People and destinies of the Comintern: Niilo Virtanen

In the context of personal history, the fate of Niilo Karlovich Virtanen is illuminated. As an agent of the International Communications Department (Communication Service) of the Comintern apparatus, an employee of Soviet military intelligence, he carried out secret missions in the Scandinavian countries, Canada, the USA, Germany, and China. The documentary basis of the publication consists of materials from RGASPI, which reveal unknown aspects of Virtanen’s illegal activities. The author reveals friendly ties and relations between Niilo Virtanen and his Comintern colleagues, military intelligence employees Aino Kuusinen and Richard Sorge and touches upon the issues related to the political repressions of the second half of the 1930s, of which Virtanen became a victim.