An exhibition «Without the Right to Glory, for the Glory of the State» opened at the museum’s branch

At the branch of the museum «Gorokhovaya, 2. History of Political Police and State Security Agencies of Russia. XIX-XX centuries» on December 2 opened an exhibition «Without the Right to Glory, for the Glory of the State». Timed to the 100th anniversary of the illegal intelligence.

Elena Anatolievna Lysenko, acting general director of the Museum of Political History of Russia, made a welcoming speech. She noted that the exhibition was the second part of the project supported by the Russian Historical Society and thanked the Foundation «History of the Fatherland» for the financial support, as well as other partners, in particular the Moscow State Museum of Russian Literature, which provided interesting materials. The Museum has become a Saint-Petersburg venue, which marked with a thematic project the anniversary date of illegal intelligence activities in Russia. The first part of the project was the All-Russian scientific and practical conference «Activities of Russian foreign intelligence service in the XIX-XXI centuries. To the 100th Anniversary of the Illegal Intelligence» (April 21-22, 2022), on the materials of which a collection of articles was published.

The opening ceremony was attended by Konstantin Mogilevsky, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society and Executive Director of the foundation «History of the Fatherland», who congratulated the museum with the important event and admitted that the exhibition gave a unique opportunity to present documentary materials from Moscow in Saint-Petersburg. The exhibits allow to learn about people who performed great feats, consciously gave their lives for the benefit of the homeland and compatriots, for the freedom and independence of their country, and at the same time doomed themselves to obscurity.

For Sergey Sergeyevich Yakovlev, a historian of foreign intelligence, the materials of the exhibition became a reminder of the people with whom he worked, of his friends. Thanks to museum projects, as time passes, some pages of the secret history become accessible to a wide circle of visitors.

Alexei Esipov, grandson of the intelligence officer Viktor Alexandrovich Lyagin, presented authentic letters from his personal family archive to the museum at the opening of the exhibition. The museum’s staff is always grateful and appreciative of the donors who add unique documents and items to the museum’s collections, including those on the subject presented at the exhibition.

The heroes of the exhibition - Soviet spies illegal immigrants in 1920-1990s: D.A. Bystroletov, P.A. Sudoplatov, N.I. Kuznetsov, V.G. Fischer (R.I. Abel), A.M. Kozlov and others. The exhibition tells about the fate of illegal spies in the 1920s-1930s, who stood at the origins of illegal intelligence, what role in the victory over Nazi Germany played the intelligence from illegal positions, what success has been achieved by members of intelligence agencies during the Cold War. The exhibits include personal belongings of illegal spies, documents, photos, as well as a collection of special equipment used by intelligence officers in operational work, which can lift the veil of secrecy about the work of spies. Most of the exhibits, provided specially for the exhibition by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, will be shown to the public for the first time.

The Museum thanks the guests, who participated in the opening ceremony, and invites everyone to visit the exhibition «Without the Right to Glory, for the Glory of the state», opened to mark the 100th anniversary of the illegal intelligence service.