Scout illegal goats. Life in special conditions

Faces of Intelligence

Alexey Kozlov

Fate brought Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov with intelligence in 1959. Once he was invited to the Lubyanka - then st. Dzerzhinsky, house 2. They asked: where would you like to work? Only at operational work - so that there is less writing. They offered to become an illegal intelligence officer. After some deliberation, Alexei Mikhailovich gave his consent.

After graduating from high school, Alexei Mikhailovich went to study at the Moscow state institute International Relations (MGIMO). In 1958, he had an internship in Denmark, in the consular department of the USSR Embassy. After graduating from the institute, he was offered to go to work in the state security agencies. Offered to many, but not all agreed. “For example,” recalls A. Kozlov, “Yuliy Kvitsinsky, the future First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, well-known future ambassadors, studied with me in the group. But I remember when, in 1984, for the first time after many years of working abroad, I got to Yasenevo (the headquarters of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation), I hugged and greeted almost everyone I met, because I knew them from my studies at MGIMO in Moscow for several years.

So, Alexei Kozlov, who was born back in 1934, after appropriate special training in a complex individual program, was ready to work as an illegal intelligence officer abroad.

For an illegal intelligence officer, knowledge foreign languages- the basis of the foundations. This is their second weapon. Alexei Mikhailovich spoke German, French, Italian and Danish. In 1962, A. Kozlov went to combat work in one of the Western countries. Previously, according to a special program, he prepared in the GDR. While in Leipzig, he quietly mastered the Saxon dialect. And soon, already in West Germany, sitting in a cafe, I got into a conversation with a criminal police officer. Suddenly he asks the scout: are you, he says, not from Braunschweig? No, answered the illegal, I am an Austrian. The policeman shook his head: strange, he would give his head for cutting off that you are a Saxon. Kozlov had to convince the criminalist that his mother was a Saxon and his father was an Austrian. Fortunately, the young criminologist at that moment was more interested in the young and charming young ladies sitting at the next table.

For some time A. Kozlov was sent to Denmark. Every illegal intelligence agent must have some kind of cover profession. Before going abroad, he could quickly be made a car repairman, a foreman in adjustment and repair household appliances etc. Kozlov was trained as a draftsman, although he hated this profession with every fiber of his soul. In terms of mind, he was a humanitarian. But there was no getting away, and he had to agree to become a draftsman.

In Copenhagen, A. Kozlov came to a technical institute, where, among others, draftsmen were trained. The term of study at the institute is three years. In a conversation with the rector, he said that he would like to complete his studies in three months. He looked at Kozlov dumbfounded, but the illegal immigrant calmly explained to him that he could draw and that he needed only a diploma.

Then the rector invited some teacher, they talked among themselves and decided this: Kozlov would have to pay for all three years of study. But if he manages to pass all the exams in three months, he will be given a diploma of graduation from the institute. Kozlov conscientiously visited the institute every day, and sometimes several times a day. He regularly completed all the tasks and received a Danish diploma.

Further, Kozlov had to make a run-in in several countries, choose one of them, in which he allegedly lived for several years and where, according to legend, he could earn decent money as a foreigner. According to his passport he was a German, but his passport was fake. First, he was offered to go to Lebanon. He went there by boat from Naples. On the way, I met a girl who spoke English perfectly. She then taught him the language for six months, and everything turned out pretty well.

In Lebanon, a scout noticed that the Lebanese-Arabs treated the Germans quite well. As for Denmark, where he came from, few people knew about the existence of the Kingdom of Denmark there.

Then, on the instructions of the Center, the illegal immigrant went to Algeria. It was necessary to settle down for a long time in this country. French troops were still there, but Ahmed Ben Bella was already president.

In this country, they knew almost no English, no German, and even more so Danish. Through a French acquaintance who spoke German, he got a job as a technical draftsman.

In Algeria at that time, the vast majority of Arabs spoke only French. It came to curiosities. When President Ben Bella decided to rename all the streets and put their names in Arabic script, the mess started amazing. After all, many Algerians could not read Arabic script. And Kozlov had to learn French in Algeria, and a little later, Italian. Alexei Mikhailovich still speaks all these languages ​​​​without problems.

To the joy and happiness of Alexei Mikhailovich, his wife came to Algeria. They got married in Moscow just before the business trip. In Moscow, the wife underwent special training. Upon her arrival in Algiers, a legend was prepared for her.

