KGB chief
Kremlin's top spy
The head of the KGB, the Soviet Union's intelligence and security agency from 1954 to 1991.
The position carried enormous power, overseeing espionage, counterintelligence, and internal surveillance.
Several KGB chiefs later rose to greater prominence—most notably Yuri Andropov, who became Soviet leader, and Vladimir Putin, who became Russia's president.
The term now appears in historical contexts or discussions of Russian intelligence leadership.
- spyCovert information gatherer
- double agentSpy betraying their side
- KremlinMoscow's fortified government seat
- SovietOf the USSR
- iron curtainDivider of forged metal
intelligence · agent · Moscow · defector · operative · surveillance · Cold War · secret police · commissar · handler · dead drop · safe house · sleeper cell · interrogation · show trial · Putin · espionage · state secret
KGB chiefdissident
Opposer of established systems
human rights activist · political prisoner · refusenik · Alexei Navalny · freedom fighter
KGB chiefdiplomat
Official foreign representative
foreign minister · ambassador · peace negotiator · whistleblower · press secretary