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Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign

Intelligence Services in the West by Alexander Kouzminov

Article · January 2006

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 'Fd. I\ote: ll-r, re\ien \-. ori8-1.typr\i\'red In \r1r, "nl L
b e r r r r c p u b l . . l ' . dh c F q i t h m i n o r e d r ' r n gb ) a s A s i r t - f c r 1 i . . o n Biologicial Espionageaddslille ro rhe story aheady in the
or ry,,x.c rd rhc re!res rurhoB ) public domain.Disappointingly,the book providesvery litrte
informationon how the KGB transformedthe obtaineddata
BiologicalEspionage-Special I n r ^r n r e l l i g e n ci ne d l h e u : e o t r h 1 5j n r e i S e n c e .
Operalions Accordrng to Kouzminov, individuals were deployed in
ol th€ Sovietand RussianForeign the Wesl rnd given numerousobj€clivesrelateou spyug on
IntelligenceServicesin the West natronal progrdms. For exampte. he describ€sa husband,
by AlexanderKouzminov and-wife learnwho, while operatinga mock medicatpractice
GreenhillBooks:2005,192pn, in Gernany. were laskedby rhe KGB ..to esrablishthe loca_
$19.95,f12.99tpbk) tions of all NATO installalions:their commano personner:
... air-forcebases,and cruise missile and rocket sires."That
As r€viewed by: J€ns H. Kuhn, Milron Le enb€rg, and two. rndNiduals could accomplish aU this sounds frankly
Raymond A. Zilinskas implausible
The author further altegesihat about 1980 a KGB agenr
In 1992, PresidentBorts Yellsin admitled rhar the Sovier w$ placed inside the U.S. Army Medical ResearchInsritute
Union had supporred a secret biologicat wartrre (BW) of InfectiousDiseases,and that anotheragenl was emproyed
prcgram in violation of the Biological Toxin and Weapons by an unnamedBntish inslitute(probably the UK's Narioml
Convention, which the Sovier Union bad rrlitied in 1975. Institure for Biologicat Srandardsand Control, which was
Subsequendy.some of ihe researchersand officjals who not enga8edin biodefense).What did iheseagentsdo? Did
operatedthe secretBW program, such as Ken Alibek. Igor they provide information abour U.S. and U.K. defensive
Domaradskii, and Serguei popov. have provided personal efforts thar mighr be uritized by the Sovier BW program?
accountsthat shedlight on the clandesrinesysrem.I-Iowever, Did they inform their superiorsfta1 neirhercountry acruall]
'jue 10compirrmentalizationand secrecyso prevatemrn lhe had an ofTensiveprogram?perhapsthey provided iDforma
USSR, accounrsby Russianauthorsdescribeonty a frdction tion on the developmenlof vaccinesthat might have b€en
of the entire BW program. Almost norhing is Known aDour useful to the Soviet defensiveprosram?In fact, Kouzminov
Bw-relared activiries by the USSR mjnislries of defense, prcvidesve.y little informarionon accomplishments of these
health. and agriculture,ns well ns the security ,rgenciesand and other ngentsoflhe Soviet secretservicein rhe biologicat
nafionalacademies. Hence,an] new infbrnation on rne rores field. Nelthe. does he identify ihe Soviet resea.chrnslnutes
of thesea8enciesin the Sov t BW program is rvelcomeby with which the KGB allegedty colaborated in an effon to
those who are concernedwhether BW piograms in Russra crearemore potent broweapons,despjierhe faci that many of
have beenterminared.Now Alexander Kouzminov, a former them fie l(nown roday to Western security and academic
KGB agent, has wrilten a book which he claims provides
new and rmponant informntion regarding $e role of the K o J l m r n o \ o e s ' i b e \ h r m s e l id \ a b r o p h ) " r c i s q r n a
KGB in the overall Soviet BW prog.an. Whar oo we rearn m i c r o b i o l o p i . r b d c k g r o u n da. n d s o i , r s s u r p r i \ i n gh o r
many lechnicalmisrakeshe makes.For example,h€ misiden-
Kouzninov desc.ibeshimselfas a fbrmer employeeofthe tifies Bacill,s untltacis and ricketrsiaers viruses, and he
top secret Departmenr12 of Djrecrorite S. the elite inner misspellsagentss\tch as Fnhcitetta tuLare sis or yercinia
core of the KcB Fi$t Chief Directorate_One of the respon-
sibilhies ofthis deparhent was to overscellegnts _ Russian Some of Kouzminov's claims are reiieralionsof stor;es
inlelligence operativesmasqueradjngas Wesrern narionals. tbat have been rold before rnd ihat have not yer been
II]egals were deployedto spy on Western biodefcnseacrivr- substantiated.For example, he alleges that the Soviets
ties, procure microbiotogjcal agents of interesr for Sovier employed aactllrr anthrc.is and Francire a
Droweaponsresearchand development,and to pe|form acts .tarcnsis
during Wodd War II agajnst cerman rroops _ an often
of biotenorism rnd sabotageupon order from Moscow. repeated story lhar has not been verified, bur nas been
Kouzminov was a casehandlerof severall egltls,including drscountedby microbiologisrs using epidemiologjcal drta
some that allegedlyhad b€en plac€d wilhin a U.K. insrilute analyses.Kouzminov also assertslhal soviet agentsobtained
and lhe World Herhh OrganizalioD.Kouzminov repeatedly marburgvrrus samples by exhuming viclims of lhe firs!
assertsthal theseIllegals provided the USSR with ..signifi- re{orded ouibreak of marburgvirus djseasein cermany in
1967. But there is publicly available documentarioDof the
Kouzminov does provide sorne infb.matjon on his official exchangeof marburgvirusstrains betweencerman
rgency's tradec.aft. He desc.ibes how Wesrernerswere
and Soviermicrobiology instilules.
largeledfor recruirmenrby the KcB, rhe recfuirmenrprocess
Other claims, especially ihose in rhe final chapter, are
rtself, rnd the means whereby data collecred by recruited _
bjzarre. If Kouzminov is to be believed, almost every
agents and IlleSals were tftnsponed from the West to rhe outbreakofa novel or emerginginfecriousdiseasein ihe lasr
USSR. These procedureshave been described by ea.tier 15 years including the foot and-mourhdiseaseouibreakin
deiecrorsand studentsof lhe Soviei inteltigencesystem,and the U.K. in 2001 and ihe global SARS outbreak in 2003

