The Moscow rules

The Moscow rules are rules-of-thumb said to have been developed during the Cold War to be used by spies and others working in Moscow.

The rules are associated with Moscow because the city developed a reputation as being a particularly harsh locale for clandestine operatives who were exposed. The list may never have existed as written.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

The rules

CIA officer Tony Mendez wrote:

Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood for conducting operations in the most difficult of operating environments: the Soviet capital. By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense.{{Cite book|title=Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations that Helped Win the Cold War|last=Mendez|first=Antonio|last2=Mendez|first2=Jonna|last3=Henderson|first3=Bruce|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2003|isbn=9780743434584|location=New York|page=36}}

In the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., the Moscow Rules are given as:{{Cite web |work=The Spy Museum |url=https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/online-exhibits/argo-exposed/moscow-rules/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323141219/http://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/online-exhibits/argo-exposed/moscow-rules/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 March 2015 |title=Moscow Rules |access-date=8 July 2017}}

Assume nothing.
Never go against your gut.
Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
Do not look back; you are never completely alone.
Go with the flow, blend in.
Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
Lull them into a sense of complacency.
Do not harass the opposition.
Pick the time and place for action.
Keep your options open.

The Moscow rules

The rules

References

Further reading