Pavel Sudoplatov
Pavel Sudoplatov | |
|---|---|
Pavel Sudoplatov in NKGB/MGB lieutenant general uniform | |
| Acting Head of the 5th Department of GUGB-NKVD | |
| In office June 9 1938 – November 2 1938 | |
| Preceded by | Zelman Passov |
| Succeeded by | Vladimir Dekanozov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov July 7, 1907 |
| Died | September 24, 1996 (aged 89) Moscow, Russia |
| Nickname | Viktor |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1919–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1953) |
| Branch/service | Red Army Cheka GPU OGPU NKVD MGB MVD |
| Years of service | 1919–1953 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars | Russian Civil War Spanish Civil War World War II Cold War |
Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov (Russian: Павел Анатольевич Судоплатов; Ukrainian: Павло́ Анато́лійович Судопла́тов, romanized: Pavlo Anatoliiovych Sudoplatov; July 7, 1907 – September 24, 1996) was a senior Soviet official in the intelligence services of the former Soviet Union whose career spanned over 34 years in the different intelligence branches of the Soviet Armed Forces.
Sudoplatov was involved in several major Soviet intelligence operations, including the assassination of Leon Trotsky in 1940 in Mexico, as well as Operation Scherhorn, a Soviet deception operation conducted during World War II. He also provided management of the Soviet espionage efforts which obtained information about the feasibility of the atomic bomb from the Manhattan Project. His autobiography, Special Tasks, published in 1994, made him well known outside the Soviet Union and provided a detailed account of Soviet intelligence and Soviet internal politics during his years at the top. However, some of his claims have been challenged by historians.