In 1941, Beria carried out another purge, this time of the Red Army. Over 500 NKVD agents and 30,000 Red Army officers were executed. To put 30,000 in context, that’s three out of five marshals and fourteen out of sixteen army commanders.

Red Army high commanders had a phrase they had for being purged which was "going to have coffee with Beria".

Yet Beria’s wickedness extended beyond his tendencies towards torture and mass murder. According to many accounts, he was also a bona fide sex criminal with a penchant for cruising the streets of Moscow in his car and literally picking out pretty women to rape. According to research by historian and Stalin biographer Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Beria told one victim, “Scream or not, it doesn’t matter. You are in my power now. So think about that and behave accordingly.” Even other Soviet officials regarded his exploits with fear and disgust.