Veteran of Soviet intelligence learned about the Ebola virus in the distant 1970s

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Veteran of Soviet intelligence, retired colonel Anatoly Baronin died at the age of 87. The legend and "master of espionage", as the Western media wrote about him, in the 1970s was able to get information about a new disease at that time - Ebola.

Three times a resident of Soviet foreign intelligence abroad. He gave half a century of his life to his work. The Baronin was from Moscow. His service began in 1959. In the 1970s, while on a business trip to Africa, he managed to obtain information about a new dangerous disease - Ebola. He sent the test tubes with contaminated blood on a special flight to the USSR. Today the legendary scout is gone. Constantinople recalls the brightest spy stories that happened to Baronin.

Do not incur outdoor exposure

Anatoly Baronin has always worked under diplomatic cover. In his interviews, he recalled that this was taught in an intelligence school. And the teachers were experienced diplomats.

"One of the courses was taught by Anatoly Dobrynin, who was the USSR ambassador to the United States for two decades. All this made it possible to work on a level with" pure "diplomats," Baronin said.

One of the scout's tasks is not to incur outdoor surveillance (external surveillance - ed.). But if it happened, then in no case should one break away from the chase. This leads to even greater problems. If an undercover scout tries to evade surveillance, he thereby once again confirms his involvement in intelligence.

Next time, counterintelligence will do everything possible to prevent it from working. Or he will set up a situation in which he "even wants to run away." But there are also exceptions.

Looped around the city to break away

“I had such a case. The center received a task to get technical documentation for one modern European aircraft. These materials were allegedly in the possession of my country of residence. The center decided that secrets are less well guarded in Africa. Although I had a different opinion, I was nobody did not ask, - recalled Baronin (from the book "Intelligence Silhouettes" - ed.). And yet, after painful searches, luck smiled. It turned out that a close relative of my source had the documents I needed. And then one day he gives a conditional signal about the need for an urgent meeting."

As soon as the Baronin left the embassy, the "tail" reached out for him. There is nothing to do, you have to portray a citizen admiring the local beauties on his alleged day off. Finally, by a miracle, it is possible to simulate a situation when the "tail", through its own fault, loses sight of the Baronin. Our scout, however, did not go to the meeting right away. At first I also wandered around the city to make sure everything was clean.

"A source who is familiar with aviation, like me, brought in a whole bunch of documents and drawings. And the whole problem is that by the morning they need to be quietly put back in a relative's safe. Returning to the embassy, I estimate how long it will take to copy all this, and I pray to God that there is no "outdoor" when I go to take the documents."

The Scout is not the American superman. He is better

In intelligence, there is no such thing as an "impossible mission," Baronin recalled. But for each task, a person is carefully selected and prepared.

"No, a scout is not a superman, as is often shown in foreign films, nevertheless he is a person of a special profession and it is his job to carry out any tasks of the center."

The Baronin also recalled that he grumbled like Stirlitz when he learned about an urgent task from Moscow - to get the Ebola strain.

In 1970, reports spread around the world of a terrible epidemic that hit the village of Lassa in Nigeria. Its population died out in just a few hours. The press has speculated about possible tests of bacteriological weapons. Samples of the virus were urgently needed.

Baronin says that at that time a Soviet mission of doctors was working in the country.

“I chose a specialist for myself, the two of us went to look for this village, located 1200 kilometers from the capital. We obtained permission to examine the bodies of the deceased. The results were zero. It turned out that we needed blood samples taken from the patient before his death. I had to look for approaches to local doctors. who have preserved such samples. Thus, we managed to get the necessary test tubes with blood."

For one "thank you" such things are not done.

"This time all the eloquence was put into action, plus the covered" clearing "at our expense," said the scout.

USA infected Europe with bird flu to sell Bush legs?

Regarding the high-profile headlines from the press that Ebola is supposedly a test of bacteriological weapons, Baronin said this:

Rather, no. They probably didn’t want to let the genie out of the bottle. Nevertheless, then the whole village died out. Why I don’t think these were tests? After all, the first to die from this disease were the Americans themselves - a doctor and two nurses.”

But with regard to bird flu and rabies of cows in Western Europe, then everything is different here.

"We are talking about the artificial origin of these diseases to address the issues of economic competition, the struggle for markets. Bush's legs must be promoted, and someone there raises chickens. It's the same with mad cow disease. Europe refused to buy American meat - right there and then." mad cow disease appeared, "noted the Baronin.

Almost burned out on "reading upside down"

Once, in one of the African countries, the Baronin needed to find an approach to an influential high-ranking official from the presidential entourage. He did not treat our country very well. For example, he ignored receptions at the embassy. And, of course, he avoided any suspicious contacts.

Our intelligence officer began to make inquiries about him, collect information about his habits, hobbies, relatives, strengths and weaknesses. It turned out that he is a father of many children.

“During a reception at one of the embassies, I approached him, started a neutral conversation and, as if casually complained that I had been abroad for a long time, I missed the children left in my homeland, I was worried about them. So smoothly we switched to the topic of children, he perked up, his eyes immediately sparkled and became kinder. In the end, he invited me to his home, Anatoly Baronin recalled.

Before paying a visit, the scout learned all about the tastes of his offspring and grabbed a gift for everyone. In addition, he learned all the birthdays and diligently congratulated the households of that very official. As a result, we managed to win over him.

One day an official invites a scout to come to his office.

“Just at this time, representatives of our embassy were trying to get a reaction from the leadership of the host country on one important issue of international politics. And then, sipping coffee in front of him, I notice on the table the minutes of the meeting of the presidential council on this topic. to hide his interest, but, apparently, it does not work, - said Baronin. - But instead of hiding the document, he gives the opportunity to finish reading it, and even turns it over to the next page, where the end is."

After that incident, the Baronin honed his reading skills upside down.

There is no friendship between intelligence agencies

Anatoly Baronin admitted that he was glad to devote his whole life to his beloved work. After he left for the reserve, he began to read the theory and explain important points from the art of espionage to young scouts.

One of the main postulates is that there are no friendly intelligence services.

"The partnership is ongoing. Now it is interaction in the fight against transnational crime," he noted.- But even this partnership is in any case carried out in the form of confrontation. If friendship begins between intelligence agencies, then this is submission. Yes, all my life I worked against the main enemy. And the main enemy was, first of all, the United States of America, NATO countries."