The Kgb's Legacy In Belarus: A Historical Overview

The KGB, or the Committee for State Security, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus established its own national intelligence agency, the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB), which retained the name of its Soviet predecessor. The Belarusian KGB is responsible for implementing state policy in the field of national security, regulating and managing work to ensure the security of individuals, society, and the state, and coordinating the security-related activities of other national bodies. The agency has been accused by human rights organizations, the United States, and the European Union of secret police activities, human rights abuses, and political repression.

Belarus' KGB: History and Formation

The KGB, or the Committee for State Security, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the successor to previous Soviet security agencies, including the Cheka, which was founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky, who was born in present-day Belarus.

In the early 20th century, the Russian Cheka began operating in Belarus. On 1 March 1922, a State Political Directorate was formed under the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR. In July 1934, an affiliate of the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB, was formed in the BSSR.

In March 1954, the Soviet Union began reforms of the Interior Ministry, and the KGB was established as a subordinate agency under the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. The following month, on 19 May 1954, the Soviet government in Belarus decided to form a republican affiliate of the KGB, which was led by Alexander Perepelitsyn.

In December 1978, the KGB of the BSSR became an independent institution of the national agency, with responsibility for all assets in Belarus.

In August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus passed the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, effectively declaring independence from the USSR. The following month, in September 1991, the KGB of the BSSR was renamed the KGB of the Republic of Belarus, becoming the new national security body of the state.

The Belarusian KGB has retained the name, symbols, and some of the repressive functions of its Soviet predecessor. It is governed by the law 'About State Security Bodies of the Republic of Belarus' and is formally controlled by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

KGB's Role in Human Rights Violations and Political Repression

The KGB, or the Committee for State Security, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was responsible for foreign intelligence, domestic counterintelligence, technical intelligence, protection of the political leadership, and the security of the Soviet Union's frontiers.

The KGB was the successor to the Cheka, the first Soviet secret police founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky, who remains an important figure in the state ideology of Belarus under President Alexander Lukashenko.

The KGB has been accused by human rights organizations, the United States, and the European Union of secret police activities and human rights abuses. According to these organizations, the KGB and its senior leadership play a key role in human rights violations and political repression in Belarus. The KGB has retained the name, symbols, and some repressive functions of its predecessor, the KGB of the Soviet Union.

Several former chairmen and senior officers of the KGB of Belarus have been included in the sanctions lists of the European Union and the United States, particularly following the crackdown of peaceful protests that followed the allegedly falsified presidential elections of 2006 and 2010.

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Treasury added the KGB of Belarus and its chairman, Ivan Tertel, to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, stating that the organization had "continually pressured and targeted the opposition" in the aftermath of the fraudulent 2020 election.

International Sanctions on the KGB

Belarus has its own version of the KGB, known as the KGB RB, which is the successor to the KGB of the Byelorussian SSR, a branch of the Soviet KGB. The KGB RB is the national intelligence agency of Belarus and is governed by the law "About State Security Bodies of the Republic of Belarus". It is formally controlled by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

The KGB RB has been accused by human rights organizations in the United States and the European Union of engaging in secret police activities and human rights abuses. As a result, several former chairmen and senior officers of the KGB RB have been included in the sanctions lists of the European Union and the United States. These sanctions were imposed especially after the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests that followed the allegedly falsified presidential elections of 2006 and 2010.

In 2020, the European Union added former chairman Valery Vakulchik and his deputy to its sanctions list. The following year, the U.S. Treasury Department also sanctioned the KGB RB and its chairman, Ivan Tertel, for their role in suppressing the 2020-2021 protests and targeting the opposition in the aftermath of the fraudulent 2020 election. Tertel was also added to the sanctions lists of Switzerland, Canada, the European Union, the United States, and Japan in 2022.

In addition to the sanctions on specific individuals within the KGB RB, Belarus has also been sanctioned for its cooperation with and assistance to Russian armed forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War. These sanctions have been imposed by a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other international organizations.

