Book - memories of the life and work of the author in intelligence. Based on personal experience, the author, Lieutenant General, who worked at PSU for 33 years, talks about the struggle between the special services of the USSR and the USA, about the role of Soviet intelligence in shaping the foreign policy of the USSR, and about the early diagnosis of threats to the country. The reader will get acquainted with the confusion and voluntarism hiding from the public when making the most important political decisions, in particular, on the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, on disarmament negotiations, on providing assistance to third world countries.