A. Kozlov had good acquaintances, elderly Frenchmen. Some of them left, some died. And the scout had an address where his wife supposedly could live at one time. My wife arrived as a German, and learned French already in Algeria. I must say that the intelligence officer Kozlov was lucky in this country: two years after gaining independence, the Algerians began to destroy documentation on all foreigners who had lived there before. Then Kozlov could easily say, being in other countries, that he had lived in Algeria for 20 years, where he earned a lot of money.

Soon the wife of Alexei Mikhailovich became pregnant and they were asked to leave for West Germany in order to finally document their marriage there. They both had fake passports. First they went to Tunisia, then to Holland, then to France. After such a journey, A. Kozlov arrived in West Germany, the city of Stuttgart. And his wife had to be left at the border in the French city of Strasbourg, because he did not know how things would turn out for him there.

He had to find a job in Germany in order to then register in this country. Stuttgart is a big city, there are dozens of institutions in it. But it was August, the height of the summer holidays. Kozlov had to get a job as a laborer in a dry-cleaner: they took him there. Moreover, they promised to pay as a skilled worker and, with a conscientious attitude to work, transfer them to such. And so it happened.

Fortunately for our scouts, at that time there was a fairly free regime in this city. They easily obtained internal identity cards and officially got married. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Munich, where A. Kozlov again got a job in a dry cleaner. During their stay in Munich, the couple had a son, then a daughter.

After the birth of their children, instead of internal certificates, they received real West German passports.

After some time, the scouts were recalled to Moscow. After a two-month stay, A. Kozlov was given the task of leaving for a long-term settlement in one of the Benelux countries. Upon arrival at his destination, he began looking for work - both as a draftsman and as a dry-cleaner. It took six months. It was quite difficult to get a job. Finally, he found a place in one of the hotels - in a dry cleaning company.

By the way, by that time A. Kozlov had become a really skilled worker, and soon he was appointed head of the company. The scout found a suitable apartment and his wife came to him with two children. The son was placed in Kindergarten, and a daughter in a nursery. The children spoke only French among themselves, and only German with their parents. They did not know Russian. So it was necessary for that period.

Meanwhile, the wife of A. Kozlov got a job as a teacher German language to a NATO accredited school. Mostly the children of NATO employees studied there.

Soon A. Kozlov was offered a position CEO dry cleaning companies. Through his connections, the intelligence officer obtained valuable secret information, including on the NATO bloc. He was greatly assisted in collecting information by his wife.

It so happened that in 1970 Kozlov's wife fell seriously ill and they had to return to their homeland. After a severe and prolonged illness, the wife of A. Kozlova died. The position of the scout has changed to some extent. For some time, the scout carried out responsible assignments at the Center. But soon he was offered to work independently on crisis points. These are the countries with which the Soviet Union did not have diplomatic relations and where crises periodically arose. In the 70s, these were mainly the Near and Middle East - Israel and the Arab states. A. Kozlov was legalized for residence in Italy.

The illegal immigrant soon managed to establish good connections with firms that produced materials for dry cleaning - chemicals, cars ... After a while, he was offered to become a representative of the company in many countries, except for Italy itself. Kozlov was quite satisfied with this. This expanded its operational capabilities. He was registered in Rome, but stayed there for two or three months. The rest of the time was spent on trips to other countries, these are: Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Certain difficulties often arose for traveling around the regions. If, say, at that time a person had Israeli marks in his passport, affixed at the checkpoint to enter this country, he would not have been allowed into any Arab state. In this case, our intelligence officer had to go to the German embassy and somehow solve this problem. At the embassy, ​​he was given a new duplicate passport, with which Kozlov traveled around the Arab East. That is, one passport was for Israel, the other for the Arab world.

In many Arab countries, the intelligence officer had very useful connections - relatives of ministers, including in Lebanon, officers Israeli army, politics in Israel and Egypt.

During his trips to the regions, Kozlov also had funny cases. Here is what he himself said: “It was in Jerusalem. I go to a cafe in the evening. I take 50 grams of vodka, or rather, 40 - they have a double portion, and a mug of beer. I looked around, I saw three old men sitting at the table and one empty seat. I approached, in German I asked: can I sit with you? Jews generally know German. They say please. They ask me: “German?”. I answer yes. And one of them tells me: you know, during the war I served in the Soviet military intelligence, and I was once thrown into the German rear. And I, he says, gave you bastards a light! And with such nostalgia, with such respect for Soviet intelligence...

