KGB (КГБ) is the commonly used acronym for the Russian: Комитет государственной безопасности (Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Committee for State Security). It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time. The KGB has been considered a military service and was governed by army laws and regulations, similar to the Soviet Army or MVD Internal Troops. While most of the KGB archives remain classified, two on-line documentary sources are available.
Belarus is the only former Soviet state to have kept the name "State Security Committee" - and the acronym KGB - for its national security agency. (See State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus)
After breaking away from the Republic of Georgia in the early 1990s with Russian help, the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia established its own KGB (keeping this unreformed name).
Read more about KGB: Mode of Operation, History, KGB in The Soviet Bloc, Suppressing Internal Dissent, Notable Operations, August Coup of 1991, Organization of The KGB, History of The KGB, Insignia
Famous quotes containing the word kgb:
“The childless experts on child raising also bring tears of laughter to my eyes when they say, “I love children because they’re so honest.” There is not an agent in the CIA or the KGB who knows how to conceal the theft of food, how to fake being asleep, or how to forge a parent’s signature like a child.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)