Top expert on #KGB (ops, archives, spy fiction). Book: KGB Literati (t.co/uWXN1eLc0u). PhD. 25+ years university teaching in Russia/Balkans/US. Now at University of San Francisco.
Filip Kovacevic
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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
Presenting my research @stanforduniversity.bsky.social
on May 30, 2026.
Secret internal correspondence reveals what indicators KGB used to detect foreign spies
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."
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."
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.
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.
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...
Can't believe it's been 6 months since I unboxed #KGBLiterati... still as excited as day one. #spies #writers #intelhistory @socintelhist.bsky.social
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)
Filip Kovacevic
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...
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
Filip Kovacevic
📢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