KGB's Counterintelligence and Foreign Intelligence Activities

The KGB, or the Committee for State Security, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was responsible for internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence, and secret police functions. The KGB had two main components: the organs, which included services directly involved in the committee's major roles, and the troops, which included military units within the KGB's structure.

The Second Chief Directorate (SCD) was the KGB's counterintelligence branch, and it was considered the CIA's "most tenacious and opaque opponent." The SCD's activities remain largely unknown, as most documents related to it are still classified. However, the transcript of a 1955 meeting of the SCD leadership in Moscow provides some insight into its inner workings. The transcript reveals that the SCD was concerned about the deficiencies in Soviet counterintelligence, particularly the lack of trained agents and effective operational methods.

The First Chief Directorate was responsible for foreign intelligence operations and had little trouble recruiting personnel. Recruits were usually graduates of prestigious higher education institutions with knowledge of foreign languages. They underwent a two-year postgraduate training course at the Higher Intelligence School near Moscow, which included training in ciphers, arms and sabotage, Marxist-Leninist theory, and foreign languages.

The KGB's intelligence-gathering activities in the West increased significantly after the era of détente began in 1972, as Soviet and East European diplomatic, cultural, and commercial officials entered the United States and other Western countries. KGB officers posed as diplomats, trade officials, journalists, scientists, and students. The proportion of Soviet citizens abroad engaged in intelligence gathering was estimated to be between 30 to 40 percent in the US and over 50 percent in some Third World countries.

The KGB was the primary agency supplying the Kremlin with foreign intelligence, and it focused on acquiring advanced Western technology. During the Andropov era, the KGB oriented itself more towards electronic espionage, using communications intercepts and satellites to supplement intelligence gathered by agents.

The KGB's counterintelligence and foreign intelligence activities extended beyond the Soviet Union to its satellite states. For example, the KGB played a significant role in crushing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968. It also infiltrated Afghanistan as early as 1978 and was involved in the Soviet-Chinese Spy Wars in the 1970s, targeting the Chinese diaspora in the Soviet Union and attempting to spread anti-Soviet sentiment.

KGB's Presence in Other Countries

The KGB was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor to the Cheka, the first Soviet secret police agency, and was the umbrella organisation for the Soviet Union's security agency, secret police, and intelligence agency.

The KGB was a military service governed by army laws and regulations. Its main functions included foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence, guarding the state border of the USSR, guarding the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and combating nationalist, dissident, religious, and anti-Soviet activities.

The KGB had a presence in each of the republics of the Soviet Union, aside from the Russian SFSR, where the KGB was headquartered. Each of these countries had its own versions of the agency, which were designed and operated similarly, carrying out many of the same duties.

• Ukraine: The KGB of the Ukrainian SSR was one of the republican affiliates of the KGB.
• Moldova: The KGB of the Moldovan SSR was another republican affiliate.
• Estonia: The KGB of the Estonian SSR operated in a similar fashion to the other republics.
• Latvia: The Latvian SSR had its own version of the KGB, known as the "VDK".
• Lithuania: The Lithuanian SSR also had its own KGB, known as the "VSK".
• Georgia: The KGB of the Georgian SSR was another republican affiliate of the KGB.
• Azerbaijan: The KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR was also a part of the broader KGB structure.
• Belarus: The KGB of the Byelorussian SSR was established in 1991 and kept the unreformed name after declaring independence.
• Bangladesh: The KGB influenced the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh and supported the party of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• Afghanistan: The KGB infiltrated Afghanistan as early as 1978 and played a role in the overthrow of President Mohammed Daoud Khan.
• United States: The KGB had both legal and illegal residencies in the US. They recruited US Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Anthony Walker and CIA officer Aldrich Ames.
• United Kingdom: The KGB recruited the "Cambridge Five", which included Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, John Cairncross, and Anthony Blunt.
• Czechoslovakia: The KGB infiltrated Czechoslovakia with illegal residents and played a major role in crushing the Prague Spring in 1968.
• Poland: The KGB infiltrated the Solidarity labour movement in Poland but failed to suppress it.

The KGB was officially dissolved on December 3, 1991, and was succeeded by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in Russia.

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