Underestimated?
Although the active phase of Operation Tarantella took place in 1930-1934, it began much earlier. Even after the evacuation of the White Guard army from the Crimea to Turkey, British intelligence showed great interest in the emigrant environment. "Intelligence Service" has already achieved some success in recruiting, in obtaining information from Soviet Russia. Continuing its activities in the same direction, the SIS even established the institute of assistants to its residents from among the emigrants, many of whom acquired considerable professional experience in the counterintelligence of Denikin and Wrangel. Victor Bogomolets was such a person. He soon became a fairly authoritative figure thanks to good results in undercover work.
Competition in the espionage market against the newly created Soviet Union was overwhelming. Therefore, when Boris Lago-Ozerov approached the English resident in Romania with a proposal for cooperation, Bogomolets decided to get rid of a competitor.
Lago-Ozerov was indeed a real competitor to Bogomolets. Like the latter, Lago-Ozerov also served in Denikin's counterintelligence service, was awarded the Cross of St. George, and his stepfather served in the General Staff during the Russian Empire. So this young man was well known in the White emigre environment.
Lago-Ozerov was charged with espionage and ended up in a Romanian prison for five years. It is quite possible that Bogomolets really had compromising evidence on a “competitor”: Lago-Ozerov, back in 1922, filed a petition to return to the USSR. At that time he studied at the University of Prague, and there was a Soviet representation in Czechoslovakia.
This petition got to the employee of the GPU, and he met with Lago-Ozerov. During the meeting, he directly stated to the petitioner that his "Denikin's" past is a serious obstacle to returning to his homeland. And he offered to first prove his readiness to become a Soviet man. This is how agent A / 243 appeared in the Prague and Vienna GPU stations.
In 1924, Lago-Ozerov was transferred to Romania, where he ran into a former colleague in the "Denikin" counterintelligence Bogomolets. And as a result, he went to jail. After leaving which he again tried to return to the USSR, but he was refused. Then Lago-Ozerov wrote a revelatory book about the activities of Soviet intelligence in Europe. And here some "misunderstandings" begin.
According to one version, Lago-Ozerov wrote his book only in order to prove his complete loyalty to the White emigre environment. But on the other - in this way the former agent of the GPU made it clear to Soviet intelligence about his value. In particular, there is even his letter to the GPU, in which Lago-Ozerov wrote: “Apparently, comrades, you will be able to appreciate me when I again become your enemy … Now I am in Paris, I work in the newspaper" Struggle "… You are scattering too much human material and you don't know how to appreciate people … This is probably why the GPU in Europe suffers failure after failure … ".
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The assassination attempt on Stalin
Lago-Ozerov's last statement was not entirely correct. By that time, the GPU agents had dozens of successful operations across Europe. One of which was the kidnapping of the leader of the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS), General Alexander Kutepov. By the way, it was this kidnapping that served as an indirect start for Operation Tarantella.
The fact is that the leadership of the ROVS was furious after the abduction of Kutepov. And besides, it was simply vital for them to somehow respond to this blow, because foreign states, which had previously generously financed the ROVS, began to look at the White emigres as at a gathering of incapable former military men. The ROVS decided to organize no less … an attempt on the life of Joseph Stalin.
Such a delicate operation required a talented organizer with a wealth of intelligence experience. Such turned out to be Viktor Bogomolets, who, realizing that he could not cope with such a matter alone, began to select assistants for himself. And here's the paradox, one of them was Lago-Ozerov. And it was precisely this circumstance (the participation of the former agent A / 243 in organizing the assassination attempt on Stalin), according to some experts in the history of intelligence, that turned out to be decisive for Lago-Ozerov to be again involved in active work at the GPU.
However, these allegations, after the release of some secret documents of the early 1930s by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service in 2008, do not hold water. The combination of Lago-Ozerov and Bogomolets was calculated in advance by the legendary creator of the Foreign Department (INO) of the GPU, Artur Artuzov. By that time, he already had successful operations "Trust" and "Syndicate" under his belt. It was Artuzov who gave the name to the large-scale operation, which was carried out for more than three years, and after the end it served as a pretext for breaking the trade blockade of the USSR. The result of which in the end was the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition.
But this will not become known very soon. In the meantime, Lago-Ozerov, who was attracted by Bogomolets to prepare a terrorist attack in Moscow, meets a high-ranking British intelligence officer (and Bogomolets curator) Harold Gibson. And then agent A / 243 goes to Moscow under the guise of an Austrian businessman. And here again, inconsistencies begin, indicating that Lago-Ozerov did not stop his cooperation with Soviet intelligence. Because by 1930, the employees of the GPU had gotten used to identifying white emigrants among foreigners arriving in the USSR. According to experts in the history of British intelligence, out of 100 agents sent to the USSR or simply arriving there on a short-term assignment, the GPU arrested more than 80.
Despite his past in the "Denikin" counterintelligence service, Lago-Ozerov passed all checks. Moreover, he managed to "recruit" several people related to the military-industrial and economic blocs of the Soviet Union. Only in 2008 will it become clear that these people were “dummy”. Their names have not yet been declassified. But they provided information of high quality and almost reliable. Why Moscow needed this is a special conversation.
Rapprochement with England is an urgent need
As already mentioned, in the early 1930s, the Soviet Union was in an economic blockade. Of the most developed world powers, relations with the United States were more or less normal: American businessmen worked closely with the rapidly developing country of the Soviets. But the Soviet Union needed a firm position in Europe. And here there was a very serious obstacle, which was called Great Britain.
