VIKTOR PETROV AS A SOVIET INTELLIGENCE AGENT IN GERMANY
Introduction
Less than eight months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, through the volunteer efforts of Ganna Gnedkova (a former citizen of Ukraine) and her husband Peter Marius Huemer, a small book (144 pages) was published by the Septime Verlag, containing the first translation into German of a literary work by writer V. Domontovych from the Ukrainian original. We are talking about Viktor Petrov's first attempt at writing (1928), The Girl with the Bear[1], which echoes the plot of the famous work of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (the first poetic sketch of which was also published in 1928).
Petrov published all his subsequent literary works under the pseudonym V. Domontovych. The fact that pro-Ukrainian public activists have chosen the figure and work of Viktor Petrov as the calling card of modern Ukrainian culture in the German-speaking world is eloquent evidence of the state of perception of this figure in Ukraine. Hundreds of studies and publications of Viktor Petrov's works over the past thirty years have proven sufficient, given their insufficiently critical perception of the subject, to mythologize his imaginary image, which primarily appears today in the social discourse of Ukraine as the brilliant Ukrainian writer V. Domontovych, the original philosopher and culturologist V. Ber, archaeologist, folklorist and literary critic V. Petrov[2].
[1] W. Domontowytsch. Das Mädchen mit dem Bären. Roman. Wien 2022.
[2] Among the most famous researchers of Petrov's biography were such well-known literary experts and historians as Yurii Sherekh, Solomiya Pavlychko, Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi, Vira Ageeva, and Andrii Portnov.
Viktor Petrov in the light of Soviet state security documents
Until recently, in Ukraine, they preferred not to particularly discuss and delve into the complex issue of the Russian and Soviet side of the personality of Viktor Platonovych Petrov (1894-1969), the son of a high-ranking cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church: They say that there are only unproven documentary hints about this from Petrov's contemporaries and some incomprehensible circumstances of his biography. The recent publication of Petrov's correspondence with his beloved woman, Sofia Zerova, clearly presented his Russian thinking and language[3].
The moment of truth came after 2020, when the “Secret” stamp was removed from the 4-volume file of the People’s Commissariat (since 1946 – the Ministry of State Security) on its agent from 1936 until the end of his life, “Ivanov” (the operational pseudonym of Viktor Petrov) [4]. My latest book The (un)secret history of Viktor Petrov: seventeen moments from the life of a soviet state security agent, has just been published by the Ukrainian Catholic University[5], was written based on these documents. This book portrays Petrov not as an outstanding Ukrainian humanitarian, but, on the contrary, as an insidious figure of anti-Ukrainian orientation, a deadly cog in the Soviet surveillance and espionage system. One of the central plots of the book was Petrov / “Ivanov”'s stay in Germany on the assignment of Soviet intelligence.
[3] В. Петров. Листи до Софії Зерової / упор. В. Сергієнко. Київ 2021.
[4] Галузевий державний архів Служби зовнішньо розвідки України (ГДА СЗРУ). Ф. 1. Спр. 11797. Т. 1-4.
[5] В. Ададуров. (Не)таємна історія Віктора Петрова. 17 миттєвостей з життя агента радянської держбезпеки. Львів 2025.
Soviet agent “Ivanov” in the Third Reich
Having crossed the front line on February 24, 1942, under the guise of a deserter from the Red Army, Petrov was carrying out a secret mission, which was as follows:
"Ivanov" is allowed to publish his scientific works in the press hostile to us with amendments that will allow "Ivanov" to gain the trust of German, Italian fascists, and Ukrainian nationalist circles. […] "Ivanov" declares his sympathies and attachment to German culture and justifies his move to the side of the Germans with hatred of the Bolsheviks and everything Russian. […] With the retreat of German troops from Kyiv, “Ivanov” tries to emigrate with the German troops, settles abroad and continues intelligence work there for the benefit of the USSR[6].
The agile Petrov, who spoke German, managed to join the German propaganda unit (Propaganda Abteilung) in September 1942, where he edited the magazine Ukrainian Sowing (in which he included his roman Without Soil, signed under the pseudonym V. Domontovych).On the recommendation of the head of the unit, Franz Weiss, Petrov visited Berlin for the first time in his life in December 1942, where he established personal contacts with the head of the Ukrainian Scientific Institute, Ivan Mirchuk, and his employee, Borys Krupnytskyi. With the help of his literary works (including The Girl with the Bear), he managed to gain trust. Petrov also made a study tour of of various cities in Germany, where he returned for the second time in ten months, on November 23, 1943, and remained there permanently, becoming an employee of the Ukrainian section of the “Vineta” of the department of the Ministry of Education and Propaganda, headed by Pavel Zaitsev.
It was in Berlin, having immersed himself in the Ukrainian émigré environment, that he first let Soviet intelligence know that he wanted to get in touch with them. He did this by placing the signature V. Ber, authorized by the intelligence authorities, under his works published in the émigré press (disproving the myth present in Ukrainian humanities that this was a pseudonym of Petrov as a philosopher).
[6] Там само. С. 95-96.
