Opperput’s real name was Pavel Ivanovich Selyaninov and he was to prove himself one of the Cheka’s most successful agents provocateurs. His unusual name should itself have aroused some suspicion at a time [the early 1920s] when the Soviet regime was introducing so many abbreviations into the Russian language. “Opperput” looks suspiciously like an abbreviated combination of Operatsiya (Operation) and Putat’ (Confuse): “Operation Confuse”.
from: Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky, KGB: The Inside Story (1990)
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