Управление Особых Отделов при НКВД СССР, (UOO) was an organization created in 1941 to conduct military counterintelligence under one command.
From May 1918, the KRB was changed and acted as a Department for Fighting with Espionage in the framework of the Counter-Revolution and Sabotage Division within the VCheka, under the leadership of Yakov Blumkin.
The department existed only until July 6, when the fight against espionage was taken over by the newly formed Military Sub-Branch, headed by Janushevski.
The Narkomat of Defense issued a directive creating mobile barrier forces composed of NKVD personnel to operate on roads, railways, forests, etc.
[1] But those self-named mobile barrier forces didn't have the workforce nor manpower as the one introduced by Stalin's famous Order No.
The notorious NKVD and newly created NKGB were the main repression tools in Stalin's police state.
In July 1941, the People's Commissariat of State Security, headed by Vsevolod Merkulov, was liquidated and its main units, the I, II, and III Directorates, supporting departments, and sections were put under NKVD control.
They officially answered directly to Beria, the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs but on numerous occasions were called by Stalin's personal secretary Alexander Poskrebyshev.
This job was left to secret service bosses NKVD chief Lavrenty Beria and NKGB People's Commissar for state security Vsevolod Merkulov.
[4][5] The decision to create one Military counterintelligence organ subordinate to one command was made on July 17, 1941, by Chairman of the State Defense Committee Iosif Stalin, with the decree number GKO-187/ss.
Not only he was in charge of the whole Military counterintelligence apparatus (except the Navy branch, which was headed by Alexander Petrov as the 3rd NKVMF Directorate.
Military tribunals were charged with hearing not only cases of servicemen if they involved threats to the defense of the Soviet Union or state security.
This organization was known as the Navy UKR SMERSH and was headed by Peter Gladkov and his two deputies Aleksei Lebedev and Sergei Dukhovich.
Formally Gladkov was subordinate to his superior People's Commissar Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, head of the Navy.