THE ART OF RUSSIAN DECEPTION – THE “MATRYOSHKA SYSTEM” OF SOVIET INTELLIGENCE
By: Robert Nogacki
Photo: Exact Words
Ever wonder how Soviet intelligence managed to fool so many people for so long? A brilliant article by Marek Świerczek (2018) reveals their ingenious “matryoshka system” of deception – named after those famous nested Russian dolls, where each layer reveals another inside.
Here’s how it worked: When one deception was uncovered, the Soviets wouldn’t just admit defeat. Instead, they’d immediately present their targets with new, seemingly independent sources that appeared to expose and verify the original deception. But plot twist – these new sources were also controlled by Soviet intelligence !
A perfect example:
From 1921 to 1927, Soviet intelligence ran a fake “monarchist organization” called MOCR-Trust that claimed to be an underground resistance network of anti-Bolshevik military officers inside the USSR. The genius? They convinced Western intelligence agencies AND Russian émigré leaders that this was their golden ticket to intelligence about the Soviet Union.
In 1927, when their massive “MOCR-Trust” deception operation was exposed, the Soviets didn’t skip a beat. They immediately had multiple “independent” figures and organizations step forward to “reveal the truth” about Trust. Each seemed to offer a different perspective:- They had some sources claim only parts of Trust were compromised
– Others suggested alternative organizations like “Eurasia” and “Brotherhood of Russian Truth” were still legitimate (spoiler: they weren’t)
– They planted conflicting stories about key events to create confusion
– They even had their own agents publicly discredit other Soviet agents to build credibility!
The genius of the matryoshka system was giving targets the illusion of verification. If you didn’t trust Source A, you could “verify” with Sources B and C – not realizing all were Soviet-controlled. It’s like a shell game where you think you’re smart enough to follow the ball, but the whole game is rigged.
Some fascinating details:
– They used everything from fake monarchists to fake progressives, knowing different targets would trust different ideological sources
– They even had their own agents publicly accuse other Soviet agents of being spies – just to build credibility!
– The system was so effective that some emigres continued believing in parts of these operations until their deaths
– They would deliberately plant obviously false information in their own media, just so their other sources would seem more credible by “exposing” it
