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61-536: He secretly made his handwritten notes by copying archival documents in the period between 1972 and 1984, when he supervised the move of the archive of KGB's foreign intelligence department First Chief Directorate from the Lubyanka Building to their new headquarters at Yasenevo . When he defected to the United Kingdom in 1992, he brought the archive with him, in six full trunks. His defection

122-721: A British diplomat with a short career in MI6, said to be frequently under the influence of alcohol; the archive indicates that he gave the KGB at least 389 top secret documents in the first six months of 1945 along with a further 168 in December 1949. The utilization of the Mitrokhin Archive is not without risk because these documents only contain his handwritten notes, and no original documents or photocopies were ever made available to analyze these notes. Many scholars remain skeptical of

183-582: A cache under a Russian dacha floor, courtesy of the British intelligence community itself, and its chosen historian, Chris Andrew", and that the book "is remarkably restrained and reasonable in its handling of Westerners targeted by the KGB as agents or sources. The individuals outed by Mitrokhin appear to be what he says they were, but great care is generally taken to identify those who were unwitting dupes or, in many instances, uncooperative targets." In 2001, The American Historical Review wrote that "Mitrokhin

244-541: A few new issues of its own", and "sheds new light on Soviet intelligence activity that, while perhaps not so spectacular as some expected, is nevertheless significantly illuminating." In July 2014, the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College released Mitrokhin's edited Russian-language notes for public research. The original handwritten notes by Vasili Mitrokhin are still classified. In 1999, Jack Straw (then Home Secretary ) stated to

305-600: A lecture where he made statements that contradicted these claims. For instance he said that the KGB was not called to recruit members from Communist or other left wing parties. Daniel Ortega agreed to "unofficial meetings" with KGB officers. He gave Nikolai Leonov a secret program of the Sandinista movement (FSLN), which stated the FSLN's intent to lead class struggle in Central America , in alliance with Cuba and

366-825: A paid KGB agent codenamed "OPERATOR". Ironically, the KGB-trained National Security Service (NSS), the SRC's intelligence wing, had carried out Kediye's initial arrest. First Chief Directorate Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 201200875 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:39:16 GMT United States Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State ( SecState )

427-465: A representative of the United States. The secretary communicates issues relating to the U.S. foreign policy to Congress and citizens. The secretary also provides services to U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad such as providing credentials in the form of passports. Doing this, the secretary also ensures the protection of citizens, their property, and interests in foreign countries. What are

488-403: A result, our intelligence and security agencies, in co-operation with allied Governments, have been able to put a stop to many security threats. Many unsolved investigations have been closed; many earlier suspicions confirmed; and some names and reputations have been cleared. Our intelligence and security agencies have assessed the value of Mr. Mitrokhin's material world wide as immense." In 2001,

549-628: A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party , requested of the government a white paper on the role of foreign intelligence agencies and a judicial enquiry on the allegations in The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World . Advani was interested in the book because it made claims about ex-prime minister Indira Gandhi 's (Codenamed VANO) relations with the KGB. Abhishek Singhvi , the spokesperson of

610-473: Is a member of the executive branch of the federal government and the head of the Department of State . The office holder is the second-highest-ranking member of the president's Cabinet , after the vice president, and ranks fourth in the presidential line of succession ; first amongst cabinet secretaries. Created in 1789 with Thomas Jefferson as its first office holder, the secretary of state represents

671-1122: Is fourth in line to succeed the presidency , after the vice president , the speaker of the House of Representatives , and the president pro tempore of the Senate . Six past secretaries of state – Jefferson , Madison , Monroe , John Quincy Adams , Van Buren and Buchanan  – have gone on to be elected president. Others, including Henry Clay , Daniel Webster , Lewis Cass , John C. Calhoun , John M. Clayton , William L. Marcy , William Seward , Edward Everett , Jeremiah S. Black , James Blaine , Elihu B. Washburne , Thomas F. Bayard , John Sherman , Walter Q. Gresham , William Jennings Bryan , Philander C. Knox , Charles Evans Hughes , Elihu Root , Cordell Hull , Edmund Muskie , Alexander Haig , John Kerry , and Hillary Clinton have also campaigned as presidential candidates, either before or after their term of office as Secretary of State, but were ultimately unsuccessful. The position of Secretary of State has therefore been viewed to be