Or here's another episode. Somehow I go to a restaurant in Tel Aviv at 5 pm to eat. I ordered goulash and a glass of beer. Immediately next to me sits down a guy in jeans, in a cowboy shirt, it is clear that they are their client, because they bring him a 200-gram decanter with a light liquid from the refrigerator without order, which immediately begins to fog up. Then they put a plate in front of him with two pieces of black bread and one more - with finely chopped herring, and all this under circles of white onion. And so this bastard began to appetizingly crunch all this next to me ... The stay was not useless. Much was achieved then, which I still have no right to talk about. I received the Order of the Red Star for this work.

In 1974, A. Kozlov first arrived in Iran. I had to come there even under the Shah. Iran was of great interest to us. In this country, Kozlov could travel quite calmly. He had a lot of friends there - both among the police and in other circles. From them, he received the information we needed about this country and the region as a whole.

Since A. Kozlov acted alone, he transmitted his information mainly through hiding places in the form of an undeveloped film. And the most urgent - in letters, in secret writing to certain addresses, which were given to the intelligence officer at the Center. Three or four days, and the letter arrived where and to whom it was addressed.

Until 1974, we had no diplomatic relations with Portugal. But there is a revolution in this country. And Kozlov, even under the fascist regime, had to go there and collect very interesting information. When the “red carnation revolution” began, Kozlov again arrived in Portugal and lived there for a couple of months. During this time he traveled almost all over the country. Through his connections, he managed to collect a lot of interesting material.

Abroad, the work of a scout is not sweet. It is even more difficult when he is alone, away from his family. Therefore, by decision of the intelligence leadership, they are sometimes allowed to come on vacation (and this is also a rather complicated operation).

Once Kozlov also managed to get a vacation. Came to Moscow. My wife is in the hospital, the children lived in a boarding school. Aleksey Mikhailovich spent the whole vacation with them. My wife was sometimes allowed to go home from the hospital.

Meetings abroad were also infrequent. For example, when Kozlov was in Italy for 10 years, during this time he had only two meetings. Representatives of the Center came. In general, personal meetings are most often held on the neutral side.

Once, going on vacation, Kozlov arrived from Tehran to Copenhagen, where a meeting with a Soviet resident was scheduled. The meeting took place. We exchanged passports. Kozlov gave the resident his “iron”, with which he traveled around the world, and the resident handed him another one, which could then be destroyed.

The resident congratulated the illegal immigrant on the New Year and on being awarded the badge of "Honorary State Security Officer". And he adds: “Another mutual friend who is here congratulates you. This is Oleg Gordievsky. Kozlov asked: “How does Gordievsky know that I am here? Didn't you tell him? Or did they show him this new passport of mine?” By the way, Gordievsky was then the deputy Soviet resident in Copenhagen. There is an ironclad rule that you can't reveal an illegal, unless absolutely necessary, even to your own illegals. When this rule is not respected ... failure follows. What happened to Kozlov. O. Gordievsky betrayed him when he fled to England, and not only him.

In 1977, Kozlov was first ordered to travel to South Africa - then the country of apartheid. On all the benches in the parks, on the streets there are inscriptions: "Only for whites." Shops are for whites only, nothing for blacks. Blacks at 6 pm sit down and leave for their townships. Then the Soviet Union helped the African National Congress. Intelligence was interested in something else: secret ties with the West. When Kozlov first visited Namibia, it was the German South-West Africa, a colony of South Africa. He traveled all over the country. Contacts were needed everywhere. At that time, South Africa was producing 80 percent enriched uranium. And all this uranium went directly to America. But officially the United States, England and other Western countries by that time declared an economic boycott of South Africa. In Namibia, Kozlov spoke only German. Because there even the blacks spoke German no worse than the Germans themselves. And there were a lot of Germans there. All hotels are German. The names of the hotels are purely German. And German farmers are everywhere.

In 1978, A. Kozlov made a trip to the border, front-line states - Zambia, Botswana, Malawi. They seemed to be helping the South African Congress, but all the same, the South Africans ran the economy there. In Botswana, for example, the diamond mines were in the hands of De Beers.

