Top expert on #KGB (ops, archives, spy fiction). Book: KGB Literati (tinyurl.com/yc5y3hfh). PhD. 25+ years university prof in Russia/Balkans/US.
San Francisco, CA
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Tomorrow my book #KGBLiterati meets the world & the world meets #KGBLiterati!
amazon.com/KGB-Literati-Fict…
Simon Willmetts: "A must read for anybody interested in intelligence, spy fiction, and the role that culture played during the Cold War." ⬇️ @utpress
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Some great dialogue in Roger Hall's #spy fiction novel 19:
"'You always were a wise guy, Winthrop,' he said, in a voice heavy with dislike.
'Coming from you, I take that as a compliment.'"
I enjoyed reading Roger Hall's entertaining #OSS memoir You're Stepping on My Cloak & Dagger, first published in 1957, in which, by the way, Bill Casey, the future #CIA director, plays a prominent role.
Now I look forward to reading Hall's only #spy fiction novel 19.
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Witty statements from Chapter 1, such as "if you really know what's going on, you don't have to know what's going on to know what's going on" & "if they know enough to write a book, they know enough not to write a book" reveal that Hall was a true insider in the #spy business.
I enjoyed reading Roger Hall's entertaining #OSS memoir You're Stepping on My Cloak & Dagger, first published in 1957, in which, by the way, Bill Casey, the future #CIA director, plays a prominent role.
Now I look forward to reading Hall's only #spy fiction novel 19.
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A “trace” is a summary information on a given individual that an intelligence service keeps in its records.
I've recently started a short article series "Top Secret: Traces from #KGB Files."
Here's the link for the first 4 installments: thechekistmonitor.blogspot.c…
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Happy 96th birthday to my grandmother! She was born when Herbert Hoover was U.S. president and my favorite place for archival research is Hoover Library & Archives Reading Room at Stanford.
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Soviet intel officer Yelizaveta Parshina claimed in her memoir that Masaryk was thrown out of the window by #MGB Lt. Gen. Mikhail Belkin's personnel. Belkin, whom she knew well, allegedly told her this in the 1960s & even named the direct perpetrator.
dw.com/en/police-exhume-body…
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Parshina had a long intelligence career. She was active in the Spanish Civil War, WWII, and operated as an illegal in Czechoslovakia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She described numerous flawed practices and unprofessional behaviors of her handlers, including the instances of their stealing the money and resources allocated to her by Moscow Center.
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This volume of #KGB Sbornik included an article on the case of the Soviet nuclear engineer Yuri Pavlov who was a #BND & #CIA asset. #KGB alleged that Pavlov's compromised dead-drop led to the detention of a CIA case officer Lon Augustenborg working undercover as US vice consul in Leningrad, his wife Denise & their 14-month-old daughter on this day in 1983.
Here's a link to Augustenborg's 2022 interview about his time in Leningrad, including his detention by the KGB: news3lv.com/news/local/forme…
What did #KGB publish in its #topsecret journal Sbornik in December 1985?
