On January 23 the Military Tribunal sentenced twelve officers of the Leningrad GPU [NKVD], headed by their chief Medved to harsh punishments: imprisonment for two to ten years! The sentencing document charges them with nothing more nor less than the fact that “they were informed of the planned attack on Kirov, but showed … criminal carelessness /!/, … failing to take the necessary measures to guard him.” Recognition of the fact of GPU collaboration in the crime is covered over with the sad phrase about “carelessness.” Can we suppose for even one minute that such a pillar of the GPU as Medved could in reality show “carelessness” with regard to the preparation of an assassination attempt on Kirov? No, we are not dealing with “carelessness” here. Excess zeal, a game of chance with Kirov’s head—this explanation fits more closely the gist of the matter.

When preparations for the terrorist attack had already begun, with the knowledge of the GPU, the task of Medved and his fellow officers did not consist of arresting the plotters—that would be too simple. An appropriate consul had to be found, he had to be hooked up with Nikolaev, Nikolaev had to trust him, and so on. At the same time a connection had to be established between the Zinovievite-Kamenev group and the Leningrad terrorists. This was not simple work. It demanded time. But Nikolaev did not wait. The difference in work tempos between Medved and Nikolaev led to the bloody conclusion.

The sentence of the tribunal directly states that Medved, Zaporozhets, and the others “did not take measures to uncover and halt in time” the activities of the terrorist group. It is impossible to express things more clearly. They could have prevented the murder, but they did not do so. Why? Out of carelessness, answers the tribunal. Who believes that? Medved and the others could not take preventative measures because they had not yet completed the task with which they were entrusted. […]

Medved “knew,” the tribunal tells us. We have no doubt of it. Through whom did he know? Through his own agents, participating in the preparation of the attack and at the same time observing Nikolaev. What happened to those agents? Not a word was said about them at Medved’s trial. That is not surprising! Their case was decided at the same time as Nikolaev’s; there were undoubtedly agents of the GPU among the fourteen executed conspirators. […]

It is completely obvious, however, that Medved could not carry out this game of chance on his own account. The participation of the foreign consul could not be his secret alone. In a matter of such great importance Medved could not but report daily on the telephone to Yagoda, and Yagoda to Stalin. The matter was one involving the heads of people of worldwide fame, after all. Moreover, even the “happiest” outcome of the amalgam involving the consul threatened diplomatic complications. Without the direct sanction of Stalin—most likely without his personal initiative—neither Yagoda nor Medved could ever have decided on such a risky enterprise.

No one, we hope, will gainsay us now. But Medved himself admitted that the tribunal’s charges were “true.” Of course! What else could he do? The accused chose the lesser of two evils. They could not in reality declare that they participated in a criminal provocation with the aim of producing an amalgam on the direct orders of Yagoda. Such a declaration would have cost them their heads. […]

But what about the consul? That is one question to which we hear no answer. The consul of Latvia gave 5,000 rubles for the organization of Kirov’s murder. The court has confirmed this fact. What more? By the time of the trial the consul ended up in Finland, not in the hated USSR and not in his native Latvia, but in “neutral” Finland. What a fortunate consul, to have friends who gave him a warning! It is clear, at any rate, that the consul did not finance Kirov’s murder on his initiative and at his own risk. Such plots are too much for a small-time functionary. If the consul was not a GPU agent, as Stalin’s lackeys assure us, then he could have acted only on the orders of some foreign government, Latvian or German /as the Soviet press has hinted/. Why not reveal the criminal band? […] In fact Stalin has shown no interest in the terrorist-diplomat and his inspirers. […]

There is another side to this riddle. Why is the consul himself silent? He is now outside the USSR and could, it would seem, uncover the whole truth. […]