In South Africa, Soviet intelligence was primarily interested in whether there were atomic weapons there or not. In the research laboratory of Pelendab, research was conducted in the nuclear field. Both we and the Americans had suspicions that an atomic bomb was being created there too. Because once in 1978 it was possible to fix a flash similar to an atomic explosion in the Southern Hemisphere near Cape Town. Then Kozlov was sent to Malawi - after all, it was the only African state that established diplomatic relations with South Africa. Alexei Mikhailovich arrived in the city of Blantyre. All whites in these states converge very quickly among themselves. A fresh European appears, especially a German, he will be accepted with pleasure and absolutely everything will be told.

"Somehow we talked about atomic bomb- recalls Kozlov. - I'm saying, wow, they thought that South Africa had it, but it turned out not. And suddenly one elderly woman perks up: how is it not, we washed her production with champagne in December 1976. I immediately reported this to the Center. As I was later told, at night they even called the heads of departments and departments and discussed my information. But this could not be documented. By the way, this woman introduced herself to me, said that she worked as a secretary to the general director of the Pedendaba base, retired and moved to Malawi. This information was later confirmed.

In 1980, Alexei Mikhailovich was again sent to South Africa. Then he arrived in Namibia. And in the city of Windhoek he noticed outside surveillance. Kozlov decided to immediately fly to South Africa. After landing in Johannesburg on the plane, he was shown a South African counterintelligence document, handcuffed, taken to the airport, to a special room, forced to undress to his underpants. Then they dragged things, dressed them and took them to Pretoria. He spent a month in the internal prison of the security police (this is South African counterintelligence). The interrogations went on day and night. In the first week he was not allowed to sleep for a second. He fell asleep standing upright, sometimes even fell. In the investigator's office, Kozlov noticed a portrait of Hitler hanging on the wall. And the investigator himself was a fan of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Interrogations were conducted mainly in the basement.

A week later, they suddenly decided to let Kozlov sleep. However, the cell where Kozlov was supposed to sleep was filled with the sounds of human voices. As if someone was being tortured nearby. People were yelling, gnashing their teeth, crying as if they were being beaten. Every half an hour a guard came into the cell to inspect the situation. The arrested person must stand in front of them.

The interrogation was conducted on English language. At the next interrogation, Kozlov's suitcase was opened. They got a radio receiver that could be bought at any store. They took out a notebook in which there were copy sheets. On one sheet they found a crush. And the pressure was in Russian.

Kozlov is brought in for another interrogation. These two Germans from West Germany are sitting in the room and they ask: "Why don't you ask someone from the West German consulate?" Kozlov replied that he was always asking for a representative, but no one had come yet. The Germans ask the illegal further: “Do you know why you were arrested?”. Answer: "I don't know, I didn't do anything." Then they give Kozlov a photograph of his wife: “Look, do you know this woman?” - and then a photograph of the scout himself. The German turned it over, and on the back it says: “A. M. Kozlov. After that, the intelligence officer said: "Yes, I am a Soviet officer, a Soviet intelligence officer." And that's it. He did not say anything else to them during the entire time he was in custody.

A month later, Kozlov was transferred to the central prison in Pretoria. They were put on death row. There were several compartments of the so-called star type. And each has 13 cells. But in the place where Kozlov was placed, he was alone. The other cells were generally empty. And next to the gallows. On Fridays at 5 am there were executions. Several times Kozlov was taken to see how it was done. In prison, by the way, there was also apartheid: a prison for blacks, a prison for whites. They just hung both of them together. But even then they made a difference. For the last breakfast before the execution, the blacks were given half a fried chicken, the whites were given a whole one. They executed on the second floor, then the hatch fell, the executed fell there. And below stood the greatest scoundrel Dr. Malheba. He made the last injection in the heart of the hanged man, so that the man would die completely. Then the body was taken out.

Here is what A. M. Kozlov himself told about the prison days:

“The worst thing for me was that the Center did not know where I was. It turns out that they sent me telegrams for another three months. I spent six months on death row. Parasha, bed and chair. The room is three steps by four. The last words of farewell of those who sat there and who were hanged before me were scratched on the walls with a nail. The only thing they brought me was food. Breakfast - at 5.30 in the morning: a mug of liquid, reminiscent of either coffee or tea, and more often water, in which the dishes were washed, two slices of bread and a bowl of porridge. Lunch - at 11.00; dinner is at 3 pm. A total of 4 slices of bread, a slice of margarine, jam and a bowl of soup. The lights were turned off at 22.00. By this time, from hunger, I already had visions. He remembered boiled potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers. I remember when they released me and weighed me, it turned out to be 59 kilograms. And it was - 90. No newspapers, radio - nothing. I didn't know what was going on in the world."

