mission, to develop measures to deceive Western satellites. The GTK
became the official organ of maskirovkafor the Soviet military in-
dustrial complex.MASLENNIKOV, IVAN IVANOVICH (1900–1954). An important
soldier and Chekist, Maslennikov joined the Red Army at age 18 and
the Chekain 1928. For the next 25 years, he moved between the mil-
itary formations of the security service and the military. In the months
before OperationBarbarossa, Maslennikov provided Joseph Stalin
with hundreds of reports of German preparations for war. Like other
reports available to the leader, they were ignored. During World War
II, Maslennikov commanded major army units. He was made a gen-
eral of the army in 1945. Following the war, he served as deputy min-
ister of internal affairs for combat troops. He survived the first purge
of Lavrenty Beria’s lieutenants in 1953. When later threatened with
arrest, he committed suicide in April 1954.MAY, ALLAN NUNN (1911–2003). An important British nuclear
physicist, May worked for the GRU rezidenturain Ottawa from
1943 to 1945 for very little money—approximately $500. May’s mo-
tivationis thought to have been both ideological and personal. He
believed that it was his duty as a scientist to provide Moscow with
scientific intelligence. Moreover, he apparently enjoyed the life of
being a spy. When Igor Gouzenkodefected in September 1945, he
brought information that showed May was a controlled Soviet agent.
The information provided details about May’s contact instruction
with the GRU in London, where he had returned at the end of the war.
The British Security Service (MI5) was unable to catch May with a
Soviet case officer but did trap him into making a full confession.
May was tried and convicted of violating the Official Secrets Act.
His defense was that he had never betrayed the interests of the United
Kingdom but had only assisted the work of a wartime ally. He served
less than seven years in prison and then vanished behind the Iron
Curtain. Post mortem examinations of Soviet espionage in the nu-
clear program suggested that May was an outstanding and capable
agent, and that the information he provided was invaluable to Soviet
scientists in building a nuclear bomb. See also ENORMOZ.MAY, ALLAN NUNN (1911–2003)• 15506-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 155