Russia re-establishing Soviet unit 'SMERSH' - British intelligence

Russia has decided to re-establish the Soviet counter-intelligence (CI) organization "SMERSH" and in early January 2024, an open-source image showed operatives apparently wearing Smersh uniform patches.

The British Defense Ministry said this in a post on the X social media platform, Ukrinform reports.

Russian politicians announced the re-establishment of "Smersh" in late 2023. An abbreviation of the Russian phrase for "death to spies," Joseph Stalin established the original organization which existed from 1941-1946. In the West, it became known via its fictionalized portrayal in Ian Fleming's James Bond books.

According to British intelligence, it is unclear whether the new name indicates any substantive new capabilities or role for Russia's CI function, or whether it is merely a re-badging.

"However, it provides another example of how the Russian authorities consciously couch the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the spirit of the Second World War, and their strong focus on the supposed infiltration of external threats into the country," the ministry said.