A. Kozlov was accused of terrorism, Article 9. This meant that he was not required to tell the reason for his arrest. He was told that he had no right to a lawyer and to communicate with the outside world.

Finally, on December 1, 1981, after 6 months, the head of the prison came to Kozlov and stated that Prime Minister Botha had officially announced on television and radio that Soviet intelligence officer Alexei Kozlov was in prison under arrest. The head of the prison told Kozlov that now, after Bota's official report on the Kozlov case, he was allowed half an hour of walks under guard around the prison yard, and was also allowed to smoke.

The German gentlemen were also interested in the personality of A. Kozlov. At first they came for interrogations every three months. Then every six months. They will come, mumble, look confused and leave.

And our scout continued to sit in the same cell. And somewhere towards the end of 1981, the skin on Kozlov's hands began to burst. They invited the same doctor Malheb. The doctor examined the scout and prescribed artificial leather gloves for him. But even with gloves, the skin continued to burst. This time they did invite the head of the prison hospital. There was such a Major Van Roen. He examined the patient and said that it was from a lack of chlorophyll. The fact is that in Kozlov's cell there was a single window under the very ceiling. Therefore, almost no daylight entered the chamber. And the doctor, in all likelihood, recommended that Kozlov's camera be changed. And our intelligence officer, a year and a half after his imprisonment, was settled in the so-called penal section of the Pretoria prison. There were solitary cells there too. But at least Kozlov was not alone there. In other adjacent cells there were people who were swearing, laughing, cursing. But there was always sunshine in this cell, and the skin on the hands gradually began to heal.

So Kozlov spent time in prison until May 1982. One day the head of the prison came, brought a suit, a pretty decent one, a shirt and a tie. Kozlov dressed, and he was taken to the deputy chief of counterintelligence, Major General Broderick.

Here is how A. Kozlov later recalled this episode:

“There was such an interesting, imposing man sitting in front of me. He immediately told me: I will transfer you for an exchange. And he warned: you will first be handed over to our national intelligence service. Don't show them you know about the exchange. After that, my investigator, Colonel Gloy, whom I have already mentioned, shook my hand warmly and said: you are sorry for what happened to you here; now we know you're a normal, good guy. He shook my hand again, and the badge was in my hand. I saw him on the plane. It was the badge of the South African Security Police with the right of arrest..”

They brought Kozlov to a huge rock, where there is a monument to the pioneers of South Africa - the Boers, next to the site of a bloody battle between the Zulus and the whites. Here, they say, we will shoot you. Kozlov stood for some time in thought. Then they stuffed him into the car and took him to the airport. In the Boeing-747 Jumbo, only eight people were flying - intelligence officer Kozlov and his guards. Arrived in Frankfurt am Main in Germany.

There they transplanted our illegal immigrant into a helicopter of the department for the protection of the borders of West Germany and flew on. After some time, we landed near the Herleshausen checkpoint. There the exchange began.

A. M. Kozlov:

“First, they brought those for whom I was supposed to be exchanged. Eleven people - 10 Germans and one officer of the South African army, who at one time was captured in Angola during a raid there by the South African army. All eleven with suitcases. But they didn’t give me my things: I have a small bag in which there was a piece of green soap. Why I took him out of prison, I don't know. Then another cloth belt from prison trousers. I rolled it up and put it in a bag when they took me out of prison. The only thing that was valuable to me there was a cigarette rolling machine, it was given to me by South African prisoners.

They took me to some hangar. I look, two figures are looming inside - Viktor Mikhailovich Nagaev, now a retired major general, and Boris Alekseevich Solovov, head of the security department at that time. They put me in a car and drove to Berlin. Kilometers 30 drove in deathly silence. We drove up to the city of Eisenach. We are silent. And I suddenly spoke: “Viktor Mikhailovich, I returned to my homeland.” He agrees: “Yes, so what?”. I told him: “So what? Is it necessary to mark this case? He slaps himself on his bald head: “But I can’t understand what is missing and why we are silent.” And to the driver: “Come on, let’s go to the first tavern that comes across a hundred grams, a mug of beer.” As soon as they shied away, after that they didn’t stop talking until Berlin.

