Horst Schwirkmann
Encyclopedia
An engineer, Horst Schwirkmann was responsible for discovering Soviet KGB
bug
s and recording devices planted in the West German embassy in Moscow
during the Cold War
.
His practise of neutralising electronic bugs by administering an immense voltage through it, causing great aural pain to anybody listening to the clandestine device, was said to have angered Soviet officials to the point that in 1964 he was shot in the buttocks with a nitrogen-based mustard gas capsule while admiring religious relics at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
in Zagorsk, outside Moscow. The attack, though excruciatingly painful, failed to kill Schwirkmann.
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
bug
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
s and recording devices planted in the West German embassy in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
His practise of neutralising electronic bugs by administering an immense voltage through it, causing great aural pain to anybody listening to the clandestine device, was said to have angered Soviet officials to the point that in 1964 he was shot in the buttocks with a nitrogen-based mustard gas capsule while admiring religious relics at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
in Zagorsk, outside Moscow. The attack, though excruciatingly painful, failed to kill Schwirkmann.