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732-706: Is the same one gleaned from the earlier books: the Soviets were incredibly successful, albeit evil, spymasters, and none of the Western services could come close to matching their expertise. Bravo the KGB." That same year, Reg Whitaker, a professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto , gave a review at the Intelligence Forum about the book where he wrote that "The Mitrokhin Archive arrives from

793-618: The British Parliament : "In 1992, after Mr. Mitrokhin had approached the UK for help, our Secret Intelligence Service made arrangements to bring Mr. Mitrokhin and his family to this country, together with his archive. As there were no original KGB documents or copies of original documents, the material itself was of no direct evidential value, but it was of huge value for intelligence and investigative purposes. Thousands of leads from Mr. Mitrokhin's material have been followed up worldwide. As

854-586: The House of Freedoms , established the Mitrokhin Commission , presided over by Paolo Guzzanti (senator of Forza Italia ) to investigate alleged KGB ties to figures in Italian politics . The commission was criticized as politically motivated as it was focused mainly on allegations against opposition figures. The commission was shut down in 2006 without having developed any new concrete evidence beyond

915-596: The Indian National Congress , referred to the notes as "pure sensationalism not even remotely based on facts or records", and mentioned that the book is not based on official records from the Soviet Union but provided by a person who defected to the western world in 1992. Singhvi further added that the book is going after those Indian leaders who are "not alive to deny the charge". KERL. Operator and Rashid were senior KGB agents who operated within

976-980: The President of the Palestinian National Authority , worked for the Soviet intelligence agency. According to a recently released document from the Mitrokhin Archive, entitled "KGB developments – Year 1983", Abbas apparently worked under the code name "Krotov", starting early 1980s. Andrew described the following active measures by the KGB against the United States: According to Mitrokhin's notes, Soviet security organizations played key roles in establishing puppet Communist governments in Eastern Europe and Afghanistan . Their strategy included mass political repressions and establishing subordinate secret police services at

1037-770: The Provisional IRA , the Basque ETA , and previously mentioned "Carlos the Jackal". In 1981 the Soviets had launched "Operation Kontakt", which was based on a forged document purporting to contain details of the weapons and money provided by the ISI to Sikh militants who wanted to create an independent country. In November 1982, Yuri Andropov , the General Secretary of the Communist Party and leader of

1098-562: The Soviet Politburo . "The KGB whipped up the fear that Czechoslovakia could fall victim to NATO aggression or to a coup." At that moment, Soviet intelligence officer Oleg Kalugin reported from Washington that he had gained access to "absolutely reliable documents proving that neither CIA nor any other agency was manipulating the Czechoslovak reform movement." But, Kalugin's messages were destroyed because they contradicted

1159-572: The Soviet bloc . However, Leonov stated that he became friends with many Latin Americans including some leaders, and that he and other Soviets supported the struggles of left wing groups. But he clarifies that he did not let people know that he was a KGB agent and that his relationships with them did not involve intelligence. In September 2016, a work by two researchers (DR. I. Ginor and G. Remez) stated that Mahmoud Abbas (also known as 'Abu Mazen'),

1220-460: The Archives. Over the years, Mitrokhin became increasingly disillusioned with the Soviet system, especially after the stories about the struggles of dissidents and the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia , which led him to conclude that the Soviet system was incapable of reform. By the late 1960s, the KGB headquarters at the Lubyanka Building in central Moscow became increasingly overcrowded, and

1281-661: The Chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov , authorized the construction of a new building on the outskirts of Moscow in Yasenevo , which was to become the new headquarters of the First Chief Directorate and all foreign operations. Mitrokhin, who was by that time the head of the Archives department, was assigned by the director of the First Directorate, Vladimir Kryuchkov , with the task of cataloging

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1342-542: The Great Seal, performance of protocol functions for the White House , and the drafting of certain proclamations. The secretary also negotiates with the individual states over the extradition of fugitives to foreign countries. Under federal law, the resignation of a president or of a vice president is valid only if declared in writing, in an instrument delivered to the office of the secretary of state. Accordingly,

1403-532: The KGB in 1985, just after the move was completed. During the Soviet era he made no attempt to contact any Western intelligence services, but just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 he traveled to Latvia with copies of the material from his archive and walked into the American embassy in Riga . Central Intelligence Agency officers stationed there did not consider him to be credible, concluding that

