What is known for one of the most effective Soviet intelligence officers: Artist, writer, screenwriter and spy Dmitry Bystroletov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Among the most successful world intelligence services, representatives of the Russian special services did not occupy the last place. Once, in an interview, ex-KGB agent Lyubimov answered a comic question from a journalist about the most outstanding spy that in the period from the 1920s to the 1940s, Soviet intelligence was the best in the world. People who were literally obsessed with communist ideas were employed in this area. And one of these is Dmitry Bystroletov, whose life resembles an adventure novel. A professional doctor, polyglot, fluent in many foreign languages, a member of the Union of Artists and a talented writer - all this is about one Soviet intelligence officer.

Crimean childhood, failed count and Prague universities

Bystroletov's childhood was spent in the Crimea. His mother gave birth to him without a legal spouse, so there is no reliable information about his father. According to Bystroletov's own assurances, he is the son of Count A. N. Tolstoy, a relative of the famous writer. Mother, Claudia Bystroletova, was the daughter of a priest and taught at a rural school. Dmitry Bystroletov received his first quality education in St. Petersburg. In 1915 he entered the Sevastopol Cadet Corps, having even managed to be noted in the landing operations of the First World War. In 1916, Dmitry returned to his mother in Anapa, enrolling in parallel in the final classes of the nautical gymnasium and school.

On November 2, 1917, Bystroletov was elevated to the rank of count, but a few days later the October Revolution canceled his high title. After the revolution, the failed count remained in exile, keeping aloof from both Soviet emissaries and whites. In 1923, the young man entered the University of Prague and, as a member of a public student organization of citizens of the USSR, received a Soviet passport. It is not known for certain whether he was already recruited by the NKVD at that time, or whether the recruitment took place later. But in the spring of 1925, during his participation in the All-Union student conference in Moscow, Dmitry met with the eminent Soviet intelligence officer Artuzov, after which his espionage career took off.

Participation in the intelligence work of the spy's wife and the skill of reincarnation

In Prague, Bystroletov got a job at a Soviet trade mission, which became the official cover for his secret craft. Dmitry Aleksandrovich headed a special group of reconnaissance officers operating in several countries of the world. This group included the Czech wife Bystroletova, who often performed important tasks. Over the years of his intelligence service, he played many roles, but most often the image of a Hungarian count was used. It was in this apmlua that he seduced a supporter of Hitler, who was in charge of a valuable archive of intelligence about the USSR in the security service.

Bystroletov managed not only to make an acquaintance with her, but even to become her lover. When the necessary documents were in hand, it remained plausible to retreat. The newly-made bride learns that her count died on the hunt as a result of an erroneous shot from the huntsman. However, she soon encounters Bystroletov in a Berlin cafe, losing consciousness from surprise. Bystroletov quietly disappeared, and the important task was designated as successfully completed.

Homecoming and the years of the camps

In 1931, without interrupting intelligence activities, Bystroletov entered the Zurich Medical University using forged documents. After graduation, he worked as a doctor in a Swiss clinic, even having managed to make a scientific discovery about the likelihood of the effect on the sex of the unborn baby. In parallel, the creative side of Bystroletov's personality is realized when studying at the Academy of Arts. In addition, the scout attended private lessons of graphic artists, famous in Germany and France. In 1937, the Bystroletovs returned to Moscow. In the same year, the scout joined the Soviet Union of Artists.

The main place of work at home was the central intelligence apparatus. However, after a while Dmitry Alexandrovich was unexpectedly dismissed and transferred to the translation bureau of the Chamber of Commerce. In September 1938, Bystroletov was arrested, accused of espionage against the Soviet Union and of dangerous connections with the executed defectors. The court sentenced the intelligence officer to twenty years of imprisonment. According to some reports, his wife and intelligence colleague committed suicide.

In 1947, Bystroletov was brought to the MGB. In his office, Abakumov offered the intelligence officer an amnesty with a return to the case. Bystroletov refused without hesitation, demanding a second trial and full rehabilitation. The Minister of State Security was enraged by such insolence of the prisoner, and the latter was sent to a special prison. There he became seriously ill for three years in solitary confinement, and after treatment he went to hard labor in Ozerlag and Kamyshlag. Bystroletov was released only in 1954, and two years later he was rehabilitated.

Books, memoirs and screenplays of the ex-intelligence officer

After his release, Dmitry Bystroletov returned to Moscow. For a long time he lived in a cramped communal apartment, the area of which contained only a table and a bed. He worked as a former intelligence officer as a scientific consultant at a research institute, as a translator at the All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, edited the journal of the Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1969, Bystroletov's article in the Novy Mir magazine was noticed by a KGB representative familiar with the author's past activities. After the report to Andropov, it was decided to help the old intelligence officer. He was finally given decent housing and a pension.

Bystroletov became the author of 16 books and a collection of memoirs, in which he expressed his own vision of the situation in the country before World War II, assessed the actions of the first leaders of that period, in particular Stalin. And in 1973, the film "Man in civilian clothes" was released on Soviet screens, the script of which was all the same talented intelligence officer Bystroletov.

Many talented and courageous scouts have gone down in history. There were also women among them. One of them Ziba Ganieva is an actress who killed 130 fascists and became a doctor of oriental studies.