ASA e-mail:cbmts@asanltr.com
and web addressis: http://www.asanltr,com ASA 06.1 page21
lvas possibly either a deliberate bioweapons atlack or rn lhe biologicalfield but choosesio ke€ptheir accomptish-
accidentalreleaseof i geneticallyengineeredmicrobe from mentsto himself.Why ir waswritlenin rhefinr ptace?tf nor
a BW facility. He also implies thar the cnusdtiveagenlsof 10infbrm,perhaps to misinform.
hantaviruspulmonarysyndromewere generic!lly engineered
to attack Navajo lndians spccitlcally. Thar rlleSationssuch
as tbese would be made by a proLssional scientist in the The Reliew€rs
taceofr hugebody ofliler ure rhat clearly conaadictsthem . JensH, Kuhn is a ResearchScholarin theDepartrnenr of
is astonishing. Microbiology & Molecular cenetics. Harva.d Medical
School,Southborough, MA 01772,USA.
We find it amazing thar someoneidentified rs an insjder . Milton Leit€nbergis a SeniorResearchScholarat the
can wrile a book about'tpecidl ope.ationsof rhe Soviet and Cenlerfor lnternalionalandSecuritySludiesat rheUniver
Russian fbreign intelligence scrvices in the Wesf and riryoJMa'yhnd..o legePark.N4D107a2, USA
provide so Uttle aboul the accomplishmcnts of these . RaymondA. ZilinskasdirectsrheChemicatandBiologi
servrces.At best. BialosicaL L!pionage is tfie personrt cal WeaponsNonproliferation Programof rhe Cenler for
memoir of a former Soviet stdteemployee$,ho writes about NonproliferationSrudies,MonlereyInsrituteof inlernalioDat
r h e t r J c r . ( e , n l S o v . e rr n d R u . . r J n I n r e l l i ! . n . e L g e n Le s r Studies,
Monierey,CA 93940,USA.