1464-474: The KGB was said to have infiltrated the major political parties, the judiciary, and the police. Large-scale sabotage preparations were supposedly made against the US, Canada , and elsewhere in case of war, including hidden weapons caches prepared for that event; Mitrokhin's books later claimed several of these have been removed or destroyed by police relying on Mitrokhin's information. Christopher Andrew states that in

1525-706: The KGB. Many notable operations are alleged to have been conducted by the KGB to support international terrorists with weapons on the orders from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , including: According to Peter-Michael Diestel , East Germany became "an Eldorado for terrorists". The KGB aided the Stasi in supporting the Red Army Faction , which perpetrated terrorist attacks such as the 1985 Rhein-Main Air Base bombing . Other Stasi contacts included

1586-521: The KGB. The priests were used as agents of influence in the World Council of Churches and in front organizations such as World Peace Council , Christian Peace Conference, and the Rodina ("Motherland") Society founded by the KGB in 1975. The future Russian Patriarch Alexius II said that Rodina was created to "maintain spiritual ties with our compatriots" and to help organize them. According to

1647-628: The Kennedy assassination. Actually, this story surfaced in Henry Hurt's Reasonable Doubt , written 13 years ago. Similarly, the story that the K.G.B. considered schemes for breaking the legs of the ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev for defecting to the West was first reported in a book written six years ago." He added that "it does seem odd that a key K.G.B. archivist never had access to a copying machine, but had to copy thousands of pages in longhand. Still,

1708-524: The Mitrokhin Archive claim that more than half of the Soviet Union's advanced weapons were based on US designs, that the KGB tapped Henry Kissinger 's phone during the time he was US Secretary of State (1973–77), and had spies in place in almost all US defense contractor facilities. The notes also allege that some 35 senior politicians in France worked for the KGB during the Cold War . In West Germany ,

1769-603: The Mitrokhin Archive there are several Latin American leaders or members of left wing parties accused of being KGB informants or agents. For example, leader of the Sandinistas who seized power in Nicaragua in 1979, Carlos Fonseca Amador , was described as "a trusted agent" in KGB files. Nikolai Leonov was Sub-Director of the Latin American Department of the KGB between 1968 and 1972. In 1998 he gave

1830-697: The Qualifications of a Secretary of State? He ought to be a Man of universal Reading in Laws, Governments, History. Our whole terrestrial Universe ought to be summarily comprehended in his Mind. — John Adams Secretaries of state also have domestic responsibilities. Most of the historical domestic functions of the Department of State were gradually transferred to other agencies by the late 19th century as part of various administrative reforms and restructurings. Those that remain include storage and use of

1891-585: The Secretary of State must take in order to facilitate the return of abducted children from nations who are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction . As the highest-ranking member of the cabinet, the secretary of state is the third-highest official of the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president and vice president, and

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1952-722: The Somali government and the Arab League. KERL is believed to have connected Libya to USSR. Operator was Lt General Salad G. Kediye. Based on documents drawn from the Mitrokhin Archive , and book published by Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew The World Was Going Our Way , a comprehensive account of KGB operations in Africa, Asia and Latin America co-authored with the late KGB Major Vasili Mitrokhin . Kediye had been

2013-544: The Soviet Union, approved a proposal to fabricate Pakistani intelligence documents detailing ISI plans to foment religious disturbances in Punjab and promote the creation of Khalistan as an independent Sikh state. Indira Gandhi's decision to move troops into the Punjab was based on her taking seriously the information provided by the Soviets regarding secret CIA support for the Sikhs. The KGB role in facilitating Operation Bluestar

2074-674: The UK, Italy, and India. After the first book (Andrew and Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield , 1999) was published in the UK, an inquiry was held by the House of Commons' Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). Its findings, "The Mitrokhin Inquiry Report", were presented to Parliament in June 2000. The Committee expressed concern that the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) knew the names of some spies years before

2135-590: The United States to foreign countries, and is therefore considered analogous to a minister of foreign affairs in other countries. The secretary of state is nominated by the president of the United States and, following a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations , is confirmed by the Senate . The secretary of state, along with the secretary of the treasury , secretary of defense , and attorney general , are generally regarded as

2196-530: The archive, Alexius worked for the KGB as agent DROZDOV, and received an honorary citation from the agency for a variety of services. The Andrew and Mitrokhin publications briefly describe the history of the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat , who established close collaboration with the Romanian Securitate service and the KGB in the early 1970s. The KGB provided secret training for PLO guerrillas. However,

