KGB

Committee for State Security
CSS USSR

Комитет Государственной Безопасноти КГБ СССР Komitet Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti KGB SSSR
Lubyanka Building in 1991
Agency overview
Formed	13 March 1954; 62 years ago (1954-03-13)
Preceding agencies	Ministry of Internal Affairs Ministry for State Security
Dissolved	6 November 1991 (de facto) 3 December 1991 (de jure)
Superseding agency	Federal Security Service Central Intelligence Service Committee for State Border Guard Foreign Intelligence Service
Type	State committee of union-republican jurisdiction
Jurisdiction	Soviet Union
Headquarters	Lubyanskaya ploshchad, 2, Moscow, Russian SFSR
Motto	Loyalty to the party - Loyalty to motherland Верность партии - Верность Родине
Agency executive	Vladimir Kryuchkov (last), Chairman of KGB
Parent agency	Central Committee of the Party Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
Child agencies	First Chief Directorate (foreign intelligence) Second Chief Directorate (internal security and counterintelligence) Eighth Chief Directorate (ciphering and government communication) Chief Directorate of Border Forces

The KGB, an initialism for Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (Russian: Комите́т госуда́рственной безопа́сности (КГБ); IPA: [kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪnːəj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ], translated in English as Committee for State Security), was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its break-up in 1991. Formed in 1954, as a direct successor of such preceding agencies as the Cheka, NKGB, and MGB, the committee was attached to the Council of Ministers. It was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", acting as internal security, intelligence, and secret police. Similar agencies were constituted in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from Russia and consisted of many ministries, state committees, and state commissions.

The KGB was 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 online documentary sources are available. Its main functions were foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, operative-investigatory activities, guarding the State Border of the USSR, guarding the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, organization and ensuring of government communications as well as combating nationalism, dissent, and anti-Soviet activities.

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