In Berlin, my comrades prepared nice table: caviar, salmon. But I ground all the boiled potatoes and all the herring. For me, then, our KGB representative at the MTB of the GDR, Vasily Timofeevich Shumilov (now deceased ), said: “You, Lyoshka, ate our entire representative monthly supply of herring ..”.

My friends gave me money to buy some presents for the children. I haven't been home for a long time...

The question arises and begs itself: how for a long time no one could understand why I was arrested. They traded me in 1982. And when Oleg Gordievsky fled to England in 1985, then everything became clear.

Gordievsky was acting resident in London. And with Oleg, I studied together at MGIMO. He was two years younger, they worked together in the Komsomol committee. I finished before him, and he didn't know where I ended up. But then he worked in our documentary department - that's why it happened. It's all about betrayal."

After the exchange, Alexei Mikhailovich returned home, rested for a couple of months, and went to work. For some time he worked in the Central Intelligence Agency. Then he called Yuri Ivanovich Drozdov (at that time the head of the Department of Illegal Intelligence ) and asked to work abroad. Drozdov to him: “And how do you actually imagine it? You are known to everyone. How can I send you somewhere again? Then Yuri Ivanovich thought about it and said: “Actually, you are not on the wanted list anywhere, because you were given to us. And then, what a fool would think that a person, having just taken his head out of the noose, is again going to stick it in there. Go."

This time Kozlov received a different passport than before. And after that, the intelligence officer worked for an illegal woman away from home for another ten years ...

A. M. Kozlov: “In 1997 he returned for good. But I'm still working. I meet young people. I visited exactly 30 regions of Russia - Vladivostok and Nakhodka, Murmansk and Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk ... I have 5-6 business trips a year. Hero Star Russian Federation I was given in 2000. The wording was as follows: for courage and heroism in the performance of special tasks.

Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich, Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov
December 21, 1934(1934-12-21)

Oparino, Oparinsky district, Kirov region, RSFSR, USSR

USSR USSR →
Russia, Russia

KGB of the USSR, SVR RF

Colonel

Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov(December 21, 1934, Oparino - November 2, 2015) - Soviet and Russian intelligence agent - illegal immigrant. Hero of the Russian Federation.

• 1 Biography
• 2 Family
• 3 Awards and honorary titles
• 4 Films about A. M. Kozlov
• 5 Books about A. M. Kozlov
• 6 Notes
• 7 Links

Biography

Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov was born on December 21, 1934 in the village of Oparino in the Kirov Territory (now the Kirov Region). family, besides him, there were four children, and since 1936 Alexei was raised in Vologda by his grandparents.

In 1943 he entered the Vologda School No. 1, which he graduated with a silver medal. At school, his German teacher was the famous teacher Zelman Shchertsovsky. He entered the Moscow Institute of International Relations, where he studied German and Danish. A classmate of A. M. Kozlov was the future First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Yu. A. Kvitsinsky. In the last year of the institute, he was sent to practice at the consular department of the Danish Embassy.

After graduating from the institute in 1959, he received an offer from the First Main Directorate (foreign intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR and, after a short immersion, was sent to Denmark to acquire the profession of a technical draftsman. Since 1962, he worked as an illegal intelligence agent. He remarried his wife for cover in Germany in 1965, the same year his son and daughter were born. Posing as a German who lived in Algeria for a long time, he managed to obtain German citizenship for himself and his wife. Worked undercover as a dry cleaner and entrepreneur selling next generation dry cleaners in Europe, Africa and Asia. After the death of his wife in the 1970s, leaving his children in the USSR, he worked alone at crisis points. Arriving in the country of interest to the USSR, he was engaged in collecting information. The vast majority of these countries did not have diplomatic relations with the USSR, which made it impossible to organize permanent residencies there.

In 1979, he was tasked to establish the fact that South Africa was conducting secret tests of its own atomic bomb and the fact that enriched industrial uranium was being developed in then-occupied Namibia. The task was completed in full, after which he was arrested in South Africa by counterintelligence on charges of terrorism due to the betrayal of Oleg Gordievsky, who had fled to the UK. The article "terrorism" under the laws of South Africa deprived the right to legal defense and legal proceedings, forbade any communication with the outside world and the receipt of information.

