The Archive That Isn’t There – Investigating the Gaps in KGB History

In September 1990, KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov ordered the destruction of the Soviet intelligence service’s agent files. The directive targeted the working files of KGB agents, with a deadline of 1 July 1991.

The destruction reportedly continued even after reformers attempted to halt it, resulting in a catastrophic loss, particularly for the archives of the First Chief Directorate, which oversaw foreign intelligence and active measures.

Decades later, we are still dealing with the aftermath, not just from what the KGB burned, but from what Western agencies will not release.

‘Some of this stuff, the basic approach hasn’t changed. Only the technology has. You think we’re going to explain exactly how we tracked and countered Soviet influence ops when the Russians are doing the same thing on Twitter?’

— Senior CIA veteran, speaking on background

CIA documents emerge with entire pages blacked out, while FBI requests on Soviet operations can be met with a refusal to “neither confirm nor deny” that records even exist. Meanwhile, operational records from Britain’s MI6 remain largely inaccessible to the public.

The pattern of what we cannot read tells its own story about which Cold War secrets still matter today.

What the KGB Still Hides

The scale of destruction in 1990-91 was staggering. Kryuchkov’s order specifically targeted the personal files and operational records of KGB agents. This was not the KGB’s first archival purge. In 1954-55, during de-Stalinisation, they destroyed files deemed to “slander upright Soviet people”. But the 1990-91 destruction was different. This was about protecting operational secrets and agent identities out of fear of democratic reforms and public exposure.

What survived? Fragments, mostly. The Mitrokhin Archive, handwritten notes smuggled out by KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, gives us glimpses of operations like INFEKTION (the AIDS disinformation campaign) and efforts to discredit Martin Luther King Jr.. But the gaps are enormous.

The full operational details of how influence campaigns actually worked, including the internal planning and directives, are largely inaccessible due to the destruction and the continued closure of central archives in Russia. The CIA once estimated the annual Soviet budget for these activities at over $3 billion, but verifiable records of how it was spent are missing.

Access to the KGB’s successor agencies, the FSB and SVR, and the Presidential Archives is politically controlled and arbitrary. Unlike Western nations, which have declassification rules of 25 to 30 years, Russia has no legal framework compelling the release of KGB operational files. The most comprehensive records are either destroyed or locked in Moscow vaults with no prospect of release.

Western Redactions and Glomar Walls

Western agencies have their own ways of keeping secrets.

Take document CIA-RDP89G00720R000500060008-2, a 1986 report on Soviet active measures. It wasn’t approved for release until 2014 and published in 2016. That is the pattern across thousands of pages.

Documents reach the 25-year automatic declassification mark, get reviewed, and emerge with black bars covering names, dates, locations, and methods. Entire pages are withheld under exemption codes like 1.4(c) (intelligence sources and methods) and 3.3(b)(1) (confidential human sources).

Worse are the “Glomar” responses, where an agency will “neither confirm nor deny the existence of such records”. Named after a CIA case involving the Hughes Glomar Explorer ship, it has become the ultimate stonewalling tactic for requests about sensitive operations.

The FBI’s approach is particularly revealing. In 2007, it announced the “Great Declassification of ’06,” releasing 270 million pages of records. But there was a catch. An executive order permitted the FBI to postpone the release of its core counterintelligence and international terrorism files. Those are the very records most likely to detail KGB active measures and the FBI’s response to them.

The redactions follow patterns. Human source identities can be protected for up to 75 years. Foreign government information is blacked out to protect liaison relationships. Many of the human sources are no longer available. The Soviet Union, which was the target, no longer exists. Yet the secrets remain.

Chronological Gaps and Political Timing

When you look at which documents get released and which stay classified, patterns emerge.

The early Cold War period from 1950-55 is particularly sparse in US holdings, partly because a significant number of intelligence documents from that time were destroyed or scattered.

Declassifications tend to spike after scandals.

The MK-Ultra mind control documents only surfaced after congressional investigations, and even then, the CIA had destroyed most of the records in 1973.

But look at what stays closed.

