A significant research contribution on Soviet intelligence illegals in the U.S. & Canada by my colleague Kevin Riehle. This table offers the most comprehensive list compiled so far & includes both #KGB and #GRU spies. ⬇️ The article link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From my ongoing research of #KGB files: A Fake Defector's Tale "The cover stories and technologies might be different, but the intentions and tactics have remained the same." Here's the link: tinyurl.com/mr2vkvwh

Very grateful to @martindbbrown.bsky.social for a wonderfully engaging review of my book #KGBLiterati. A thoughtful meditation on the social significance of #spy fiction. Highly recommend! @socintelhist.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...

The afterlife of the Soviet spy

The spy fiction written by Soviet intelligence officers was far more than propaganda.

engelsbergideas.com

Exclusive: My new article based on the original handwritten class notes of a junior #KGB officer. ⬇️ Check out what #KGB said about #CIA in a classified setting: tinyurl.com/ye25xec2

How many Soviet ambassadors were undercover #KGB officers of the active reserve? Here's one documented case: Andrei Yefimovich Kovalyov, Soviet ambassador to Finland, 1965-1970. Below is the biographical information on Kovalyov from Nikita Petrov's book Those Who Led State Security, 1941-1954.

I love this new interview about my book #KGBLiterati on Eye Spy: The Intelligence History Podcast engagingly hosted by @stanforduniversity.bsky.social PhD student Krystel von Kumberg. @uoftpress.bsky.social Give it a listen: tinyurl.com/pjvvtdms

In his memoir Washington Station, former #KGB intelligence officer Yuri Shvets wrote that the Second Chief Directorate (counterintelligence) was known for its attitude: "Give us a body & we'll always find treason in it." Today, its successor #FSB is no different.

"Notwithstanding #CIA efforts, Western decision-makers have downplayed, or even ignored, the contributions of #KGBLiterati to Russia’s national identity construction at their peril. My book brings them out of the shadows for all to see. And take action." www.amazon.com/KGB-Literati...

KGB Literati: Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union

Amazon.com: KGB Literati: Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union: 9781487548926: Kovacevic, Filip: Books

amazon.com

Very much enjoyed talking about my book #KGBLiterati on the Spionpodden podcast! In the Soviet Union, #KGB wrote itself into the imagination of a nation. Find out how they did it. The link: soundcloud.com/search?q=Ep9...

I've just given an interview on #KGB legacy & imprint on the contemporary Russian intelligence & security services for the Czech News Agency. Use your browser to translate from Czech. The link: ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/ruske...

Ruské tajné služby navazují na KGB ve své protizápadní orientaci, říká expert | ČeskéNoviny.cz

Praha - Současné ruské zpravodajské služby navazují na hlavní sovětskou tajnou službu KGB především svou protizápadní orientací a metodami náboru agentů založenými na penězích a vydírání. V rozhovoru ...

ceskenoviny.cz

How did #KGB detect spies? My new article based on the secret internal correspondence between the Higher School of #KGB in Moscow and the Lithuanian #KGB HQ in Vilnius. The link: tinyurl.com/yc63sp8b

How KGB Detected Spies

Secret internal correspondence reveals what indicators KGB used to detect foreign spies

tinyurl.com

Presenting my research @stanforduniversity.bsky.social on May 30, 2026.

One of the largest & longest-lasting #GULAG uprisings took place in the Stepnoi camp in Kazakhstan 72 years ago (May-June 1954). It's described by Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago. Here's is a secret 22-page #MVD report on the uprising: kgbveikla.lt/dokumentai/1...

I am researching the papers of #KGB assassin-turned-defector Nikolai Khokhlov at the Hoover Library & Archives. His MA & PhD theses in experimental psychology are there, but almost nothing on espionage. In his later life, he appears to have been more interested in "psychic warfare."

Thanks to @stanforduniversity.bsky.social's Center for Russian, Eastern European & Eurasian Studies for organizing a memorable conference on surveillance & intelligence in Russia & the Soviet Union. My contribution was on Soviet #spy training.

I filed a #FOIA request with #DIA regarding the documents related to #KGB General Aleksandr Sakharovsky, the head of the First Chief Directorate from 1956 to 1971.

