| Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 20, 1947 Primorsky Krai, USSR |
| Notable work(s) | Aquarium, Icebreaker |
Viktor Suvorov (Russian: Ви́ктор Суво́ров) is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun (Russian: Влади́мир Богда́нович Резу́н, Ukrainian: Volodymyr Bohdanovych Rizun, Володимир Богданович Різун) (born April 20, 1947 in Primorsky Krai), a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence (GRU) spy who defected to the UK. Suvorov made his name writing books about history of the Soviet Army, GRU, and Spetsnaz, but it was the Icebreaker about role of the Soviet Union in World War II that spurred considerable debate and controversy.
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Suvorov began his service in the Soviet Army's 41st Guards Tank Division,[1] and worked in Soviet military intelligence (GRU) before defecting to the United Kingdom in 1978, where he worked as an intelligence analyst and lecturer. At the time he was working in Geneva, Switzerland under United Nations cover. Rezun was smuggled out of the country to England with his wife and two young children. A career soldier, he had participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and had later supervised the training of the elite Spetsnaz special forces. He had also undertaken missions in Munich, Rome, Basel, Amsterdam, Vienna and Hamburg.[2]
Suvorov has written several books about his Soviet Army experiences and also joined the team led by the British General Sir John Hackett in writing the book The Third World War: The Untold Story.[3] Published in 1982, this book was the sequel to the 1978 original The Third World War,[4] in which Hackett and his team had speculated about the possible course of a Soviet/NATO war in Germany.
Suvorov made his name writing books about the contemporary Soviet Army, GRU, and Spetsnaz (Soviet Army's special forces). His publications included Aquarium, GRU, and The Liberators.
Suvorov wrote many books about the outbreak of the Nazi-Soviet War in 1941 and circumstances that led to it. The first such work was Icebreaker, with many others to follow. Suvorov's provocative idea is that Joseph Stalin originally planned to use Nazi Germany as a proxy (the “Icebreaker”) against the West. For this reason Stalin provided material and political support to Adolf Hitler, while at the same time preparing his Red Army for an offensive against Nazi Germany and further against all of Western Europe. Suvorov argued that Hitler had no choice but to direct a unexpected preemptive strike at the Soviet Union, what we know today as Operation Barbarossa. In the end, Stalin was able to achieve some of his objectives by establishing Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and Asia. However this victory according to Suvorov was unsatisfying to Stalin, as he intended to bring Soviet domination to the whole continent of Europe.
Suvorov's assertions remain a matter of debate among historians, and the final result of the debate is not yet clear. See Soviet offensive plans controversy for details on the debate.
In some countries, particularly in Russia, Germany and Israel, Suvorov's controversial theses have left the bounds of academic discourse and captured the public imagination.[5]
Although the debate concerns the events of more than a half-a-century-old history, it can indirectly affect contemporary public sentiments about the true nature of the best known and much praised historical collaboration between the democratic and communist regimes. Preserving the officially accepted model of the Second World War (that Hitler was the sole initiator of the war, that Stalin tried to avoid the war, and that the collaboration of the leading Western democracies with Stalin's authoritarian regime was justified by the events of the time) is arguably more acceptable for most of the world's historians and general public, both Western and Eastern. On the contrary, the new historical model of the Second World War (that Stalin was the active supporter of Hitler's aggressive plans for the world war, that Stalin was planning to use the World War to his own advantage to further spreading of the communist ideology, and most importantly, that Stalin manipulated both Hitler and Western leaders to his own advantage) might upset both professional historians and people's sentiments in both Western and Eastern countries for different reasons.
Suvorov wrote some fiction set in World War II era in the Soviet Union.