Yuri Bezmenov and Anatoliy Golitsyn: The Controversial History of the Soviet Union's Most Impactful Defectors by Charles River Editors
English | December 13, 2024 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B0DQG1LZFQ | 80 pages | EPUB | 2.52 Mb
The KGB is one of the most famous abbreviations of the 20th century, and it has become synonymous with the shadowy and often violent actions of the Soviet Union's secret police and internal security agencies. In fact, it is often used to refer to the Soviet state security agencies throughout its history, from the inception of the Cheka (Extraordinary Commission) in 1917 to the official elimination of the KGB in 1992. Whether it's associated with the Russian Civil War's excesses, Stalin's purges, and even Vladimir Putin, the KGB has long been viewed as the West's biggest bogeyman during the second half of the 20th century.
Inevitably, some of the Cold War's most shadowy actions involved trying to turn Soviet assets, whether for propaganda or intelligence purposes, but the Soviet system constantly had to worry about defections, as evidenced by the construction of the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s. That said, while the whistleblowers may be celebrated if they damage the public relations of an adversary, they can be controversial if they damage one's own country, as evidenced by the polarizing reputations of individuals like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.
Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing "truths" they were once sworn to harbor, as well as the disconcerting covert operations of which they once allegedly partook. In fact, the history of Russian defectors who later emerged as informants in the name of public interest stretches back to the 16th century, when Andrey Kurbsky, a former boyar, high-ranking military commander, and trusted adviser to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, decamped to Lithuania on April 30, 1564.
Nonetheless, Bezmenov remains known for his works after becoming disillusioned with the Soviet system in middle age, his interest in India, and his ultimate defection to Canada, which led to him railing against Soviet communism in various lectures and works throughout the 1980s.
During Congressional testimony concerning President Kennedy's assassination many years after Anatoliy Golitsyn's defection, James Jesus Angleton claimed he was "probably without any question the most major defection since World War II as far as Soviet intentions, Soviet organization, and Soviet operations are concerned." He would later become a voice for the Soviets' disinformation strategy through his studies and his work as a KGB agent and with the CIA's Counterintelligence Unit. Golitsyn became disenchanted with Moscow and the Soviet way of life after having spent his life protecting it.
Thanks to his schooling and training, Golitsyn had deep inside knowledge of the USSR's (communist) strategy to rule the world. Angleton, the chief of the CIA's Counterintelligence Unit, was a huge supporter and believer of Golitsyn's ideas and theories. At first, Angleton readily admitted that Golitsyn may or may not have been a bona fide defector, but over time, the information relayed by Golitsyn to Angleton matched what Angleton perceived about the USSR, disinformation, defectors, and communism throughout the world.
Unfortunately for all concerned, their actions throttled their efforts. Many observers think Golitsyn was a decisive defector who wreaked havoc on Western intelligence agencies through his idea of implanting spies within the Western world's intelligence agencies. The goal of this was to use disinformation to lead the agencies to false conclusions about what was really happening. Angleton bought into this idea, and the two went on to engage in what became the Great Mole Hunt.
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