Oleg Kalugin
Encyclopedia
Oleg Danilovich Kalugin (born September 6, 1934) is a former KGB
general
. He was a longtime head of KGB operations in the United States
and later a critic of the agency.
and son of an officer in the NKVD
, Kalugin attended Leningrad State University
and, subsequently, was recruited by the KGB under the aegis
of the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence). After training he was sent to the United States
, where he enrolled as a journalism student at Columbia University
on a Fulbright scholarship
in 1958, along with Aleksandr Yakovlev
. He continued to pose as a journalist for a number of years, eventually serving as the Radio Moscow
correspondent
at the United Nations
. In 1965 — after five years in New York
— he returned to Moscow
to serve under the cover of press officer in the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
Kalugin was then assigned to Washington, D.C.
, with the cover of deputy press officer for the Soviet Embassy. In reality he was deputy resident and acting chief of the Residency at the Soviet Embassy. Rising in the ranks he became one of the KGB's top officers operating out of the Soviet embassy in Washington: it led to his being promoted to general in 1974, the youngest in its history. He then returned to KGB headquarters to become head of the foreign counterintelligence or K branch of the First Chief Directorate
. During this time he received high honors for the assassination of Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov
, which had been accomplished on a request from Todor Zhivkov
and ordered by the KGB chief Yuri Andropov
.
who was at this time a close confidant of Yuri Andropov
and had been privately criticized by Kalugin. Kalugin was accused of recruiting an agent twenty years prior who was actually an American spy. This made Kalugin himself seem to be a security risk. He was suspected of working for the CIA, although there was no supporting evidence. Vladimir Kryuchkov
, Chairman of the KGB and orchestrator of the 1991 coup plot
, alleged that in his time in counterintelligence he failed to discover a single American agent while his successor would allegedly find over a dozen. Former CIA mole
Karl Koecher
made unsupported claims that Kalugin was responsible for Koecher's eventual arrest.
The unsubstantiated accusations did not stop him from criticizing the agency's policies and methods, complaining about the fact that the KGB was overlooking corruption in the highest circles of Soviet society while terrorizing common people. His unbridled public criticism led to reassignment to Security Officers posts first in the Academy of Sciences in 1987, then at the Ministry of Electronics in 1988. His career at the KGB ended with his forced retirement
on February 26, 1990.
As the Soviet Union
underwent changes under Mikhail Gorbachev
, Kalugin became more vocal and public in his criticism of the KGB, denouncing Soviet security forces as "Stalinist
" domestic political police, although he never disputed the importance of espionage abroad. Finally, in 1990, Gorbachev signed a decree stripping Kalugin of his rank, decorations, and pension. In August 1991, Gorbachev returned his rank, decorations and pension. Despite opposition from the KGB, he was elected in September 1990 to the Supreme Soviet
as a People's Deputy for the Krasnodar
region.
, the president of the Russian SFSR. During the abortive Soviet coup attempt of 1991
led by KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov
, he led crowds to the Russian White House, center of anticoup efforts, and induced Yeltsin to address the crowds.
After the coup he became an unpaid adviser to the new KGB Chairman Vadim Bakatin
. While Bakatin succeeded in dismantling the old security apparatus, he did not have the time to reform it before being fired on November 1991. Ever vocal, Kalugin told the press that in the future, the KGB would have no political functions, no secret laboratories where they manufacture poisons and secret weapons.
as "traitors."
In 1995 he accepted a teaching position in The Catholic University of America
and has remained in the United States ever since. Settling in Washington, D.C.
, he wrote a book about Cold War
espionage entitled The First Directorate: My 32 Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West, a more recent book Spymaster in 2008, and collaborated with former CIA Director William Colby
and Activision
to produce Spycraft: The Great Game
, a CD-ROM
game released in 1996. He has appeared frequently in the media and given lecture
s at a number of universities. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on August 4, 2003
With the return to power of elements of the KGB, most notably Vladimir Putin
, Kalugin was again accused of treason
. In 2002 he was put on trial in absentia
in Moscow
and found guilty of spying for the West. He was sentenced to fifteen years in jail, in a verdict he described as "Soviet justice, which is really triumphant today". The US and Russia have no extradition treaty.
