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Intelligence Operations in the Cold War

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

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Eastern Europe

Czechoslovakia

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Eastern Europe

Bulgaria

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Eastern Europe

The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) in Berlin

Eastern Europe

East Germany

Project RYaN

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Soviet Union. Committee for State Security (KGB)

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Jan Nowak-Jeziorański broadcasting for Radio Free Europe, 3 May 1952

Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty

Todor Zhivkov Collection

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Mitrokhin, Vasili

1922- 2004

Mitrokhin Archive

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Kalatozov, Mikhail

1903- 1973

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Germany (East). Ministry for State Security (Stasi)

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Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich

1914- 1984

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Bulgaria. Ministry of Internal Affairs

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Truman with Attlee and Stalin at Potsdam

Cold War Origins

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February 19, 1954	Plan GELENA - Agent-Operational Measures on German Intelligence Detailed plan and timetable for the activities to expose intelligence operatives who have previously worked for Gestapo.
March 25, 1955	Information on Turkish Intelligence Interest on the Uranium Mine Buhovo Turkish intelligence agents are trying to gather information on the uranium mining in southwest Bulgaria. They believe that the extracted deposits are shipped to the Soviet Union for further processing and production of nuclear bombs.
August 20, 1968	Secret Decree of the Council of Ministers of the PR of Bulgaria for the Participation of Bulgarian Troops in the Warsaw Pact Operation in Czechoslovakia
June 2007	Operation "LES" (The Forest). The 1940-50 MGB Operation Against Moldavian "Freedom Party." Folder 8. The Chekist Anthology. In the post-WWII period there were approximately 30 active anti-Soviet organizations in Moldova. Operation “LES” aimed at the elimination of the “Freedom Party” that existed from 1949 until 1950. “Freedom Party” was established in May 1949 by brothers Istratiy and Viktor Andreev. It was divided into separate cells of five members. Each member created their own cell, and each cell had its own leader. The organization networked with nationalist groups throughout Moldova and western Ukraine, where it often purchased ammunition and enlisted nationalist-minded partisans. According to its charter, the core function of the “Freedom Party” was to restore people’s freedom and guarantee the return of monarchy. By 1950, the operation “LES” involved more than 20 KGB agents. Agents “Moriak,” (Sailor) “Busuioc,” (Basil) and “Vernyj” (Trustworthy) were among the KGB’s main informants. At the time of their arrest on 5 June 1950, the anti-Soviet formation “Freedom Party” had 33 members.
June 2007	The Pathfinders (the Sinyavsky-Daniel show trial. Folder 41. The Chekist Anthology In this case Mitrokhin provides a history of the Sinyavsky-Daniel show trial. Between 1959 and 1962 two unknown Russian authors (pseudonyms Tertz and Arzhak) published two anti-soviet books, “This is Moscow Speaking” and “The Trial Begins,” in Western countries. The KGB was not familiar with the authors and did not know where they lived. According to Mitrokhin, KGB agent “Efimov” discovered that a litterateur from Moscow, Yuliy Daniel, had some anti-soviet materials. In the beginning of 1964 the analysis of all available information proved that Daniel was the author of “This is Moscow Speaking” and that his pseudonym was Arzhak. It was soon discovered that Tertz, whose real name was Sinyavsky, was Arzhak’s close friend. The KGB began a new operation “The Imitators,” which helped to learn about their connections abroad, new works in progress, places where authors kept their original writings as well as the means they used to send their literature to the West. Mitrokhin states that KGB agents had difficulties working because Sinyavsky once was an agent for the KGB, so he was familiar with all of the techniques. In September 1965, after the KGB collected all of the necessary information, a criminal case was opened. Sinyavsky and Daniel were arrested. Mitrokhin provides details of the investigation process. In February 1966 the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union sentenced “the imitators.” Sinyavsky was sentenced to seven years in jail and Daniel was sentenced to five. After Sinyavsky served his time, he moved to France with his wife where he became well respected among immigrants. According to Mitrokhin, however, later on he lost that respect because he published a provocative book A Walk with Pushkin. Mitrokhin states that the KGB kept monitoring Sinyavsky’s activities throughout his career in France.
June 2007	Around the Nomination (The Case of Orlov). Folder 42. The Chekist Anthology In this folder Mitrokhin expresses the KGB’s concerns regarding the potential for Yuri Orlov’s nomination for a Nobel Prize. Orlov was well known in the Soviet Union for his dissident activities and for organizing the Moscow Helsinki Group to monitor Soviet adherence to the 1975 Helsinki Accords. According to Mitrokhin, he openly supported all anti-soviet groups and organized public protests for the Soviet human rights movement. As the KGB was concerned, they made many efforts to take the movement under control, but these did not lead to success. Mitrokhin provides examples of the KGB’s attempts to stop Orlov’s activism. Mitrokhin states that the West, however, was in extreme support of Orlov’s ideology. In order to help his movement to gain more influence, Western officials nominated Orlov for the Nobel Prize in 1978. The KGB immediately developed a complex plan to assure Nobel officials that Orlov did not deserve the prize and that it would have been unfavorable for the prestige of the Nobel Prize if Orlov was awarded it. Mitrokhin states that KGB chief Yuri Andropov took control over the operation because Orlov winning the prize would have been crucially harmful for the Soviet political system. Mitrokhin provides the detailed plan in this entry. A KGB resident in Oslo sent an urgent telegram to Moscow on October 27, 1978 stating that Anwar El Sadat and Menachem Begin became laureates of the Nobel Peace prize. Mitrokhin provides full telegram text in this entry and also states that the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his satisfaction with the fact that Orlov did not win the prize because it would have negatively affected relations between the two countries.
October 26, 1945	Defense Ministry Intelligence Report on the Domestic Political Situation in Bulgaria A Defense Ministry intelligence report on the domestic political developments for the month of September, 1945. The report presents the activities of the Fatherland Front government, the efforts of the opposition to discredit Fatherland Front’s policies; the acts of industrial sabotage of armed resistance groups; the work of foreign propaganda and the latest incidents in the armed forces.
October 31, 1946	Report from Bulgarian Intelligence on the Situation in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France A report on the political climate in Western Europe and the activities of the Bulgarian communities abroad. The author concludes that since a new war seems imminent, the diplomatic and intelligence apparatus needs to be overhauled and old cadres dissmissed.
October 2, 1944	Letter from Boris Merkulov (USSR People’s Commissar for State Security) to Lavrenty Beria (USSR People’s Commissar for Internal Affairs) Letter from Merkulov to Beria regarding the KGB’s efforts to obtain information about the creation of the atomic bomb and specifically about the related problems with uranium
June 19, 1953	Polish Ministry of State Security Action Memoranda, to Regional Branches Outlining Steps to be Taken to Limit Spillover of Events in East Germany The Polish Ministry of State Security orders all district heads to take measures to limit spill-over effects of the East German uprising. Regional offices are instructed to increase surveillance of ethnic Germans and “revisionist” elements.