Following Stalin’s death, Soviet law was reformed to give the
procuracy far greater authority, along with the ability to conduct
semi-independent investigations in some criminal cases. But the
Soviet procuracy never had the degree of independence held by
British or American prosecution attorneys. Sentences were often
dictated by the KGBor Communist Partyleaders.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian prosecutors have
reexamined their juridical roots. Russian law now recognizes—as
tsarist law did—that the procuracy needs to have considerable inde-
pendence in presenting cases and selecting prosecutions. The new
Russian offices have also come under tremendous pressure from Rus-
sian organized crime, and several prosecutors and members of their
staffs have been assassinated.PROGRESS OPERATIONS. Beginning in 1968, KGBChair Yuri
Andropovauthorized the use of illegals to check on developments in
Soviet East European satellites. Prior to 1968, illegals had been used
in Eastern Europe only to recruit Westerners. The Progress Opera-
tions called for illegals under cover as Western business people and
journalists to travel to Prague to gather information about Czech dis-
sidents. They were also expected to generate active measuresthat
would discredit liberal Czech reformers and create reasons for Soviet
intervention. Illegals staged anti-Soviet demonstrations, which were
reported in the Soviet press. Illegals were deployed after Soviet in-
tervention in August 1968 as a check on diplomatic and party report-
ing of developments. See also PRAGUE CRISIS.PROSKUROV, IVAN IOSIFOVICH (1907–1941). Proskurov was an
aviator and intelligence officer. He served in the Spanish Civil War
in 1936–1938 as a bomber pilot with the Republican forces and was
decorated for attacks on German and Italian formations. On his return
to Moscow in 1938 he was promoted to general, and the following
year he was made chief of the GRU. Proskurov inherited a demoral-
ized service; hundreds of staff officers had been executed, and its
elite corps of illegalshad been decimated. Proskurov is recognized in
official GRU histories for rebuilding his shattered service.
Proskurov provided Joseph Stalinwith accurate briefings on Ger-
man military strategy and intentions toward Poland and the Balkans210 •PROGRESS OPERATIONS06-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 210