2257-464: The author Joseph Trento commented that "we know the Mitrokhin material is real because it fills in the gaps in Western files on major cases through 1985. Also, the operational material matches western electronic intercepts and agent reports. What MI6 got for a little kindness and a pension was the crown jewels of Russian intelligence." The publication of the books prompted parliamentary inquiries in

2318-656: The conspiracy theory fabricated by Andropov. Andropov ordered many active measures , collectively known as operation PROGRESS, against Czechoslovak reformers. The book describes establishing the " Moscow Patriarchate " on order from Stalin in 1943 as a front organization for the NKVD , and later, for the KGB . All key positions in the Church, including bishops, were approved by the Ideological Department of CPSU and by

2379-609: The context and authenticity of the notes made by Mitrokhin. Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin originally started his career with the First Chief Directorate of the KGB (Foreign Espionage) in Undercover operations. After Nikita Khrushchev's Secret Speech in February 1956 which denounced the previous regime of Joseph Stalin , Mitrokhin became critical of the existing KGB system and was transferred from Operations to

2440-401: The context and authenticity of the notes of Mitrokhin. In 1999, the historian Joseph Persico wrote that "several of the much-publicized revelations [from the book], however, hardly qualify as such. For instance, the authors tell how the K.G.B. forged a letter from Lee Harvey Oswald to E. Howard Hunt, the former C.I.A. officer and later Watergate conspirator, in order to implicate the C.I.A. in

2501-414: The copied documents could have been faked. He then went to the British embassy, and a young diplomat there saw his potential. After a further meeting one month later with representatives of MI6 flown in from the UK, operations followed to retrieve the entire 25,000-page cache of files hidden in his country house, which contained details about KGB operations abroad from as far back as the 1930s. Notes in

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2562-579: The department. The stated duties of the secretary of state are to supervise the United States foreign service and immigration policy and administer the Department of State. The secretary must also advise the president on U.S. foreign matters such as the appointment of diplomats and ambassadors, advising the president of the dismissal and recall of these people. The secretary of state can conduct negotiations, interpret, and terminate treaties relating to foreign policy. The secretary also can participate in international conferences, organizations, and agencies as

2623-427: The documents and overseeing their orderly transfer to the new headquarters. The transfer of the massive archive eventually took over 12 years, from 1972 to 1984. Unbeknown to Kryuchkov and the KGB, while cataloging the documents, Mitrokhin also secretly copied documents by hand, making immensely detailed notes, which he smuggled to his dacha in the countryside and deposited under the floorboards. Mitrokhin retired from

2684-419: The four most crucial Cabinet members because of the importance of their respective departments. Secretary of State is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule and thus earns the salary prescribed for that level $ 246,400, as of January 2024. The current secretary of state is Antony Blinken , who was confirmed on January 26, 2021, by the Senate by a vote of 78–22. The secretary of state originates from

2745-413: The government under the Articles of Confederation . The Congress of the Confederation established the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1781 and created the office of secretary of foreign affairs. After the Constitution of the United States was ratified, the 1st United States Congress reestablished the department, renaming it the Department of State, and created the office of secretary of state to lead

2806-494: The handling of his material". SIS stated that they were clearing the UK chapters with the Home Secretary and the Attorney General, as required before publication of the book; the Committee then found that they did not do so. In addition, ISC thought that "misleading stories were allowed to receive wide circulation", and the Committee found that SIS had handled neither the publication nor related media matters appropriately. In Italy in 2002, Silvio Berlusconi 's centre-right coalition,

2867-424: The main KGB activities and arms shipments were channeled through Wadie Haddad of the PFLP organization, who usually stayed in a KGB dacha BARVIKHA-1 during his visits to the Soviet Union. Led by Carlos the Jackal , a group of PFLP fighters carried out a spectacular raid on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries office in Vienna in 1975. Advance notice of this operation "was almost certainly" given to

2928-471: The occupied territories. The KGB director Yuri Andropov took suppression of anti-Communist liberation movements personally. In 1954, he became the Soviet Ambassador to Hungary , and was present during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution . After these events, Andropov had a "Hungarian complex": ... he had watched in horror from the windows of his embassy as officers of the hated Hungarian security service were strung up from lampposts. Andropov remained haunted for

