On December 20, 2020, the domestic foreign intelligence service celebrates its centenary. For this date, a joint exhibition project of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia and the Museum of Foreign Intelligence of the Russian Federation “Foreign Intelligence. From the past to the future ”, which was attended by the participants of the solemn event. For visitors, the project will be available online in January 2021.

The materials of the exhibition tell about the difficult path of the formation and development of the domestic foreign intelligence service, the fate of its leaders, the activities of legendary intelligence officers of different generations who devoted themselves to serving the Fatherland.

A number of unique artifacts presented in the exhibition are on display for the first time. Among them are the personal belongings of the heads of foreign intelligence F.E.Dzerzhinsky, S.A.Messing, A.Kh. Artuzov, P.M. Fitin, A.M.Sakharovsky, L.V. Shebarshin, E.M. Primakov; legendary scouts A. N. Botyan, I. R. Grigulevich, Yu. I. Drozdov, A. S. Feklisov, V. G. Fisher, the spouses Coen and Vartanyan, K. Philby, J. Blake and many others; declassified documents, works of art. The presented materials make it possible to trace the main milestones in the activities of domestic foreign intelligence over the first hundred years of its history.

The exhibition was organized by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation in cooperation with the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia with the participation of the collector and artist A.I. Osipov, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation A.N. Kovalchuk, as well as relatives of the intelligence officers: I.A. N. Botyan), N. I. Grigulevich (daughter of I. R. Grigulevich), E. Yu. Blagoveshchenskaya (granddaughter of P. M. Fitin), N. A. Asatur (daughter of A. S. Feklisov) and R. I. Pukhova (K. Philby's widow).