When the Great Patriotic War began local branches of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) interacted with the SMERSH counter-intelligence military agency and focused on fighting with Nazi reconnaissance services. Thus, during the battle of Moscow military counter-intelligence agencies neutralized over 200 agents and 50 reconnaissance and sabotage groups. That helped disrupt German Typhoon Offensive. Throughout the war they neutralized about 3,5 thousand spies and over 6 thousand agents-paratroopers. From late 1941 till September 1943 the reconnaissance agency was ill-informing the opponent with 80 captured spies with radio-sets who broadcast to the ether what they had been told by the Soviet Security Service.
NKVD-NKGB included 4th front Directorate of the USSR NKVD under the lead of P. Sudoplatov. The Directorate worked pretty successfully. Main tasks of this department were reconnaissance and sabotage in the opponent’s deep rear. They used specially trained groups of agents, contact people and spies both military and civil.
Throughout the war NKVD-NKGB engaged about 15 thousand intelligence officers as members of task forces. 23 of these officers became Heroes of the Soviet Union. In total the departments of 4th Directorate of the USSR NKVD and Separate Motor-Rifle Battalion of Special Assignment eliminated over 157 Hitler’s agents, 87 high-ranking Nazi officials, exposed and neutralized over 2 thousand agent groups of the opponent.
The Great Patriotic War took lives of 37 brave counter-intelligence agents called up from Bashkir ASSR. 5 of them were acting officers of BASSR NKGB Directorate; their names were senior lieutenant I. Adigamov, lieutenant V. Vinogradov, senior lieutenant P. Gnedkov, lieutenant L. Dergunov, lieutenant N. Minogin.
7 security officers were entitled as Heroes of the Soviet Union.