At that time, England occupied a leading position in Europe (in the world space, the British Empire was actively squeezed by the United States) and flatly refused to cooperate with the USSR. Although the British recognized the Soviet Union much earlier than the Americans (Great Britain in 1924, the United States in 1933). But for many reasons, it was with Great Britain that the Soviet Union needed a strong alliance. And it was precisely to achieve this goal that Operation Tarantella was directed. Which was carried out by the special service, and as a result, changed the alignment of political forces on the eve of World War II.
Lago-Ozerov returned from a trip to Moscow with detailed information about the current political and economic situation in the Soviet Union. Which he received from agents "recruited" by him in the aviation industry, in the Red Army and even in the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Everything stated by Lago-Ozerov was confirmed from other sources. This is not surprising, because the information was reliable: the country was developing rapidly, the Soviet government was strong, and the opposition did not shine. This was visible even from abroad, it only remained to add some details (for example, a copy of the report of the People's Commissariat of Industry and the highly secret report of Kliment Voroshilov on the armed forces of the USSR), and the experienced intelligence officer Gibson completely believed Lago-Ozerov. Preparations for the assassination attempt on Stalin instantly faded into the background. First, Lago-Ozerov arguedthat it would be too costly, because the leader of all times and peoples is very carefully guarded (which was absolutely true). And secondly, the possibility of obtaining reliable information about what was happening in the Soviet Union came to the fore for British intelligence. Operation Tarantella has entered an active phase.
It is worth recalling that in the early 1930s, Hitler and his party gained weight, which brought them to power in 1933. The Nazis proclaimed their idea to revive the German spirit and punish the offenders of the German race. And the main offenders of Germany after the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles (which served as the end of the First World War in June 1919) were Great Britain and France. Well, and the United States, which entered the war in 1917.
In the early 30s, both the military and industrial potential of the "offenders" far exceeded the potential of Germany, but they did not want to fight. During the First World War, the Germans showed themselves to be staunch soldiers and they managed to win that war only because the bulk of the German troops were pulled towards the Russian Empire. And when the revolution took place in Russia, the Germans were no longer able to recover from the losses incurred. And besides, in 1918, they had a revolution that forced Kaiser Wilhelm to abdicate the throne. In general, the British and French did not want to again test the firmness of the German spirit. However, they looked at what was happening in Germany with concern. And in such a situation, once again using the Russians as cannon fodder seemed very attractive. It only remained to understandhow firmly the Soviet Union is on its feet and whether it can make it up; serious competition for German troops. And in such a situation the information / coming from the "agents" of Lago-Ozerov was invaluable.
Collapsing an operation
It is worth saying that the USSR's alliance with the leading 4 European powers was even more profitable than the same England or France. Moscow understood perfectly well that in the regime of de facto trade isolation, which Great Britain provided for the Soviet Union, it would be very difficult for them to survive. In the United States, with whose businessmen Moscow had established quite close relations in the early 1920s, the Great Depression flared up. And Europe with its colonial goods and industrial potential remained the only possible partner of the Soviet Republic in its industrial breakthrough.
Well, also Hitler, with his statements about the "Slavic subhumans", alarmed. And I did not want to fight Germany alone. It was in the Kremlin that they decided to start a course of rapprochement with Great Britain. All that remained was to convince the British that the Soviet Union was worthy of normal relations and that it was profitable for England. And it was for this purpose that Operation Tarantella was directed. And it is not surprising that some of the messages of the "agents" were edited by Stalin personally.
For more than three years, British intelligence has been successfully receiving secret information (mainly of an economic nature) from Lago-Ozerov's "agents". Gradually, the attitude of Great Britain to the USSR changed. But in Moscow they decided to push a little. In 1933, London received information that the United States was negotiating with the USSR on the creation of its own military bases in the Far East. It should be said that such negotiations were indeed conducted, but did not lead to anything. However, the Foreign Office (British Foreign Office) tensed a lot: the United States was the main competitor to Great Britain in influencing world politics. In the case of the military-economic alliance between the USA and the USSR, the position of the Americans was greatly strengthened. The British could not allow this. A sharp warming set in in Soviet-British relations.
And then something strange happened again. In 1934, a certain Matuas Shtenberg appeared to Viktor Bogomolets, who introduced himself as a staff member of the GPU, and bluntly offered him to work for Soviet intelligence. It was so wild - so frankly, without any leverage - to recruit a longtime enemy of the Soviet regime that Bogomolets was at a loss. And, apparently out of confusion, he made a fatal mistake: he told Gibson about the visit of the Russian intelligence officer. And he, after consulting with London, ordered to curtail the operation. Lago-Ozerov, who was at that time in France, was expelled from the country, and his English passport was taken from Bogomolets.
The most reasonable explanation for Stenberg's visit to Bogomolets is that Moscow decided to shut down this information channel. The main goal - to improve relations with the UK - was achieved. From the point of view of London, they, too, have already received everything they need, and therefore curtailed the operation.
The further fate of the main participants in Operation Tarantella was tragic: Artuzov, Lago-Ozerov, some fake agents were shot during the 1937 purges. Bogomolets was not engaged in intelligence activities for some time. In 1946, British intelligence again needed his services. Who did not realize that at the beginning of 1945 Bogomolets offered his services to Soviet intelligence and this proposal was accepted. Agent "Britt", such a pseudonym Bogomolets received in the NKVD, worked for the Soviet special services for a long time. Although it is possible that the British used it simply to drain misinformation. So the question of who won that intelligence game remains open.
Journal: Forbidden History №13 (30), Andrey Kozlov