Viktor Abakumov | |
|---|---|
 Abakumov in the 1940s | |
| Born | 24 April 1908 |
| Died | 19 December 1954 (aged 46) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Children | Igor Smirnov |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union |
| Service branch | |
| Rank | Colonel general |
Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (Russian: Виктор Семёнович Абакумов; 24 April 1908 – 19 December 1954) was a high-level Soviet security official who from 1943 to 1946 was the head of SMERSH in the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, and from 1946 to 1951 of the Minister of State Security or MGB (ex-NKGB). He was removed from office and arrested in 1951 on charges of failing to investigate the Doctors' Plot. After the death of Joseph Stalin, Abakumov was tried for fabricating the Leningrad Affair, sentenced to death and executed in 1954.