Files on Soviet active measures during sensitive NATO debates, like the 1979 decision on theatre nuclear forces or the 1983 Able Archer war scare, remain heavily restricted. British releases follow similar patterns. MI5 periodically transfers files to The National Archives, but MI6 operational records are almost entirely absent from public view. The pattern suggests political considerations can drive declassification as much as security concerns.

What Former Officers Refuse to Confirm

Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB Major General, called active measures “the heart and soul of Soviet intelligence”. He has been remarkably open about many operations, detailing assassination plots and efforts to control institutions. But when pressed on certain specifics, such as the identities of assets who may still be alive, he clams up.

‘Active measures were ‘the heart and soul of Soviet intelligence,’ not traditional intelligence collection.’

— Oleg Kalugin, former KGB Major General

The pattern repeats with Western intelligence veterans.

They acknowledge ongoing operations and relationships that prevent them from discussing 1980s counter-propaganda techniques. One senior CIA veteran, speaking on background, put it bluntly: “Some of this stuff, the basic approach hasn’t changed. Only the technology has. You think we’re going to explain exactly how we tracked and countered Soviet influence ops when the Russians are doing the same thing on Twitter?”.

When former officers consistently refuse to discuss certain topics, even decades later, it suggests those methods or relationships remain relevant.

The platform changed. The playbook did not.

The superpowers weren’t the only ones using it. A handful of non-aligned nations learned to run their own sophisticated operations, often by erasing the evidence even more thoroughly. This might explain the persistent secrecy. Revealing exactly how Western agencies identified and countered Soviet active measures could provide a roadmap for defeating similar operations today.

Academic Struggles for Access

Researchers trying to study KGB active measures seriously hit wall after wall. FOIA requests to US agencies are notoriously slow. The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP), which hears declassification appeals, had a backlog of 1,195 cases as of late 2024, with some pending for 18 years. It is bureaucratic stonewalling refined to an art form.

The archives of former Warsaw Pact countries initially seemed promising. The Stasi records in Germany, for example, are remarkably accessible. But dig into these collections and you find a problem. The most sensitive files often reference Moscow cables that no longer exist, having been either recalled or destroyed before the Soviet collapse.

Without access to primary sources, we cannot properly understand how Soviet influence operations worked or how Western democracies responded.

The full picture remains locked away.

Why the Sophisticated Operations Remain Shadowed

So why the continuing secrecy? Four hypotheses emerge from the pattern of classification and redaction.

First, protection of tradecraft. The basic techniques of influence operations have not changed, only the delivery mechanisms have. Revealing how 1980s operations worked could compromise current capabilities.

Second, shielding liaison relationships. Intelligence cooperation, especially among the “Five Eyes” alliance (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), was crucial. Declassifying a file might require the consent of multiple nations, any one of which can veto the release to protect its own interests.

Third, political risk. What if Western counter-measures crossed ethical lines, or shaped current alliances in ways that would be controversial if revealed?.

Fourth, simple embarrassment. Executive Orders prohibit classification to hide failures or embarrassment, but broad “national security” exemptions can provide cover. Agencies might be protecting reputations rather than sources.

Files That Could Shift the Picture

Despite the obstacles, opportunities exist to expand the public record. Researchers should target specific files.

Renewed pressure on the FBI to release its core counterintelligence files, postponed since 2006, is one obvious step. Those records are now approaching 50 years old. A systematic search of Warsaw Pact archives might also uncover duplicate KGB directives that survived the Moscow purges.

But there is a race against time to capture the oral histories of surviving case officers. Their memories are the last living archive.

These gaps in the record are not just historical footnotes; they represent ongoing decisions about what stays secret and why. The devil, as always, is in the operational details. And those remain frustratingly out of reach, sealed in Moscow vaults or hidden behind Western classification stamps.

Sources

Sources include: CIA FOIA releases on Soviet Active Measures (1980s / released c. 2010-2016); FBI “core counterintelligence” files (postponed from declassification since 2007); the Mitrokhin Archive typescripts at the Churchill Archives Centre; NSA VENONA project decrypts (releases scheduled into 2025); testimonies and memoirs from former KGB officers Oleg Kalugin and Stanislav Levchenko; Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) decision records; and files from former Warsaw Pact services, such as the German Stasi Records Agency.