20.12.2022, Moscow.
In early 1940, the United Kingdom and France wanted to prolong the Soviet-Finnish war so that by setting their population against the USSR they could hit the weakened Soviet Union from Finland, according to the declassified documents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) published on December 20 on the website of the Presidential Library.
Among these documents there is a memo from the 5th department of the State Security Department of the NKVD of the USSR (foreign intelligence service) “about the information received by the agency from China that Britain and France want to wage war against the USSR on the territory of Finland, not excluding Germany to join it”. The document was compiled on March 4, 1940 – at the end of the Soviet-Finnish “Winter War”.
A Soviet intelligence source in China wrote, “France and England very much want the war to go on for a long time in order to weaken the power of the USSR.”
They are trying to use the Finnish war “as a pretext to excite public opinion against the USSR,” which should lead to the support of all activities against the USSR by the people of their countries. According to intelligence, London and Paris “want to wage war against the USSR on Finnish territory.”
From the beginning of “Winter War”, the West provided diplomatic and military help to Finland . The Swedish, Norwegian and Danish divisions, numbering about 10 thousand people were on the side of the Finns. They delivered to Finland 350 airplanes, 1.5 thousand artillery guns, 2.5 million shells, 6 thousand machineguns, 100 thousand rifles.
Moreover, the United Kingdom and France decided to form the expeditionary corps for the war with the USSR in Finland, that is actually these countries prepared the aggression against our country. But it did not take place, as the war ended on March 13, 1940.
London and Paris in 1939-1940 were also preparing a joint strike in the south of the USSR to destroy the Baku oil fields. Thousands of troops were concentrated in the Middle East, the previously declassified archives of the SVR reveal.
The history of the Foreign Intelligence Service dates back to December 20, 1920 when the Foreign Department of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission was created. The service is part of the forces ensuring the security of Russia. It is called to protect the citizens and the country from external threats.
