The Okhrana's paid informant who led the revolution's terrorist vanguard
In June 1902, Azef reported to the Okhrana that he had donated 500 rubles to terrorist operations, writing that it was 'necessary to strengthen my position in the party.' He was keeping books for both sides at once.
As head of the Socialist Revolutionary Party's Combat Organization, he orchestrated the assassinations of Interior Minister Plehve (1904) and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1905), reaching the apex of revolutionary terror, while simultaneously working as a paid informant for the Okhrana from 1893 onward, delivering dozens of comrades to arrest and execution. He succeeded Gershuni and commanded Boris Savinkov as his deputy, reshaping the Combat Organization into a centralized, disciplined elite unit; the trust he earned through successful assassinations became the currency of his betrayals. Exposed by Vladimir Burtsev in 1908, he fled to Germany, leaving the SR Party devastated, and remains the darkest point of contact between the revolutionary movement and the Tsarist secret police.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1893–1899Studied electrical engineering in Germany; began informing for the Okhrana
- 1899Returned to Russia, joined Socialist Revolutionary circles
- 1901–1902Co-founded the unified SR Party; joined Combat Organization as Gershuni's deputy
- 1903–1908Head of the SR Combat Organization
- 1904Organized assassination of Interior Minister Plehve
- 1905Organized assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich
- 1906Ordered the assassination of Father Gapon
- 1908Exposed by Burtsev; fled to Germany
- 1909–1918Lived in Berlin under the alias Alexander Neumayr
Related historical events
The Azef Affair and his exposure, 1906–1909
In late 1906 the revolutionary journalist Vladimir Burtsev received information from former Okhrana officer Mikhail Bakai that a police agent had penetrated the Socialist Revolutionary Party leadership. Burtsev suspected Azef, whom he had seen moving openly in St Petersburg, but initially lacked proof that would persuade senior party figures. He approached former Police Department director Alexei Lopukhin, who confirmed Azef’s identity. Burtsev assembled the case and sent it to the party’s Central Committee. The committee appointed an inquiry panel of Vera Figner, German Lopatin and Pyotr Kropotkin; after a month of hearings in Paris, it concluded that Burtsev’s allegations had to be taken seriously.
Azef pressured Lopukhin to retract his disclosure, but Lopukhin verified his account through Andrei Argunov and informed party representatives. In January 1909 the Central Committee ordered Azef’s assassination and sought to lure him to an isolated villa in France; he evaded the trap and fled to Germany. The affair did not end with the exposure of Azef. Lopukhin was arrested for confirming Azef’s identity and exiled to Siberia by the imperial authorities. The party faced the consequences of a police informant’s penetration of its leadership alongside state repression and deepened internal distrust.