The KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti, or The Committee for State Security) was the name of the main Soviet external security and intelligence agency, as well as the main secret police agency from March 13, 1954 to November 6, 1991. The KGB's domain was roughly that of the American CIA and the counterintelligence division of the FBI.
In March of 1953, Lavrenty Beria united the MVD and MGB into one body, the MVD. Within a year, Beria was executed and the MVD was split up. The reformed MVD retained its internal security functions while the new KGB took on external security functions.
The KGB was dissolved due to the participation of its chief, Colonel General Vladimir Kryuchkov, in the August 1991 coup attempt designed to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev. On November 6, 1991 the Russian KGB officially ceased to exist, though its successor organization, the FSB (Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti), is functionally extremely similar.
Tasks and Organization
Its tasks were external espionage, counter-espionage, liquidation of anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary formations within the USSR, and guarding the leaders of the party and state. Unlike Western intelligence agencies, the KGB was (theoretically) not interested in learning enemy intentions, only their capabilities.
In its espionage role, the KGB was mostly reliant on human intelligence, unlike their western counterparts who relied far more on imagery intelligence (IMINT) and signals intelligence. Using ideological attraction, the Soviets were successful in recruiting a number of high-level spies, most notably gathering US atomic secrets and the Cambridge Five, especially Kim Philby in the UK.
Notable KGB Operations
- Alger Hiss — alleged KGB spy, though no hard evidence exists
- Robert Hanssen — provided the KGB with information on US counterintelligence through his job at the FBI
- Aldrich Ames — KGB mole within the CIA
- Ethel and Julius Rosenberg — executed for providing information on US atomic programs to the KGB
James Jesus Angleton, head of CIA counter-intelligence, reportedly lived in fear that the KGB had moles in CIA and FBI counter-intelligence. With the capture of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, it appears Angleton's fears were well-grounded.
Organization (Directorates)
- First Chief Directorate (Foreign Operations) — foreign operations and intelligence gathering
- Second Chief Directorate — internal political control of citizens and foreigners
- Third Chief Directorate (Armed Forces) — military counterintelligence and political surveillance
- Fifth Chief Directorate — internal security, combating political dissent
- Seventh Directorate (Surveillance) — surveillance equipment and monitoring
- Eighth Chief Directorate — communications, cryptology, foreign monitoring
- Ninth Directorate (Guards) — guards for Party leaders and government facilities
Directors of the KGB
| Director | Term |
|---|---|
| Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov | Mar 1954 – Dec 1958 |
| Aleksandr Nikolayevich Shelepin | Dec 1958 – Nov 1961 |
| Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastniy | Nov 1961 – May 1967 |
| Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov | May 1967 – May 1982 |
| Vitaliy Vasilyevich Fedorchuk | May 1982 – Dec 1982 |
| Viktor Mikhaylovich Chebrikov | Dec 1982 – Oct 1988 |
| Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov | Oct 1988 – Aug 1991 |
| Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin | Aug 1991 – Oct 1991 |
NKVD
The NKVD (Narodnij Kommisariat Vnutrennih Del — People's Commissariat for Interior Affairs) was the name for the political police in the USSR. Created in early 1918, it obtained state security functions when it took over the OGPU in July 1934.
During World War II, NKVD units were used for rear area security, including halting deserters. On "liberated" territory the NKVD and NKGB carried out mass arrests and deportations, at times sending entire populations (650,000+ Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Ingush, and others) to Central Asia. In 1946, the NKVD was transformed into the MVD, which in turn evolved into the KGB.
Leaders of Soviet Political Police (1917–1945)
| Leader | Term |
|---|---|
| Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinskiy | 1917–1926 |
| Vyatcheslav Rudolfovitch Menzhinsky | 1926–1934 |
| Genrikh Grigoryevitch Yagoda | 1934–1936 |
| Nikolay Ivanovitch Yezhov | 1936–1938 |
| Lavrenty Pavlovitch Beria | 1938–1945 |