telligence service, Aquarium, has been published in Russian. Rezun
was sentenced to death in absentia following his defection.RING OF FIVE. The Soviet intelligence service referred toDonald
Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, and John
Carincrossas the Ring of Five or the magnificent five. These five
agents had penetrated the inter sanctums of the British establishment
and over more than two decades produced tens of thousands of
British, American, and NATO classified documents. Their damage to
the West, however, far exceeded this production: they sowed deep
distrust between the American and British security and intelligence
services and disrupted all intelligence efforts against the Soviet
Union in the critical first years of the Cold War.RIUTIN, MARTIMIAN NIKITICH (1890–1937). A minor party
functionary, Riutin drafted a “platform” in 1932 that called for the re-
moval of party leaderJoseph Stalinto halt the political violence in
the countryside. Riutin also claimed that Stalin had served as an in-
formerfor the tsarist police. After Riutin’s arrest, Stalin called for his
executionfor terrorism, a demand that was rejected by the rest of
the leadership and the OGPU. Riutin was sentenced to a term of 10
years in a prison camp but was shot in 1937 after Nikolai Yezhov
took control of the security service.
Some scholars believe that the Riutin platform spurred Stalin’s
decision to purge the Soviet party and society. Evidence that a sig-
nificant portion of the Communist Partyhad rejected his leader-
ship could only have intensified the Soviet leader’s paranoia. Other
scholars believe that Riutin’s manuscript, which challenged the
moral authority of the Stalinist leadership, was a cause of the terror.
The party leadership and the OGPU’s rejection of his demand that
Riutin be shot probably also increased Stalin’s determination to
make the police a sharper sword for repression. All the members of
Riutin’s circle were shot, as were hundreds of people convicted of
being part of his cabal.ROESSLER, RUDOLF (1897–1958). One of the more quixotic spies
of the 20th century, Rudolf Roessler was a conservative German émi-
gréwho served Moscow under the code name “Lucy.” RoesslerROESSLER, RUDOLF (1897–1958)• 22306-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 223