Beria's top secret report to Stalin dated Oct. 14, 1944, released by kgbveikla.lt last week, reveals how many anti-Soviet rebels were killed & captured by #NKVD/#NKGB from Feb. to Sept. 1944. Western Ukraine 38,087 (k) / 31,808 (c) Western Belarus 444 (k) / 927 (c) Lithuania 415 (k) / 1,635 (c)

On June 20, 1978, #KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov issued a secret executive order No. 0330 on the candidate assessment & recruitment for work in the KGB. This included the requirement that a potential candidate needs to be monitored & assessed for "no less than 1 year."

Can't believe it's been 6 months since I unboxed #KGBLiterati... still as excited as day one. #spies #writers #intelhistory @socintelhist.bsky.social

Filip Kovacevic@chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 9mo ago

📢A day for champagne & caviar! #Unboxing my book KGB LITERATI: SPY FICTION & STATE SECURITY IN THE SOVIET UNION! 🎉 Grab your copy here 👉https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487548919 @socintelhist.bsky.social #Spies #Writers #KGB #BookLaunch #NewRelease

Original prototype for #KGB literature & film award established by Yuri Andropov's executive order in March 1979. Want the full story? It's in my book #KGBLiterati. amazon.com/KGB-Literati...

Excellent analysis by Kevin Riehle! "As in periods of instability during the Soviet era, Russia is once again experiencing a wave of defections. Today, these defections take three forms: articulated, final and geographic." www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/05/04/w...

Why an Official's Flight to the U.S. Should Worry the Kremlin - The Moscow Times

Opinion | The reported flight from Russia to the U.S. of Denis Butsayev, the recently dismissed deputy minister for natural resources and ecology, fits a pattern that has emerged since the full-scale ...

themoscowtimes.com

NEW: Top secret #KGB agent questionnaire Find out what information KGB collected about their agents. Psychological traits, addictions, sexual orientation, personal possessions, etc. Based on my archival research. #surveillance #blackmail Read it here: tinyurl.com/yc7w2dmp

Top Secret KGB Agent Questionnaire

There is nothing more revealing about the KGB approach to their agents than the detailed questionnaire submitted upon their recruitment

tinyurl.com

Surreal Goodreads moment: scrolling a shelf of well-known books and realizing .... that's my book #KGBLiterati in the mix. Thanks to everyone shelving, rating, and reviewing! Honored to be in this company.

If you ever wondered how various #KGB positions translated into military rank, this is the document for you. The #topsecret order approved by KGB Chairman Ivan Serov in 1955 from the Lithuanian Special Archives. The link: kgbveikla.lt/dokumentai/1...

#KGB counterintelligence leadership believed that #CIA trained Jesuit priests for #spy missions in the Soviet Union at a school near Los Angeles. That's what my ongoing research at Hoover Archives uncovered. Read the story here: tinyurl.com/5abwzrcu

KGB Files: CIA Spy School for Jesuits Near LA in the late 1960s?

While there is no evidence that this spy school ever existed, internal KGB communications reveal that KGB counterintelligence leadership believed that it did

tinyurl.com

Top secret #KGB Counterintelligence Lexicon from 1972 digitized by the Latvian National Archives includes more & longer entries than the available English translation edited by KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin & published in 2002. The link: kgb.arhivi.lv/dokumenti/vd...

In July 1956, Lithuanian #KGB counterintelligence kept files on the suspected agents of the following countries: US - 90 individuals UK - 54 France - 20 West Germany - 105 Japan - 2 Sweden - 3 Belgium - 1 Israel - 2 Vatican - 2

My book #KGBLiterati expertly reviewed by a retired #CIA officer John Ehrman in the March 2026 issue of the CIA's long-established & highly regarded quarterly journal Studies in Intelligence. ⬇️ @socintelhist.bsky.social The link: cia.gov/resources/cs...

Hot off the press! My book chapter: "A Century of Chekist Public Relations: Four Case Studies." #intel #history #Cheka #KGB #FSB #SVR In "Routledge Handbook of Media & Intelligence" edited by Florina Cristiana Matei & Carolyn Halladay. @socintelhist.bsky.social

Though the Soviet Union is long gone, Russian #spies remain “an existential threat to the U.S.” I highly recommend this interview with a former #CIA officer Sean Wiswesser about his new book. 45 minutes well spent! #FSB #SVR #GRU www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuwY...

Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks

YouTube video by U.S. Naval Institute

youtube.com