Below is my translation of Table of Contents. ⬇️
Table of Contents
In Anticipation of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU
N. PCHELINTSEV Increasing the Level of the Counterintelligence Protection of the Economic Facilities … 3
Counterintelligence Activities
V. TRETIAKOV, V. CHERKESOV, and A. ZVIAGINSKII The Agent of Two Intelligence Services … 11
N. GIBADULOV, A. BARKOV, and S. LUKASHENKO The Counterintelligence Protection of the Construction of the Main Gas Pipeline Urengoi-Uzhgorod … 22
F. KUDASHKIN and Kh. BAGRAMOV Stopping the Hostile Activities of the Military Intelligence Officers of the Adversary … 22
Iu. PETKIAVICHIUS The Struggle Against Clerical Extremism – Our Important Task … 27
A. ARKHIPOV and Iu. GROZDOV On the Practice of Exposing in the Press the Intelligence and Sabotage Activities of the Adversary Using the Sea-Based Channels … 36
V. MELNIKOV and L. KULIABICHEV There Was Prophylactics and There Was Recidivism … 40
V. VASILEV and A. BOCHKOV How A Nationalist Group Was Decomposed … 44
Iu. CHUFAROVSKII, V. KANEVETS, and A. SHARMAR On the Trail of the Anonymous … 49
G. MAGOMEDOV and G. ABUEV The Illegal Publication Presses Eliminated … 53
V. LUTSENKO and Iu. PYDIN The Demise of the Doers of the “VCR Business” … 57
I. KULINICH and V. GAMZA The All-Around Assessment of the Personality Helped the Success of the Prophylactics … 62
A. UDOVENKO and A. POGORELII The Nazi Collaborators Found the Hiding Place in the USA … 65
A. TSARKOV … Thanks to the Vigilance of a Citizen … 68
Investigation and Inquiry
I. TKACHUK On the Typical Approaches in the Investigation of the Loss of Secret Documents … 71
V. RYBAK and O. CHUMAK On the Use of the Agents Inside the Prison Cell … 78
Training and Education of the Personnel
D. VASHKOVIAK and V. MARYCHEV The Education of the Personnel on the Basis of the Revolutionary and War Traditions … 86
V. PONOMAREV Some Specific Features in Counting the Number of Years Required for Retirement of the Military Personnel of the KGB Who Served in the Units of the MVD … 89
Reference Bibliography
I. PANOV and B. DOLZHIKOV A Useful Handbook for Practical Work … 92
Published by the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR Named After F. E. Dzerzhinsky … 95
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What did #KGB publish in its #topsecret journal Sbornik in December 1985?
Below is my translation of Table of Contents. ⬇️
Table of Contents
In Anticipation of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU
N. PCHELINTSEV Increasing the Level of the Counterintelligence Protection of the Economic Facilities … 3
Counterintelligence Activities
V. TRETIAKOV, V. CHERKESOV, and A. ZVIAGINSKII The Agent of Two Intelligence Services … 11
N. GIBADULOV, A. BARKOV, and S. LUKASHENKO The Counterintelligence Protection of the Construction of the Main Gas Pipeline Urengoi-Uzhgorod … 22
F. KUDASHKIN and Kh. BAGRAMOV Stopping the Hostile Activities of the Military Intelligence Officers of the Adversary … 22
Iu. PETKIAVICHIUS The Struggle Against Clerical Extremism – Our Important Task … 27
A. ARKHIPOV and Iu. GROZDOV On the Practice of Exposing in the Press the Intelligence and Sabotage Activities of the Adversary Using the Sea-Based Channels … 36
V. MELNIKOV and L. KULIABICHEV There Was Prophylactics and There Was Recidivism … 40
V. VASILEV and A. BOCHKOV How A Nationalist Group Was Decomposed … 44
Iu. CHUFAROVSKII, V. KANEVETS, and A. SHARMAR On the Trail of the Anonymous … 49
G. MAGOMEDOV and G. ABUEV The Illegal Publication Presses Eliminated … 53
V. LUTSENKO and Iu. PYDIN The Demise of the Doers of the “VCR Business” … 57
I. KULINICH and V. GAMZA The All-Around Assessment of the Personality Helped the Success of the Prophylactics … 62
A. UDOVENKO and A. POGORELII The Nazi Collaborators Found the Hiding Place in the USA … 65
A. TSARKOV … Thanks to the Vigilance of a Citizen … 68
Investigation and Inquiry
I. TKACHUK On the Typical Approaches in the Investigation of the Loss of Secret Documents … 71
V. RYBAK and O. CHUMAK On the Use of the Agents Inside the Prison Cell … 78
Training and Education of the Personnel
D. VASHKOVIAK and V. MARYCHEV The Education of the Personnel on the Basis of the Revolutionary and War Traditions … 86
V. PONOMAREV Some Specific Features in Counting the Number of Years Required for Retirement of the Military Personnel of the KGB Who Served in the Units of the MVD … 89
Reference Bibliography
I. PANOV and B. DOLZHIKOV A Useful Handbook for Practical Work … 92
Published by the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR Named After F. E. Dzerzhinsky … 95
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Great film review! @thedeadhandbook
"We should learn a lesson anew from this film, that the weapons will not go away on their own. It takes people with vision and political willpower—courage and guts—like Reagan and Gorbachev."