For two years he was in the counterintelligence prison in Pretoria in solitary confinement and was subjected to interrogations and sophisticated torture. He spent six months on death row, during which even his execution was staged. Prime Minister Peter Botha only made a statement in December 1981 that Alexei Kozlov was in the counterintelligence prison in Pretoria. In May 1982, with the participation of the intelligence services of the FRG, Alexei Kozlov was exchanged for ten intelligence officers of the FRG arrested in the GDR and the USSR, and one soldier of the South African army captured in Angola. When arrested, he weighed 90 kilograms, after imprisonment and torture - 58. He did not disclose any information during the two years of imprisonment.

In 1982-1986 he worked in the central office of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. Then he asked for a second assignment on a permanent business trip for illegal work. Being a discovered illegal immigrant, he worked abroad from 1986 to 1997. Information about this period is still secret. After retiring, he continued to work in the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, was engaged in teaching, advisory and analytical work (he spoke German, English, Danish, French and Italian). Lived in Moscow, was declassified in 2005.

The documentary evidence collected by Alexei Kozlov in South Africa of the atomic bomb tests in 1979 jointly with Israel and the development of enriched industrial uranium in occupied Namibia made it possible for the USSR to persuade the United States and a number of states Western Europe to strengthen the regime of international sanctions against South Africa. The result of the work of Alexei Kozlov was the announcement of the South African embargo by all countries, which led to a change in government. Thanks to the work of Alexei Kozlov, South Africa became the first state to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons.

A family

• Father - Mikhail Alekseevich Kozlov, before the war he worked as the director of the machine and tractor station (MTS), in the war he was the commissar of a tank battalion in the 5th Guards Tank Army of General P. A. Rotmistrov and participated in the Battle of Kursk. After the victory, he returned without a leg, was appointed deputy head of the POW camp for political affairs in Vologda. After the disbandment of the prisoner of war camp, he worked as the head of the construction department at the Volga-Balt-stroy, then the head of the transport department for the construction of the Severstal Metallurgical Plant in Cherepovets, after that he worked at MTS, and, having retired, became the director of the oil depot in Sheksna. He died on the day Alexei Kozlov was arrested in South Africa from a heart attack.
• Mother - Lidia Vasilievna Kozlova worked as an accountant at a state farm.
• Wife - Tatyana Borisovna Kozlova, an illegal intelligence officer, taught German in Belgium at a school for children of UN employees. She died in the 1970s.

Awards and honorary titles

• Honored Foreign Intelligence Officer of the Russian Federation (1999).
• Order of the Red Star (1977)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (2004)
• Medal "For Military Merit" (1967)
• Badge "Honorary State Security Officer" (1973)
• Sign "For Service in Intelligence" (1993)
• Hero of the Russian Federation with the award of a badge of special distinction - the Gold Star medal (No. 713)
• Honorary citizen of Vologda (2009).

Films about A. M. Kozlov

• 2007 - "Illegal Career" - documentary. Director Sergei Mnatsakanov, screenwriter Nikolai Dolgopolov, Lavr Studio.
• 2010 - Fights. Death Trial is a feature film. Director Vladimir Nakhabtsev, screenwriters Maria Arbatova, Shumit Datta Gupta, Artel studio.

Books about A. M. Kozlov

• Trial by death or Iron philatelist. Maria Arbatova, Shumit Datta Gupta - M. Astrel, 2012 - ISBN 978-5-271-40565-5.

Notes

1. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 7, 2000
2. 1 2 Dolgopolov N. Went into exploration for 30 years. // Newspaper "Sovershenno sekretno".
3. Bogdanovich N. Zhelezny Zelman // Premier newspaper, No. 30 (721) July 26 - August 1, 2011.
4. Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich. Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
5. Biography of A. M. Kozlov on the official website of the Vologda Administration
6. Description of the film "Illegal Career" on the website of the TV channel "5"
7. Description of the movie "Fights. Trial by death" on the website of Channel One TV

Links

Kozlov, Alexey M. Site "Heroes of the Country".