(Ourcongratuhruons
to rheaulhor md $e .onrriburors mos!or "Biological
Terro.ism and Traumatism"(2004)encoura_qed
wnomtuencmbersof rheAsA/cBMTs tanily.) the editors to involve more conlributorsfrom diflbrent coun-
tries like Argentina.Bulgaria, the Czech Republic. Iran, the
MedicalAspectsof Chemicaland Biological Netherlands,Russia,Serbia& Monreneg.o.Ukaine and rhe
Terrorismt ChemicalTerrorism and USA. This highly compelent internatio.al ream covers
Traumati$m different scienlific and applied aspecrsof the up{o oare
loprcsofchemical rerrorismand rraumalism.
Editors: Alexander Monov and Christophor Dishovsky- The pdmary lbcus of the proposedbook is rhe introduc-
Sofla 2005 PublishingHouse ofthe Union ofScientisrsjn lion of scientific conceptsand pracricalmeansfor manage-
Bulgaria,$ 20.00 Ghipping costsarc not included) ment ofchemical rgenr casualliesfrom lenorist altackswirh
ISBN 954 8329-69-71354pagesi2005 emphasison improving the medical treatmen!.The main

Many counlries rnd the inrernational conmuni!y made new approacnes 'n prerreahent and prophylacrics of
steady progressin the recenr past in their atriluoe on now chemicalagen!inloxicrtion;
terro["t d.nger .huJld be der.r kirh. Le mo.r inpol]nr diagnosisofexposure to chemicalagents;
issues like vulnerabiliry oi the countrics io ierrorism, and therapyof chemicalagentinroxicatioD;
how to minimize thc damage and recover from lerorist medical lreatmenl and delayedeffecr of inloxication with
r r l J . l . u n d e r s e n irm p r u \ e r n e n O
r r n e r ' . i k p r h ec o r l f t | | n n
between counter-terrolsm capabilities dnd invesligrtiolls
rnd the existing emergencymanagemcntsysremsare under Ordering Information:
discussion.Nevenheless.mass rraumatrsmand its sinister U n i o no f S c i e n t i s t si n B L l l g a d aS, o f i a1 5 0 5 b
, lvd...Madrid..
iorm - chemical ter ism, remain cssential momcnts in 39, Bulgaria:Tel.: 359-2 9430128and Frx: 359-2 9441590
National Slrategiesfo. HomelandSecuriry. Ther arc stra- E mail : angelova@usb-bg.org
te8ic poinls in the mcdical sciencedue ro the emergenceof
new types of pathology, which require developmenr of Th€ l'able of Contents
adequateorganizalional,clinical and l.rboralory doctrines
connectedwith the lreatmeDtof a large nunber of injured
people.That includesxlso a new phjlosophyabout scientific Chrpter I
investigation.The Editors of the Scientific series Medical MassPoisonings
b) ChcmicalTo)(ic
Substdces
AspectsofChemical and BiohgicalTerrorism" in cotlabora
Chapter2
tron lvjth en]inentscientistsfrom difierent countriesprofess Medicallssuesot ChemicalTeroism
this new philosophy 1o help science combar rerrorisn
throughout the world. They are applying ihe shategy of Chapter3
. W T p r o l r m a C o m p r ' 1 . \ cA n a l i r : o l r h cC c , e .o . r h c
introducing different branchesof knowledge in lhe aim of F r v o l u i i o n 4A r m c dl - o r . eo. t C o l o m b .' aI A R c s ' ,t o q r e . h r n d
creatingnew methodsand resourcesfor anti tero st aciion. AumShinrikio(hishtech)
The secondissueoflhe series MedicalAspelts of Chem M r l r J o r E s p o n al s, n c c i oA l e o A t a d r c
ical and Biological Terrorism" is devotedto chemicalrenor AumShrinkyoandTeronsrUseofNerveAsenlin Japan
ism and traumatism. The success of the firs1 issue MilosStojiljkovic,Milo Jokdovic

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