How does kgb work

Things took an unfortunate turn for the rising KGB star when Vladimir Kryuchkov, the KGB chief who would later instigate a coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, accused Kalugin of recruiting someone who turned out to be an American spy. Growing more disgruntled by the minute, Kalugin began blowing the whistle on KGB corruption until he got fired from the agency in He accepted a teaching position at the Catholic University of America, wrote a book based on his experience spying for the KGB, and helped develop a computer game in which the player is a CIA operative tasked with disrupting a plot to steal a nuclear warhead and assassinate the U.

Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. The strange-but-true life stories of seven Soviet spooks. By Katie Cella. June 18, , AM. Foreign Policy. What in the World? November 12, , PM. Trending 1. Blame Brussels. The U. Latest Analysis. Or are they? The Month in World Photos. Argument Andrew Connelly. Report Jack Detsch.

Analysis Richard Aboulafia. Analysis Jeffrey Wilson. Sergun did not live to see the impact of a very different kind of secret operation attributed to the GRU: the hacking of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the US Democratic Party, which saw the release of tens of thousands of private communications in an apparent effort to discredit a candidate seen as hostile to Russia.

The justice department eventually charged 12 Russians with the cyber attack. All were accused of being GRU officers. The Kremlin responded by saying there was no evidence linking the 12 to military intelligence or hacking.

If the GRU did indeed mount operations in Ukraine and against the US Democrats, then they certainly achieved what were presumably their goals: the rebels retain control of their territory in east Ukraine to this day, and Hillary Clinton famously lost the election to Donald Trump.

But other operations attributed to the agency appear to have been spectacular flops, albeit with deadly consequences as in Salisbury, where a woman died. The two alleged GRU operatives who went to the UK not only failed to assassinate their presumed target, Sergei Skripal, but left a trail of evidence behind them like bungling amateurs - unless, of course, their disregard for CCTV cameras was deliberately brazen, meant to send a signal that Russia is prepared to take high risks in pursuit of its security goals.

Mr Skripal, convicted of treason and jailed in Russia , had been released in a spy swap in In the same year as the Salisbury attack, four other suspected GRU agents were caught red-handed in the Netherlands trying to hack the wifi network of the chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, which was investigating the Skripal poisoning as well as a chemical attack in Syria.

Like the Salisbury suspects, they had left a trail of evidence online as well as on paper, although they were allowed to return to Russia by the Dutch authorities. Clearly the guidance they are getting is, within bounds: it doesn't really matter. Don't worry too much about the fallout. Blast puts spotlight on shadowy Russian force.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What do we know about the Russian intelligence organisation, the GRU? But the coronavirus crisis has made Putin appear more vulnerable than many observers can remember, and his approval ratings continue to drop. Howard Amos is a journalist and analyst focusing on Russia. Twitter: howardamos. The pandemic will accelerate a trend of mistrust in the Kremlin. Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. By Howard Amos. June 27, , AM. What in the World? November 12, , PM. Trending 1. Blame Brussels.