“Ivanov”'s espionage activities in the American occupation zone of Germany
Shortly before the storming of Berlin by the Soviet army, on February 6, 1945, Petrov left the German capital together with the employees of the Mirchuk Institute. Later (until June 1945), he lived in Leipzig, from where he went to the city of Fürth in Bavaria, where he remained until March 1946. His last place of residence in Germany was Munich. Petrov also constantly traveled through Bavaria, which was part of the American occupation zone. At that time, Petrov was a member of many Ukrainian literary (MUR), scientific (Shevchenko Scientific Society, Ukrainian Scientific Institute, Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences), and press associations (Zyttia, Ark), and taught at the educational institutions (Ukrainian Technical business institute in Regensburg, Ukrainian Free University in Munich). In Bavaria, he regularly communicated with leading figures of the Ukrainian intellectual and political elite (Ivan Bagryanii, Yurii Klen, Yurii Kosach, Borys Krupnytskyi, Volodymyr Kubiyovych, Zenon Kuzelya, Lev Okinshevich, Natalya Polonska-Vasylenko, Ulas Samchuk, Yurii Sherekh, Pavlo Zaitsev, leaders of the Organizations of Ukrainian nationalists such as Andrii Melnyk and Yaroslav Stetsko), so he was well informed about the state of affairs and relations in emigre circles, and their relations with the American and German authorities. Officially assigned to the DP camp in Mittenwald, he visited there from time to time, receiving various kinds of information from the emigrants. In Augsburg, he participated in conferences of Ukrainian scientists. Since 1945, he used the pseudonym V. Ber under his publications in the Ukrainian press. And finally, on September 21, 1948, Soviet intelligence, after many unsuccessful attempts, managed to restore contact with their agent. Petrov's first and many subsequent meetings with liaison agents took place in his room, which he rented from Frau Deller at 12, Feilitzstrasse, either in the English Garden in Munich or at the Nuremberg train station.
Agent “Ivanov”'s reports were considered very valuable by Soviet intelligence, whose leaders repeatedly acknowledged this fact. Written on many dozens of pages, they contained portraits of the entire Ukrainian nationalist emigration - its leaders, institutions, sentiments, a lot of personal information about prominent figures in political, public and cultural life (including their addresses and contacts). His interlocutors, not realizing that a Soviet intelligence officer was talking to them, involuntarily told him various secrets. The 1st Directorate (intelligence) of the Ministry of State Security gave “Ivanov” the task of getting close to the leading figures of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Peoples (Melnyk, Bandera, Stetsko, etc.) to learn about their plans, ties with the Americans and contacts with the underground in the USSR. The cautious and cunning Petrov, however, understood that this was too dangerous and therefore asked to be evacuated to his homeland, to the USSR. He motivated this by his advanced age, chronic illnesses, and inability to engage in scientific activities. However, he expressed his readiness, as a devoted Soviet citizen, to fulfill any assignment of the Center. For his work, he received a significant and permanent reward in West German marks (a total of several thousand), which allowed him to escape poverty and starvation.
Conclusion
At 7 p.m. on April 18, 1949, a signalman known to him, “Ivan Ivanovich”, suddenly arrived at Petrov's apartment. He reported with concern:
There are suspicions that you are in danger, and therefore it has been decided to call you from Munich, and I have been ordered to help you cross the demarcation line. It is necessary that you immediately take the most necessary things and, if possible, leave Munich as soon as possible.
From the “Ivanov” report, Berlin, 22/IV/1949:
They immediately began packing; it was necessary to take the most necessary things. Since there were not many things, preparation for departure could not and did not take much time. Basically, in an hour and a half or two everything was prepared, since Ivan Ivanovich helped the source pack the backpack. Everything was done except one thing: the manuscripts were not prepared in time, and it was impossible to take them all. Despite the haste and unexpectedness of the departure, nothing was forgotten: notes with the text of orders were destroyed, and individual preparatory drafts for the texts of the main broadcasts were destroyed[7].
Two days later, having illegally crossed the demarcation line near the town of Eschwege, Petrov was already in the Soviet occupation zone. He began writing reports about his intelligence. From then on, he enjoyed the respect and support (including material) of the Soviet secret services.Returning to Moscow in June 1949 (where he remained until 1956), Petrov did not mention a single word about his Ukrainian-language literary work, remaining a man of the Russian language and Soviet culture.
So, are there still reasons to consider this Janus-like, two-faced figure a symbol of modern Ukrainian culture, considering only his attractive face as the writer V. Domontovych and ignoring the ugly guise of the Soviet agent “Ivanov”? This agent not only played among the Ukrainian emigration on the side of the hostile regime, but even before his trip with an intelligence mission to Germany, his denunciations contributed to the repressions and deaths of famous figures of Ukrainian science (Kyrylo Studynskyi, Agatangel Krymskyi, Theodosii Movchanivskyi, etc.). In my competent opinion - no, it is impossible. Viktor Petrov / V. Domontovych / “Ivanov” / V. Ber should be said goodbye decisively and irrevocably as a legacy of the totalitarian regime.
[7] Там само. С. 24.