Aquarium
"We have a very simple rule. It's a rouble to get in, but two to get out." Thus begins the extraordinary chronicle of Viktor Suvorov's early preferment within the Soviet Army which brought him to Vienna as a spy in military intelligence and ended in his defection to the West. Suvorov's path into espionage was a long one, and not one he chose for himself. Throughout this astonishing record of life on the General Staff of the Soviet Army, to which Suvorov was promoted after ordering his tank company to break out of the tank park by demolishing a wall, and within the elite units of sabotage troops which were his training ground before posting to the undercover residency abroad, it is clear that Suvorov had grave doubts about his entanglement with Soviet military intelligence - the GRU. Here Suvorov reveals for the first time what life was like for those who joined "the Aquarium" - the nickname for GRU headquarters. He talks about the twenty-four hour-a-day training; the arduous fieldwork practice in the back streets of Moscow; the competition between officers abroad to avoid being sent home to disgrace, or even to the crematorium; the daily grind of spying; and the secret operations in the towns and countryside of Europe, many of which were blinds devised only to test his loyalty. The end came when Suvorov knew that he had to inform on the one man in his residency whom he admired. Viktor Suvorov was a spy. He is now a writer.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
5people
2014–2024years
60% recommend40% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Victor Suvorov wrote about GRU illegals 40 years ago in Aquarium. For all the shade thrown at his writing since, it sure has aged well. Here we are with bombings, poisonings, corruption and GRU agents creeping around in Europe today.
He wrote that the traditional method to deal with traitors in the GRU is the headquarters furnace: wire the "guilty" to a gurney and feed them in alive.
His writing about Soviet military doctrine is visible today in Ukraine as well. A giant horde of "mechanized infantry," badly led. They're still using some of the same armor.
- Aquarium by Viktor Suvorov.
The "Aquarium" of the title is the nickname given to GRU headquarters in Moscow by those who work there. "What sort of fish are there swimming there?" asks Suvorov of his boss when he learns about it. "There's only one kind there—piranhas." ─ Wikipedia.
Book: https://archive.org/details/ViktorSuvorovAquariumTheCareerAn...
- Yeah, Viktor Suvorov is pretty interesting writer. This guy was a KGB agent who escaped to the West and published a lot of books. Another his book worth checking out is "Aquarium" - about his path from a spetznaz operator to KGB and then to escape.
- The original idea of nudging a vote this way was brought to my attention in a book by Viktor Suvorov (it was either Aquarium or The Liberators).
Some communist asshole wanted his nephew or something hired for some government position. He made the mistake of doing a vote by asking "all in favor?" because no-one raised their hands. What Suvorov suggested was the guy should've used "all opposed?". He said no one would've raised their hands neither but the result would've been very different ;)
- Spetsnaz - Victor Suvorov Aquarium - Victor Suvorov
There is a strong possibility he romanticizes or makes a lot of things up though. Some of the things he wrote did turn out to be true.
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