Kalugin currently works for CI Centre, a counterintelligence consulting and training firm in the Washington, DC area. He is also an advisory director of the International Spy Museum
. He remains a critic of Vladimir Putin, a former subordinate, whom he called a "war criminal" over his conduct of the Second Chechen War
.
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
. He was a longtime head of KGB operations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and later a critic of the agency.
Early life and the KGB career
Born in LeningradSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and son of an officer in the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, Kalugin attended Leningrad State University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
and, subsequently, was recruited by the KGB under the aegis
Aegis
An aegis is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority or the holder of a protective shield signifying the same, such as a bag-like garment that contained a shield. Sometimes the garment and the shield are merged, with a small...
of the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence). After training he was sent to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he enrolled as a journalism student at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
on a Fulbright scholarship
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
in 1958, along with Aleksandr Yakovlev
Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev
Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev was a Soviet politician and historian who was a Soviet governmental official in the 1980s and a member of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union...
. He continued to pose as a journalist for a number of years, eventually serving as the Radio Moscow
Voice of Russia
Voice of Russia is the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service owned by the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company. Its predecessor Radio Moscow was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.-Early years:Radio Moscow...
correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. In 1965 — after five years in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
— he returned to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to serve under the cover of press officer in the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
Kalugin was then assigned to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, with the cover of deputy press officer for the Soviet Embassy. In reality he was deputy resident and acting chief of the Residency at the Soviet Embassy. Rising in the ranks he became one of the KGB's top officers operating out of the Soviet embassy in Washington: it led to his being promoted to general in 1974, the youngest in its history. He then returned to KGB headquarters to become head of the foreign counterintelligence or K branch of the First Chief Directorate
First Chief Directorate
The First Chief Directorate , of the Committee for State Security , was the organization responsible for foreign operations and intelligence collection activities by the training and management of the covert agents, intelligence collection management, and the collection of political, scientific and...
. During this time he received high honors for the assassination of Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov
Georgi Markov
Georgi Ivanov Markov was a Bulgarian dissident writer.Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright, but in 1969 he defected from Bulgaria, then governed by President Todor Zhivkov...
, which had been accomplished on a request from Todor Zhivkov
Todor Zhivkov
Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
and ordered by the KGB chief Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
.
KGB criticism
In 1980 Kalugin was demoted to deputy head of the Leningrad KGB as a result of an intrigue initiated by Vladimir KryuchkovVladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991...
who was at this time a close confidant of Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
and had been privately criticized by Kalugin. Kalugin was accused of recruiting an agent twenty years prior who was actually an American spy. This made Kalugin himself seem to be a security risk. He was suspected of working for the CIA, although there was no supporting evidence. Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991...
, Chairman of the KGB and orchestrator of the 1991 coup plot
Soviet coup attempt of 1991
The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt , also known as the August Putsch or August Coup , was an attempt by a group of members of the Soviet Union's government to take control of the country from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev...
, alleged that in his time in counterintelligence he failed to discover a single American agent while his successor would allegedly find over a dozen. Former CIA mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
Karl Koecher
Karl Koecher
Karel František Koecher is the only mole known to have penetrated the CIA.-Early life:Born in Czechoslovakia, he became a radio comedy writer and was allegedly frequently scrutinized by the Communist security forces for his satire that mocked the regime...
made unsupported claims that Kalugin was responsible for Koecher's eventual arrest.
The unsubstantiated accusations did not stop him from criticizing the agency's policies and methods, complaining about the fact that the KGB was overlooking corruption in the highest circles of Soviet society while terrorizing common people. His unbridled public criticism led to reassignment to Security Officers posts first in the Academy of Sciences in 1987, then at the Ministry of Electronics in 1988. His career at the KGB ended with his forced retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
on February 26, 1990.
