Analysis

   The Soviet services had a different approach to intelligence analysis than Western states. Joseph Stalin told his intelligence chiefs that he wanted factual information and documents, not political analysis, which was to be left to the chief of state and his trusted lieutenants. Stalin rejected efforts by the NKVD and GRU to provide analysis of Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s preparations for war against the Soviet Union in 1941, insisting that intelligence officers were easily deceived.

   Stalin read analysis of American weapons systems with far greater interest. As a result of analytical reporting in 1942 and 1943 concerning the Anglo-American nuclear weapons program by the NKVD and the GRU, he authorized scarce resources for a Soviet nuclear bomb. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, Stalin asked for reporting on U.S. nuclear developments, which the Soviets codenamed Enormoz.

   The KGB had a small analytic service compared to the Directorate of Intelligence of the Central Intelligence Agency. Political information was sent to the Communist Party’s Central Committee for action. According to former Soviet intelligence officers and diplomats, senior KGB officers were warned by the political leadership not to present their analysis of current issues—that was the responsibility of the Communist Party. The KGB did have a major center of scientific and technological analysis, which allowed them to work closely with the Soviet military industries. Important material was moved quickly from the intelligence service to the military industrial complex to enhance the construction of Soviet weapon systems.

   The GRU had an analytical component responsible for preparing daily analytical reports for the minister of defense and the chief of the general staff. The GRU also prepared detailed analytical reports on the troops and weapons systems of adversaries. Intelligence was integrated into military decision making, and the chief of the GRU also served as deputy chief of the Red Army General Staff.