Ivashutin, Petr Ivanovich

(1909–2002)

   The longest serving chief of any Soviet intelligence service, Ivashutin made the GRU the world’s largest military intelligence service. Ivashutin entered the OGPU in the early 1930s. He served in the Great Patriotic War in Smersh as the chief of counterintelligence in three different Red Army fronts. In 1946 he transferred to the MGB and served in the Ukraine in 1952–1953 as security chief, then was promoted head of the Third (Military Counterintelligence) Chief Directorate. Known as a tough counterintelligence officer, he was promoted to the post of KGB deputy chair in 1960. In 1962 he was responsible for crushing economic riots in Novocherkassk. In 1963, following revelations about the Central Intelligence Agency’s recruitment of military intelligence officers, Ivashutin was made chief of the GRU.

   During his tenure, the GRU became a full-service intelligence agency. Ivashutin broadened the technical and human intelligence capabilities of the service. The GRU expanded the number of officers under diplomatic cover in Soviet diplomatic and trade missions and became the primary producer of Soviet technical intelligence. During the more than 23 years he led the service, the GRU developed imagery and signals intelligence satellites, as well as aircraft and ships to collect intelligence. The GRU also greatly expanded its Spetznaz forces, and by his retirement in 1986 the GRU commanded the largest unconventional warfare force of any army. While most KGB chairs are well known in the West, Ivashutin kept a very low profile. However, he played a key role in the Ministry of Defense in war planning and strategy as well as intelligence. His title at retirement, age 75, was Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

   See also Popov, Petr; Penkovskiy, Oleg; Serov, Ivan.