5 Dastardly KGB Operations

The KGB was the notorious secret police and intelligence agency of the Soviet Union, responsible for spying, sabotage, assassination, and propaganda. During the Cold War, the KGB carried out many daring and ruthless operations, some of which are still shrouded in mystery. Here are five of the most dastardly KGB operations that you may not have heard of.

Operation Trust

Operation Trust was a counterintelligence operation that ran from 1921 to 1926, aimed at deceiving and infiltrating the anti-communist opposition groups in Russia and abroad. The KGB (then known as the GPU) created a fake anti-Bolshevik organization called the Monarchist Union of Central Russia, which claimed to have contacts with the exiled White Army and Western powers. The GPU lured many dissidents and exiles into joining or supporting the fake organization, and then arrested, interrogated, and executed them. The operation was so successful that it even fooled some Western intelligence agencies, who believed that there was a genuine monarchist resistance movement in the Soviet Union.

Operation Splinter Factor

Operation Splinter Factor was a psychological warfare operation that ran from 1949 to 1955, aimed at discrediting and dividing the Trotskyist movement. The KGB (then known as the MGB) recruited a former Trotskyist named Mark Zborowski, who had infiltrated the Fourth International, the main Trotskyist organization. Zborowski acted as a double agent, providing information to the MGB and spreading false rumors and accusations among the Trotskyists. He also helped the MGB assassinate several prominent Trotskyist leaders, such as Leon Sedov, Ignace Reiss, and Rudolf Klement. The operation was so effective that it caused a major split in the Fourth International, and severely damaged the reputation and influence of Trotskyism.

Operation Neptune

Operation Neptune was a naval intelligence operation that ran from 1968 to 1975, aimed at stealing classified information from the US Navy. The KGB recruited a US Navy officer named John Anthony Walker, who had access to the cryptographic keys and codes used by the US Navy to communicate with its submarines and ships. Walker sold thousands of documents and tapes to the KGB, revealing the locations, movements, and capabilities of the US Navy. He also recruited his brother, his son, and his friend to join his spy ring. The operation was so damaging that it compromised the security of the entire US Navy, and gave the Soviet Union a huge advantage in the event of a nuclear war. The operation was only exposed in 1985, when Walker’s ex-wife tipped off the FBI.

Operation Ryan

Operation Ryan was a strategic intelligence operation that ran from 1981 to 1984, aimed at detecting and preventing a possible nuclear attack from the US. The KGB (then known as the PGU) was ordered by the Soviet leadership to collect and analyze any signs of US preparations for a nuclear strike, such as political, military, and economic indicators. The operation was based on the paranoid assumption that the US was planning a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, especially after the election of Ronald Reagan and the deployment of the Pershing II missiles in Europe. The operation reached its peak in 1983, when the KGB misinterpreted a NATO military exercise called Able Archer 83 as a cover for a nuclear launch. The operation was so tense that it brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war, and was only defused by the intervention of some rational Soviet officials.

Operation Umbrella

Operation Umbrella was an assassination operation that took place in 1978, aimed at eliminating a Bulgarian dissident named Georgi Markov. Markov was a writer and journalist who had defected from Bulgaria in 1969, and had been criticizing the communist regime of Todor Zhivkov. The KGB (then known as the First Chief Directorate) collaborated with the Bulgarian secret service (known as the DS) to kill Markov. They used a specially designed weapon, disguised as an umbrella, which fired a tiny pellet containing ricin, a deadly poison, into Markov’s leg. Markov died four days later, without knowing the cause of his death. The operation was so sophisticated that it remained unsolved for decades, and the identity of the assassin is still unknown.