2989-493: The ongoing Hanssen case in the United States clearly indicates, how little Russia has relented from the terror-driven spy society it was during seven inglorious decades of Communism." In 2002, David L. Ruffley, from the Department of International Programs, United States Air Force Academy, said that the material "provides the clearest picture to date of Soviet intelligence activity, fleshing out many previously obscure details, confirming or contradicting many allegations and raising

3050-403: The original information in the Mitrokhin Archive. Former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko allegedly said that he had been informed by FSB deputy chief, General Anatoly Trofimov (who was shot dead in Moscow in 2005), that " Romano Prodi is our man [in Italy]". The allegations were rejected by Prodi. Litvinenko also said that "Trofimov did not exactly say that Prodi

3111-412: The overall impact of this volume is convincing, though none of the material will send historians scurrying to rewrite their books." In her 2000 review, scholar Amy Knight said: "While The Sword and the Shield contains new information ... none of it has much significance for broader interpretations of the Cold War. The main message the reader comes away with after plowing through almost a thousand pages

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3172-437: The publication of the book but took a decision, without informing the proper prosecuting authorities, not to prosecute them. The ISC believed that this decision was for the Law Officers to take, not the SIS. The ISC interviewed Mitrokhin, who was not content with the way the book was published. He told them that he felt he had not accomplished what he intended when writing the notes. He wished that he had retained "full control over

3233-467: The resignations of President Richard Nixon and of Vice President Spiro Agnew were formalized in instruments delivered to then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger . Although they have historically decreased over time, Congress may occasionally add to the responsibilities of the secretary of state. One such instance occurred in 2014, when Congress passed the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act which mandated actions

3294-463: The rest of his life by the speed with which an apparently all-powerful Communist one-party state had begun to topple. When other Communist regimes later seemed at risk— in Prague in 1968 , in Kabul in 1979 , in Warsaw in 1981 , he was convinced that, as in Budapest in 1956 , only armed force could ensure their survival. Andropov played a key role in crushing the Hungarian Revolution. He convinced reluctant Nikita Khrushchev that military intervention

3355-404: The voluminous work to the west, all without detection by the KGB ... It may all be true. But how do we know?" That same year, the Central European Review described Mitrokhin and Andrew's work as "fascinating reading for anyone interested in the craft of espionage, intelligence gathering and its overall role in 20th-century international relations", offering "a window on the Soviet worldview and, as

3416-438: Was a KGB agent, because the KGB avoids using that word." In April 2006, Gerard Batten of the UK Independence Party , at the time a British member of the European Parliament for London , demanded a new inquiry into the Italian and Prodi allegations. In November 2006, a new commission was established to investigate the Mitrokhin Commission for allegations that it was manipulated for political purposes. In India, L. K. Advani ,

3477-405: Was a self-described loner with increasingly anti-Soviet views ... Maybe such a potentially dubious type (in KGB terms) really was able freely to transcribe thousands of documents, smuggle them out of KGB premises, hide them under his bed, transfer them to his country house, bury them in milk cans, make multiple visits to British embassies abroad, escape to Britain, and then return to Russia, and carry

3538-414: Was acknowledged by Subramanian Swamy who stated in 1992: "The 1984 Operation Bluestar became necessary because of the vast disinformation against Sant Bhindranwale by the KGB, and repeated inside Parliament by the Congress Party of India." Notes in the archive describe extensive preparations for large-scale sabotage operations against the United States, Canada, and Europe in the event of war, although none

3599-429: Was necessary. He convinced Imre Nagy and other Hungarian leaders that the Soviet government had not ordered an attack on Hungary while the attack was beginning. The Hungarian leaders were arrested and Nagy was executed. During the Prague Spring events in Czechoslovakia, Andropov was a vigorous proponent of "extreme measures". He ordered the fabrication of false intelligence not only for public consumption, but also for

3660-448: Was not officially announced until 1999. The official historian of MI5 , Christopher Andrew , wrote two books, The Sword and the Shield (1999) and The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (2005), based on material from the Mitrokhin Archives. The books provide details about many of the Soviet Union 's clandestine intelligence operations around the world. They also provide specifics about Guy Burgess ,

3721-521: Was recorded as having been carried out, beyond creating weapons and explosives caches in assorted foreign countries. This information has been corroborated in general by GRU defectors, such as Victor Suvorov and Stanislav Lunev . The operations included the following: Utilization of Mitrkohin Archive is not without risk because these documents only contain handwritten notes of Mitrokhin and no original documents or photocopies were ever made available to analyze these notes. Many scholars remain skeptical of

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