Rezident

   The Russian word for chief of the intelligence presence in a city or country is rezident (resident). Both the KGB and the GRU used the term. (The American equivalent is chief of station, or COS). KGB residents had tremendous power in Soviet missions during the Joseph Stalin era, often surpassing that of ambassadors. After 1953 there was a gradual change, and “straight” diplomats—as opposed to intelligence officers—gained more authority. The Soviet services often appointed the senior illegal in a country as “illegal rezident,” with the authority to take over existing intelligence networks in case of war or a breakdown of diplomatic relations. William Fisher, for example, was the illegal rezident in New York City from 1949 to 1957. GRU and NKVD networks in occupied Europe were managed by illegal rezidents, many of whom were not commissioned officers in the Soviet services.