• Biography of A. M. Kozlov on the website of the Foreign Intelligence Service
• Dolgopolov N. Went into intelligence for 30 years - an interview with M. A. Kozlov to the newspaper "Top Secret".
• Arbatova M. Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov

Kozlov Aleksey Mikhailovich, Kozlov Aleksey Mikhailovich Vikipedia, Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich Karachun, Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich Kurochkin, Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich Laptev, Kozlov Aleksey Magailovich Mateevich, Kozlov Alexey Mikhailovich Reminov, Kozlov Aleksey Mikhailovich Mikhailovich Tsarovy, Kozlich Tsarovich, Kozlich Tsarovich, Kozlich Tsarovy.

Kozlov, Alexey Mikhailovich Information About

Everyday truth of intelligence Antonov Vladimir Sergeevich

Chapter 7. Illegal Scout Alexey Kozlov

Illegal SCOUT ALEXEY KOZLOV

Aleksey Mikhailovich Kozlov is one of the few people belonging to the small world intelligence clan who are destined to live several lives at once.

Nikolai Dolgopolov

Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov was born on December 21, 1934 in the village of Oparino, Oparinsky District, Kirov Region. From a year and a half he lived in Vologda, was brought up by his grandparents, since his father and mother had three more children besides him. Alexei's mother worked as an accountant on a collective farm. Father was the director of MTS. In 1941, Alexei's father went into the army, during the Great Patriotic War he was the commissar of a tank battalion in the 5th Guards Army, and participated in the Battle of Kursk.

In 1953 Alexei graduated with a silver medal high school and entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. While still at school, he brilliantly mastered the German language. At the institute he continued to improve it and studied Danish. In the last year I was on language practice in Denmark. In the future, he could also speak fluently in English, French and Italian.

In 1959, Kozlov was offered to work in the foreign intelligence of the state security agencies and become an illegal intelligence officer. After intensive training, at the end of 1962, he left for combat work abroad. According to the documents, he was a citizen of West Germany.

The scout had to work in a number of countries in Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the first half of the 1970s, Kozlov began working on crisis points: having settled in one of the Western European countries, he traveled to collect information in countries with which the USSR either did not have diplomatic relations, or in which crisis situations arose. In the 1970s, these were mainly the countries of the Near and Middle East - Israel and the Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran). Moreover, the intelligence officer had to travel around the Arab East on a second passport, in which there was no data on his stay in Israel. However, such a risk was justified - extremely important information was sent to the Center. The work of an illegal intelligence officer at that time was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Before 1974 Soviet Union with Portugal, where the fascist regime of Coetano was in power, there were no diplomatic relations. Alexei Kozlov had to visit there several times, and after the revolution of the "red carnations" - even to live for several months in this country.

In 1977, the Center for the first time ordered an intelligence agent to go to South Africa - then the country of apartheid. Intelligence was very interested in the secret ties between South Africa and its colony, Namibia, with the West. Kozlov traveled all over the country, making contacts everywhere, which were useful in the future when collecting information of interest to the Center. After all, uranium enriched by 80 percent was mined in this region. And op was all heading for the US, although the United States and its Western European partners by that time had announced an economic boycott of South Africa. In addition, but some of the data that the Center had, in one of the research laboratories of South Africa, research was allegedly carried out in the nuclear field. To collect information on this problem, Kozlov subsequently traveled several times to South Africa and Namibia, as well as to border states - Zambia, Botswana and Malawi.

In 1980, as a result of the betrayal of foreign intelligence officer Gordievsky, Kozlov was arrested in Johannesburg. He spent a month in South Africa's internal counterintelligence prison in Pretoria, subjected to constant interrogation and torture. Then - six months on death row in the Pretoria Central Jail. In 1982, he was exchanged for eleven people - ten West Germans and one South African army officer.

After four years at the Center, Kozlov again left for combat work abroad, which lasted ten years. He returned to Moscow in 1997.

For courage and heroism shown in the performance of special assignments, Colonel Alexei Mikhailovich Kozlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation in 2000.

He was awarded a number of Soviet and Russian orders, many medals, as well as badges "Honorary State Security Officer" and "For Service in Intelligence". In 1999, by Decree of the President of Russia, he was awarded the honorary title "Honored Officer of the Foreign Intelligence Bodies of the Russian Federation."

Currently, Alexei Mikhailovich is actively meeting with young foreign intelligence officers, passing on his rich life and operational experience to them.