As the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
underwent changes under Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Kalugin became more vocal and public in his criticism of the KGB, denouncing Soviet security forces as "Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
" domestic political police, although he never disputed the importance of espionage abroad. Finally, in 1990, Gorbachev signed a decree stripping Kalugin of his rank, decorations, and pension. In August 1991, Gorbachev returned his rank, decorations and pension. Despite opposition from the KGB, he was elected in September 1990 to the Supreme Soviet
Supreme Soviet
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...
as a People's Deputy for the Krasnodar
Krasnodar
Krasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
region.
Countering the Soviet coup attempt
Kalugin became a firm supporter of Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, the president of the Russian SFSR. During the abortive Soviet coup attempt of 1991
Soviet coup attempt of 1991
The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt , also known as the August Putsch or August Coup , was an attempt by a group of members of the Soviet Union's government to take control of the country from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev...
led by KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991...
, he led crowds to the Russian White House, center of anticoup efforts, and induced Yeltsin to address the crowds.
After the coup he became an unpaid adviser to the new KGB Chairman Vadim Bakatin
Vadim Bakatin
Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin was a Soviet politician who served as the last chairman of the KGB in 1991. He is the last surviving former chairman of this organization...
. While Bakatin succeeded in dismantling the old security apparatus, he did not have the time to reform it before being fired on November 1991. Ever vocal, Kalugin told the press that in the future, the KGB would have no political functions, no secret laboratories where they manufacture poisons and secret weapons.
Exile in the United States
According to Kalugin, he has never betrayed any Soviet agents except those who were already known to Western intelligence. He criticized intelligence defectors like GordievskyOleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
as "traitors."
In 1995 he accepted a teaching position in The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
and has remained in the United States ever since. Settling in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, he wrote a book about Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
espionage entitled The First Directorate: My 32 Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West, a more recent book Spymaster in 2008, and collaborated with former CIA Director William Colby
William Colby
William Egan Colby spent a career in intelligence for the United States, culminating in holding the post of Director of Central Intelligence from September 1973, to January 1976....
and Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
to produce Spycraft: The Great Game
Spycraft: The Great Game
Spycraft is an adventure CD-ROM game published by Activision in 1996. It details the attempted assassination of the President of the United States and the CIA and SVR attempts to save him...
, a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
game released in 1996. He has appeared frequently in the media and given lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s at a number of universities. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on August 4, 2003
With the return to power of elements of the KGB, most notably Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, Kalugin was again accused of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. In 2002 he was put on trial in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and found guilty of spying for the West. He was sentenced to fifteen years in jail, in a verdict he described as "Soviet justice, which is really triumphant today". The US and Russia have no extradition treaty.
Kalugin currently works for CI Centre, a counterintelligence consulting and training firm in the Washington, DC area. He is also an advisory director of the International Spy Museum
International Spy Museum
The International Spy Museum is a privately owned museum dedicated to the field of espionage located within the 1875 Le Droit Building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the street from the Old Patent Office Building and one block south of the Gallery Place Metro...
. He remains a critic of Vladimir Putin, a former subordinate, whom he called a "war criminal" over his conduct of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
.
Books by Oleg Kalugin
- The First Directorate: My 32 Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West by Oleg Kalugin and Fen Montaigne. 1994.374 pages. St Martins Pr. ISBN 0-312-11426-5
- Spymaster: The Highest-ranking KGB Officer Ever to Break His Silence by Oleg Kalugin and Fen Montaigne. 1995. Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85685-101-X
- (Russian) Proshchai, Lubianka! (XX vek glazami ochevidtsev) by Oleg Kalugin. 1995. 347 pages. "Olimp" ISBN 5-7390-0375-X
- Window of opportunity: Russia's role in the coalition against terror. An article from: Harvard International Review. September 22, 2002. Vol. 24 Issue 3 Page 56(5).