Kontrrazvedka

[5] This series of expropriations resulted in the development of an ad hoc intelligence apparatus by the militant anarchist organisations, which aided in the planning of raids and attacks through thorough research and reconnaissance.

[5] The Union of Poor Peasants, which carried out expropriations in Katerynoslav province, developed its own intelligence gathering operation during its targeted assassination of a police officer by Oleksandr Semenyuta.

[10] In February 1919, the insurgents entered into an alliance with the Red Army, integrating themselves into Pavel Dybenko's 1st Zadneprovsk Ukrainian Soviet Division, in return for armaments.

[11] Cherednyak, who had previously organised a counterintelligence detachment for the Southern Front of the Red Army, established the Kontrrazvedka, which was immediately tasked with carrying out requisitioning in order to supply provisions to the insurgent brigade.

[12] Among the new recruits were former members of the Union of Poor Peasants, including Oleksandr Lepechenko, Isidor Lyuty and Hryhory Vasylivsky, as well as veteran intelligence specialists, such as Yakov Glazgon, K. Kovalevich and P.

[18] Makhno himself reorganised the Kontrrazvedka around the 500 cavalry that formed his personal security service, the "Black Sotnia", a unit that became infamous due to its punitive actions.

[24] At this time, the Kontrrazvedka began infiltrating the Ukrainian People's Army (UPA) and reported that the nationalists had begun negotiations with the White movement at Khrystynivka.

[26] Some Ukrainian nationalists responded by defecting to the Makhnovists, who were integrated into the Free Cossack Insurgent Group following their investigation by the Kontrrazvedka, which continued surveilling their commanders and even executed some for having committing pogroms after joining.

[27] Meanwhile, other agents of the first Kontrrazvedka had signed up to Maria Nikiforova's terrorist detachment, which organised assassination attempts against leaders of the White movement, such as Anton Denikin and Alexander Kolchak.

[37] By the time that the Makhnovshchina was in control of most of southern and eastern Ukraine, the Kontrrazvedka itself had intelligence centres in every single major settlement, often situated in places that soldiers frequented, like taverns and cafes.

[39] The Civilian branch of the Kontrrazvedka was given largely unchecked power within the Makhnovist territory, which resulted in widespread use of cordon and search tactics and arrests of subversive persons.

[40] At this time, the Kontrrazvedka was led by Dmitry Popov, under whom the organisation developed a reputation for torture and arbitrary executions, fed by both Red and White reports.

[47] In all the major cities of southern Ukraine, the Kontrrazvedka carried out the expropriation of former White property from local banks and imposed levies on both landlords and the bourgeoisie.

[45] Although much of the looting was carried out in order to support the Insurgent Army, the Kontrrazvedka also redistributed the expropriated wealth to the urban poor, with thousands regularly queuing up outside their headquarters for portions and money also being transferred to city orphanages.

When the 1st Donetsk Corps withdrew from Oleksandrivsk on 3 November, Makhno ordered its counterintelligence division to remain behind and liquidate 80 of the city's Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.

[53] But these unilateral death sentences were prevented by Alexander Kalashnikov and Semen Karetnyk, the commanders of the 1st Corps, who requested confirmation from Viktor Bilash and had the Kontrrazvedka screen the arrested at a meeting.

[55] At the beginning of 1920, the combined assault of the Whites and Reds, along with the spread of epidemic typhus, brought an end to definitive Makhnovist control over southern Ukraine.

[58] The Kontrrazvedka also identified targets for insurgent attacks, resulting in the seizure of two million rubles from Red transports in Huliaipole and the capture of ten machine guns from the 42nd Division in Polohy.

[63] On 9 July 1920, at a meeting in Vremivka,[64] the newly constituted Revolutionary Insurgent Council (RPS) effectively abolished the Kontrrazvedka and unanimously voted to transfer its judicial and punitive functions to a new Commission for Anti-Makhnovist Activities (Ukrainian: Комісія Противмахноських Дел, romanized: Komisiya Protyvmakhnosʹkykh Del, KAD).

[65] During the meeting, the conduct of the Kontrrazvedka was criticised by Viktor Bilash, who personally pushed for the establishment of the KAD in its place, along with Yakiv Sukhovolski and Aron Baron.

[73] Despite their efforts against Alexander Kutepov's 1st Army Corps, on 25 October, the White Makhnovist division was defeated and disarmed at Melitopol, where their commander Volodin was shot.

[80] Meanwhile, the Cheka carried out a punitive campaign against suspected Makhnovist sympathisers in Ukraine, specifically aiming to destroy their peasant-based intelligence network, which constantly provided the insurgents with information about Bolshevik positions and numbers.

[82] During this period, the insurgent counterintelligence acted as a reconnaissance unit, gathering intelligence from peasants and securing provisions for the army, in order to ensure it kept moving.

[86] In August 1921, when the defeat of the Makhnovshchina had been assured, Lev Zadov led the retreat of the Makhnovist core into Romania by disguising themselves in Red Army uniform and disarming the border guards, before crossing the Dniester.

[87] Despite the predominance of the Kontrrazvedka, the insurgent army's agent network was largely based on a grass-roots system of covert Makhnovist organisations, partisan units and supply points.

[88] One of these cells was established by Lev Zadov himself, who after returning to Ukraine and becoming an operative for the OGPU, used his network to ensure the safe passage of exiled Makhnovists to Odesa, where 90 of them were exposed during the Purge.

[89] The Kontrrazvedka was subordinated to the Operations Section of the insurgent staff, which itself was under the supervision of the Military Revolutionary Council (VRS),[90] and established its own subdivisions in insurgent-occupied cities, where they procured provisions and hunted down members of the White movement.

[96] The Civilian Section, which included the counterintelligence divisions of the 1st and 2nd Corps, as well as Makhno's "Black Sotnia",[95] was tasked with hunting down and liquidating enemy agents in the Makhnovist territory.

[55] Each of the sentences passed during the Kontrrazvedka's campaign of "Black Terror" were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, either by members of the Nabat, the Huliaipole Anarchist Union or the Military Revolutionary Soviet.