal, Kozlov went to prison. He spent six months on death row. The interrogations went on day and night, but the intelligence officer firmly adhered to the legend developed at the Center: I am a German businessman. And only when he was presented with irrefutable evidence of who he really was, Alexey Mikhailovich said: yes, I Soviet intelligence officer. Dot. He didn’t say anything about his work, didn’t give anyone away.

They offered him huge amounts of money for betrayal. But, seeing that this was useless, they switched from bribery to intimidation. On Fridays he was taken to execution, showing a man executed on the gallows. At the same time, they laughed: you are white, you have the privilege of receiving a chicken before you die, but you will hang out just like the blacks.

The KGB leadership did everything to rescue our intelligence officer from captivity. For the first time, a complex multi-way exchange was accomplished. And now Kozlov is in his homeland, receiving a quiet cabinet position. But the scout yearns for real work full of risk. One day, unable to bear it, he risked turning to the head of illegal intelligence with a request to send him back “to the field,” beyond the cordon.

After much doubt and hesitation, he is sent abroad to work illegally. They say that the calculation was that no one would suspect a man who miraculously escaped death of wanting to go all-in again. As a result, Alexey Mikhailovich successfully completed the most difficult task and was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Turnout at Ostozhenka failed

How to be like Alexey Kozlov? To become a scout, you need to contact HR department SVR of Russia. It is best to appear yourself at the address: Moscow, st. Ostozhenka, 51/10. Please bring the completed forms with you, color photograph size 4x6, photocopy of passport (pages with photo and registration), photocopies of diploma received vocational education and applications to it. These documents can also be sent by registered mail to the address: 101000, Moscow, Main Post Office, PO Box 958, Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.

Appeals from citizens related to employment in the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, sent via electronic communication channels (fax, Email etc.) are not considered.

Along Putin's path

“I remember that somewhere at the beginning of the ninth grade I went to the reception room of the KGB department. Some uncle came out to me. Oddly enough, he listened to me. “I want,” I say, “to work for you.” - “It’s gratifying, but there are a few points.” - “Which ones?” “First of all,” he says, “we don’t take initiative people. Secondly, you can only get to us after graduating from the army or some civilian university.” Naturally, I asked: “After what university?” He says: “After anyone!” He apparently already wanted to get rid of me. And I say: “Which one is preferable?” - “Legal!” “I understand,” Vladimir Putin described his attempt to get a job in intelligence in the book “From the First Person. Conversations with Vladimir Putin."