Soviet Union and state-sponsored terrorism

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Terrorism and the Soviet Union
)
See also: State-sponsored terrorism § Soviet Union and Russia

The Soviet Union and some communist states have sponsored international terrorism on numerous occasions, especially during the Cold War.[1] NATO and also the Italian, German and British governments saw violence in the form of "communist fighting organizations" as a serious threat.[2]

State terrorism

While he denounced the terrorism which was employed by the

revolution in Russia, he argued that mass terror needed to be used in order to prevent anti-revolutionary mutinies.[3] Lenin had been influenced by the writings of radical revolutionary Sergey Nechayev and his manifesto which called for Jacobin style terror, saying that every communist revolutionary should read him.[4] Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder and first director of the Cheka secret police is quoted as saying "We stand for organized terror - this should be frankly admitted. Terror is an absolute necessity during times of revolution. Our aim is to fight against the enemies of the Soviet Government and of the new order of life. We judge quickly. In most cases only a day passes between the apprehension of the criminal and his sentence. When confronted with evidence criminals in almost every case confess; and what argument can have greater weight than a criminal's own confession?"[5]

Support of terrorist organizations

According to Soviet defector

Warsaw University killed a number of people, including professor Roman Orzęcki. Further bombings happened in Częstochowa, Kraków and Białystok.[6]

Soviet secret services have been described by

defectors Viktor Suvorov and Stanislav Lunev as "the primary instructors of terrorists worldwide."[7][8][9] The terrorism was seen by Soviet leadership as the only way to reduce the imbalance between USSR military and economical power against the Western world. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, KGB General Aleksandr Sakharovsky once said: "In today's world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon."[10] He also claimed that "airplane hijacking is my own invention" and that in 1969 alone, 82 planes were hijacked worldwide by the KGB-financed PLO.[10]

After defeat of Soviet-controlled Arab states in the

UN General Assembly Resolution 3379. Meanwhile, the cause of the Palestinian people who had suffered mass displacement and deportation with the establishment of the state of Israel and the subsequent wars in the region was promoted and the USSR gave active support to certain Palestinian rebel groups whose primary method of struggle is characterised as terrorism, such as the Palestinian Liberation Organization
(PLO).

The leader of the PLO,

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries office in Vienna in 1975. Advance notice of this operation "was almost certainly" given to the KGB.[12] Faisal al-Shammeri credits Soviet special services with sponsoring international terrorist organizations that emerged in Libya in 70-80's, Palestine Liberation Organization, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as continuation of these policies after the fall of the USSR.[14]

The

Abu Abbas, enjoyed protection at SB safe houses in Poland, especially in the 1980s. Communist Poland was also used as a transit country for money and weapon transfers for these organisations.[18][19][20][21]

A number of notable operations have been conducted by the KGB to support international terrorists with weapons on the orders from the

Soviet Communist Party
, including:

Cold War and terrorism

Large-scale sabotage operations may have been prepared by the

Victor Suvorov[9][25] and Stanislav Lunev, and Kouzminov.[26]
Among the planned operations were the following:

According to Lunev, a probable scenario in the event of war would be poisoning of the

biological war
, something we had already established that the West was not ready for," according to Kouzminov.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781412831277
    . Retrieved 2015-07-30. At its height, communism was the major threat to world peace, and by far the major source of international terrorism: that is, communist-inspired and/or communist-supported terrorism. Its hold on terrorist movements was not universal, however ...
  2. ISBN 978-0-275-98505-9
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-520-24709-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. ^ Wallace, Ian. "The Influences of Chernyshevsky, Tkachev, and Nechaev on the political thought of V.I. Lenin". ResearchGate.
  5. ISBN 978-1-315-48031-2
    .
  6. ^ Grigori Besedovsky (1931). Revelations of a Soviet Diplomat. London. p. 127.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-89526-390-4
    .
  8. ISBN 0-02-615510-9
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-241-11961-8
    .
  10. ^ a b Russian Footprints Archived 2007-02-13 at the Wayback Machine - by Ion Mihai Pacepa, National Review Online, August 24, 2006
  11. ISSN 0031-322X
    .
  12. ^ a b The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, pages 250-253
  13. ^ The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, page 145
  14. ^ "Russia and the origins of terrorism". Arab News. 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  15. ^ (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "My Mother, the Terrorist | Germany | DW.COM | 14.03.2006". DW.COM. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  16. ISBN 9788360335963
    .
  17. ^ "Terroryści pod ochroną wywiadu SB". 2009-12-14. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  18. ^ "Słynny terrorysta: Polski rząd szkolił naszych ludzi". Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-09-16.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  20. ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  21. ^ "Most: Tajna operacja Mossadu w Polsce - www.Focus.pl - Poznać i zrozumieć świat". Historia.Focus.pl. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  22. ^ KGB in Europe, page 502
  23. ^ This operation was sanctioned personally by Leonid Brezhnev in 1970. The weapons were delivered by the KGB vessel Kursograf. - KGB in Europe, pages 495-498
  24. ^ Mitrokhin Archive, The KGB in Europe, page 472-476
  25. ISBN 0-241-11961-8
  26. ISBN 1-85367-646-2 "Interview: Alexander Kouzminov, Author of Biological Espionage". Archived from the original
    on 2005-04-25. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  27. ^ The KGB in Europe, page 475-476
  28. ISBN 0-89526-390-4 These portable bombs can last for many years if wired to an electric source. "In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message – either by satellite or directly to a GRU
    post at a Russian embassy or consulate."
  29. ^ KGB in Europe, page 499-500
  30. ^ The KGB in Europe, page 472-473
  31. ^ a b c The KGB in Europe, page 473
  32. ^ The KGB in Europe, page 473-474
  33. ^ Lunev, pages 29-30
  34. ^ Kusminov, pages 35-36.

Further reading

  • Hänni, Adrian; Riegler, Thomas; Orzemyslaw, Gasztold (2020). Terrorism in the cold war : State Support in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Sphere of Influence. London.
    OCLC 1195717106.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
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