My review of “The Brink of War” about the remarkable summit at Reykjavik in 1986. armscontrol.org/act/2026-09/…
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The 1st edition book cover of the Soviet #spyfiction novel Mr. Kochek's Advertising Agency (1970) (note that the last word in the title reads "Cheka") & the first page of the English translation by #CIA-affiliated JRPS released on March 24, 1972.
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"Russian security forces already absorbed a #counterespionage mindset as early as the Russo-Japanese war." @AndreiSoldatov ⬇️
The first full-fledged Russian #spyfiction story "Staff Captain Rybnikov" by Aleksandr Kuprin (1906) dealt with a Japanese spy.
foreignaffairs.com/russia/pr…
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In the early 1970s, #CIA-affiliated Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) operating out of the Commerce Department translated the following Soviet #spyfiction novels:
1. Shield and Sword (Vadim Kozhevnikov)
2. Mr. Kochek's Advertising Agency (Vartkes Tevekelyan)
3. The Game is Up (Arif Saparov)
4. The Swell of the Sea (Lev Nikitin)
5. One O'clock in the Afternoon, Your Excellency (Arkadi Vasilyev)
6. The Rezident's Last Mistake (Oleg Shmelyov [Gribanov] & Vladimir Vostokov [Petrochenkov]).
7. Retribution (Vasili Ardamatsky)
8. Two Roads (Vasili Ardamatsky)
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My book #KGBLiterati made it to the University of San Francisco's Library "Hall of Fame." #spyfiction #coldwar
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What did #KGB publish in its #topsecret journal Sbornik in September 1985?
Below is my translation of Table of Contents.
Notably, there were articles on a #KGB counterintel operation against an alleged agent of U.S. intelligence in Moscow, #KGB surveillance of international exhibitions and targeting foreign specialists in the Soviet Union, a report on the attitudes of Chinese citizens in mid-1980s, and a historical survey of Chekist interventions into Soviet economy going back to the days of Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Table of Contents
G. AGEEV Fully Reflect the Leninist Principles in the Work with the Personnel. On the Outcomes of the Sectoral Meetings of the Leading Personnel in the Civilian and Military Units of the KGB of the USSR … 3
V. ALIDIN In Anticipation of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU … 14
At the Committee for State Security of the USSR … 21
At the Collegium of the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR … 22
Counterintelligence Activities
A. MOLIAKOV and V. SERGADEEV Exposing the Agent of American Intelligence … 23
N. GUDEN From the Experience of Counterintelligence Work Among the Foreign Specialists … 35
A. ABDULLAEV, N. DAVYDOV, and L. BABKOV Preparing Early for the Activities at the International Exhibitions … 44
N. SHCHERBININ and V. ROCHEV Gaining the Experience of Collaboration … 48
Iu. KEDROV Some Changes in the Psychology of Chinese Citizens and Taking Them into Consideration in the Chekist Activities … 52
K. VASILEV Intensifying the Measures to Stop the Anti-Social Way of Life of the Objects [of Surveillance/Cultivation] … 59
V. SAVELEV From Our Practice of Providing Legal Assistance … 64
Investigation and Inquiry
D. IUZEPCHUK The Prophylactics of the Contraband in the Course of Investigation … 70
G. ANDRUSIV On the Procedural Detention of the Suspect … 74
N. DUKHNO The Protocol Form of the Pre-Trial Preparation of the Materials … 79
From the History of the VChK-KGB
Defending the Economic Foundations of the Soviet State. On the 108th Anniversary of the Birth of F. E. Dzerzhinsky … 84
V. CHEKHLOV The Actions of Agent “Vertinskii” … 92
M. KRAVCHENKO The Servant of Two Masters Got What He Deserved … 94
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Excellent research! Highly recommend.
Rolf Sohlman was a Swedish ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1964. The Swedish Security Service (SAPO) investigated his suspected links to a retired senior #KGB counterintelligence officer.
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