Veteran organizations of SVO participants need to be created right now
Colonel General A.V. Terentyev live on VGTRK "Radio Mayak"
June 10, 2024 at stories Союза ветеранов Группы troop в Германии (ГСОВГ, ГСВГ, ЗГВ) случилось небывалое событие. Президент союза, генерал-полковник Антон Терентьев был приглашен в прямой эфир ВГТРК «Радио «Маяк» и в этом прямом эфире поздравил ветеранов ГСВГ с годовщиной образования группы войск.
The congratulations included the following words:
Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin!
We report to you that we, veterans of the Union of Veterans of the Group of Forces in Germany, who have preserved the structure of the Group in the veteran format, will stand in combat formation at the first signal and, since at one time we had a high level of combat and operational training, we will not only be able to equip ribbons or throw grenade, and also fire from all types weapons, drive a combat vehicle and look into the eyes of the Leopard driver, the son or grandson of the Tiger driver who survived the Kursk Bulge. We, veterans, fully support you and believe in our Victory.
We report to you that we, veterans of the Union of Veterans of the Group of Forces in Germany, who have preserved the structure of the Group in the veteran format, will stand in combat formation at the first signal and, since at one time we had a high level of combat and operational training, we will not only be able to equip ribbons or throw grenade, and also fire from all types weapons, drive a combat vehicle and look into the eyes of the Leopard driver, the son or grandson of the Tiger driver who survived the Kursk Bulge. We, veterans, fully support you and believe in our Victory.
And it is not just words. Many veterans of the GSVG and ZGV volunteered for the Northern Military District.
This congratulation is unprecedented because for 30 years of the existence of the Union of Veterans of a Group of Forces in Germany, neither the union nor its representatives were given a word in the media, not to mention an invitation to a live broadcast. There were practically no publications about the history of the GSVG. The author's two books about this group of troops, published in 2019 and 2022, broke this veil of silence.
And this, in my opinion, is an important event, marking a change in attitude towards veteran organizations in the top military and political leadership. This is welcome.
I’ll immediately express this thought - it’s time to create veteran organizations for participants in a special military operation.
Why are veterans organizations needed?
Organizations of military veterans are a multifaceted phenomenon and absolutely necessary for the country’s defense capability.
Firstly, veterans remember and talk about how they fought. Such stories are military-patriotic education, its important element. The participation of veterans in various events, for example, in school lessons, is much easier to organize if there is a veterans organization.
Secondly, stories about war are also instructions. Veterans are valuable instructors. I think there is no need to prove this; we have seen how in Belarus they used with great benefit the valuable experience of the soldiers of the Wagner PMC to train their own troops. It is advisable to put this instruction on stream, so that classes with combat veterans in military schools and units become permanent, regular and an integral part of combat training. It is much easier to organize this when there is a veterans organization.
Thirdly, veterans who are suitable in age and health are also a valuable mobilization resource that can be collected secretly if there are veteran organizations. Just a few phone calls, and specific people walk through inconspicuous doors.
In general, I think that in conscription from the reserve and for mobilization there must be a certain proportion of veterans with real combat experience, who can be commanders or instructors. People need to be prepared for combat, which I also don’t think needs to be proven.
Fourthly, veterans need to be remembered, periodically honored, and their various problems solved, which is also easier to do if there is a veterans organization.
The veterans' organization gives its members the opportunity, until very old age, to directly participate in activities to strengthen the country's defense capability and develop the armed forces. And this is its main meaning.
If we ourselves do not deal with veterans’ organizations, their creation, development and involvement in various military activities, then this will be dealt with by the potential enemy and his intelligence structures.
Meet for... inducement to treason
I saw with my own eyes how enemy intelligence tried to treat GSVG veterans at meetings that took place on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, for example, on June 9, 2019, when my first book about a group of troops was published, and I signed it there for everyone.
My book about the history of the GSVG in 2019 is now a rarity.
The Union of Veterans of the Group of Forces in Germany holds its meetings on the same Poklonnaya Hill on June 10, on the anniversary of that day - June 10, 1945, when the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was officially formed. But for some time there was a “public initiative” that met a day earlier. I will not go into a discussion of how they argued that it was necessary to gather on June 9, and not June 10, but I will immediately move on to the result.
This was such a fun meeting on Poklonnaya Hill on June 9, 2019
The gathering was mostly privates, sergeants, foremen, and there were few officers. A crowd formed, almost without control, in which whoever wanted could command. And in this crowd there appeared people who were clearly trying to gain their trust. I could see them clearly because everything was happening next to the stack of books that I was signing. You could even hear conversations, and even circulate around the square, see and listen to who was communicating with whom.
