KGB, an Initialism for Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (Russian: Комитет государственной
Emblem of KGB
безопасности (КГБ), translated in english as Committee for State Security), was the main Security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its collapse in 1991. Formed in 1954 as a direct successor of such preceding agencies as Cheka, NKGB, and MBG, the committee was attached to the Council of Ministers. It was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", acting as internal security, intelligence, and secret police. Similar agencies were instated in each of the Republics of the Soviet Union aside from Russia and consisted of many ministries, state committees, and state commissions.
A military service and was governed by army laws and regulations, similar to the Soviet army or MVD internal troops. While most of the KGB archives remain classified, two on-line documentary sources are available. Its main functions were foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, operative-investigatory activities, guarding the State Border of the USSR, guarding the leadership of the Central committe of the communist party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Government, organization and ensuring of government communications as well as combating nationalism, dissent, and anti-Soviet activities.
After the dissolution of the USSR, the KGB was split into the Federal Security Service and the Forign intelligence service of the Russian Federation.
After breaking away from the Republic of Georgia in the early 1990s with Russian help, the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia established its own KGB (keeping this unreformed name).
Description of the KGB[]
The KGB (КГБ) is the commonly used acronym for the Russian Комитет Государставенной Безопас ности (Committee for State Security). It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time. The KGB has been considered a military service and was governed by army laws and regulations, similar to the Soviet Army or MVD internal troops. While most of the KGB archives remain classifed, two on-line documentary sources are available.
Belarus is the only former Soviet state to have kept the name "State Security Committee" - and the acronym KGB - for its national security agency.
After breaking away from the Republic of Georgia int he early 19990s with Russian help, the self-procaimed republic of South .... more to add
Meaning of KGB in English[]
The KGB means Commitee of State Security. They were used by Joseph Stalin as Russia's secret police. Also known as 'The Shield of the Party'
Infiltrating the FBI[]
The KGB has infiltrated the FBI through a variety of sources, but one of the most notable is Robert Hanssen. He willingly worked for the KGB and occasionally other Soviet agencies. In exchange for information, the KGB would pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars. They communicated through an assortment of anonymous letters and telephone calls, establishing a means of transfer. Most of these transfers were drop-off points where either party would leave the disguised package. One of the drop-off points was underneath a bridge several miles into a national park. They used signs like colored tacks and strips of white tape on signs easily driven past.
Packages[]
The packages that were passed from Robert Hanssen to the KGB agents were papers of information. At first he passed mundane things, but when the FBI promoted him to manager of the Budget sector, he saw anything and everything that happened, from behind the scenes. The receipts he saw told him about all of the FBI's major projects, and allowed him to compromise them without the FBI knowing. One of the most important was the surveillance tunnel built under the USSR's embassy while it was being built. This explains why the FBI never discovered any vital information, or anything even remotely useful. The Russians had had time to build a room safe for the FBI, as the entire project had been compromised seven years before the completion of the Soviet embassy.