KGB Colonel Vladimir Zaitsev, the "terror of spies," has died.

One of the outstanding employees of the Soviet special services, Colonel of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Zaitsev died at the age of 78. This was announced on August 13 by the press service of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-Terrorist Unit.

"He participated in landmark hostage rescue operations. Among them is the operation in Tbilisi (1983). Being at the forefront of the attack, he played a key role in freeing the passengers of the liner captured by a gang of armed terrorists. He has served combat missions in war-torn Afghanistan as a commander," the association said in a statement posted on its official website.

Zaitsev was born on March 19, 1948. At the age of 16, he began working at a factory, and from 1967 to 1969 he served as part of the Soviet forces in the GDR. In 1972, he joined the state security service. In the period from 1982 to 1992, Zaitsev served in group "A" of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, holding positions from department head to deputy head.

Zaitsev also led a group that in the mid-1980s conducted operations to capture a number of agents of foreign intelligence services, for which he was nicknamed "the terror of spies."

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