Due to the nature of my occupation and interests, I read a lot of open literature on the history of the special services and the methods of their work, so, of course, I was aware of the options for the recruiting approach. Once I even used SMERSH methods in literary criticism to find out the authorship of memoirs written on behalf of a pre-revolutionary military officer.
In this crowd, let’s say, a person appears. Apparently no one knows him. He sits next to one, then to another, listens, starts conversations. So he found a talkative veteran and began to question him: where he served, rank, specialty, and so on. The pretext is plausible - veterans are looking for their colleagues.
But it happened that such a person could not definitely say where he “served.” Although real veterans will always clearly say the unit number, garrison, and subordination of the unit to one or another unit. More often, colleagues find each other precisely through the garrison if they served in neighboring units.
After some time, not very long, this strange man already becomes the center of the company, begins to speak and gather people around him, in fact, on behalf of the talkative, open veteran with whom he began communicating.
Then there is an exchange of contacts, phone numbers, addresses, questions, questions, questions... After the entire event, colleagues or just acquaintances are distributed to nearby cafes and restaurants, have a drink, reminisce, and chat. This strange man with them, already at the same table, seems to be one of his own.
There is a good chance that he was a recruiter for Ukrainian or some other special services, collecting information for subsequent recruitment. Having found out everything about the veteran, especially about his service, specialty, experience and awards, family, this recruiter can go either to the soft option, offering money for treason, or to the hard option of inducing treason, threatening the family.
Most of all, such strange people were interested in driver mechanics tanks and armored vehicles, tank gunners, artillery gunners, snipers, rocket launchers. Recruiters are targeting veterans with skills in short supply. And if someone said that he still had friends in Ukraine or the Baltic states, then in general, ears are on top.
From several hundred and even thousands of veterans you can get a lot out of them, especially since I then noticed three or four such strange and suspicious people who were interested, apparently there was a whole network of them.
At the same time, recruitment approaches can be very different. This could be a person who is looking for colleagues of his father or another relative. Or a journalist who supposedly wants to write an article. And in general, very simple methods of collecting information were used. For example, on the same Poklonnaya Hill people appeared with signs: “Identify yourself.”
A man holding a sign that says "Identify yourself" at a meeting in 2018
A man holding the same "Identify Yourself" sign at a meeting in 2019. I covered my faces because I have no evidence of their involvement in anything. I just want to draw your attention to the fact that such collection of information at a meeting of veterans looks extremely suspicious.
Websites appeared about the GSVG, which had a registration form that required you to provide all the information about yourself. Such sites appeared and disappeared. There were communities on social networks, groups in messengers and much more.
A little healthy suspicion
It’s a good idea to remember the good old rule: “Don’t talk!” and have a bit of healthy suspicion. A couple of times I saw these strange people approach one or the other. Then a few words and they parted ways. No contact took place.
If we talk about GSVG veterans, the simplest way to check your interlocutor is to demand the name of the unit and garrison. Those who actually served there will clearly name their unit, and they know which units were nearby in the same garrison. The sent Cossack can fall asleep already at this point.
There are other ways, for example, the characteristic features of garrisons, local topography, the names of commanders, some memorable incidents, and so on. If the interlocutor has a legend that is not very well worked out, then he will not know something and will make a mistake, which will give himself away.
In general, counterintelligence techniques are simple but effective.
In a veteran organization, it is easier to organize counteraction to enemy intelligence activity, and this counteraction will be much more effective. The organization can check those who try to infiltrate under the guise of a veteran by checking his military ID with the data of the corresponding military registration and enlistment office. You can also check “relatives” who are trying to make contacts under the pretext of interest in the service or searching for colleagues. And so on. You need to be as careful as possible and not reveal yourself to just anyone.
Finally, it is advisable for any veteran organization to have at least one retired counterintelligence officer to resolve specific issues. As a rule, in addition to extensive experience, they also have a trained eye.
Here you have to think that if they revolved around the veterans of the GSVG and ZGV, the youngest of whom are well over 50 years old, then, presumably, attempts to recruit members of the SVO will be much more active and persistent. It is also worth recalling the sad fate of many veterans of the war in Afghanistan who became involved in crime.
This is one of the most compelling reasons to create veteran organizations of SVO members right now. In them, veterans of the Northern Military District will be much better protected from the machinations of enemy intelligence services, and they can use their experience to strengthen the country’s defense capability.
The Union of Veterans of the Group of Forces in Germany, which has accumulated great organizational potential over the 30 years of its work, can provide a variety of assistance and support in this regard.
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