No state can do without foreign intelligence. History has proven this. This is confirmed by modern times. After all, its main task is to obtain reliable, largely proactive information for the country's top leadership on those problems that could harm its interests. How did the Soviet Union manage to create the most effective intelligence service in the world, the successor of which today is the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service ? How is it organized, what is the secret of its achievements and victories? The reader will learn about this from the proposed book. It is based on materials declassified by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service and is intended for those who are interested in the activities of domestic intelligence services, as well as for those who are not indifferent to our past and present.