KGB news stories on Newser

FBI: Demjanjuk's Nazi ID Likely a Soviet Fake

Kate Schwartz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:44:47 CDT

In the midst of closing arguments in John Demjanjuk's Nazi war crimes trial in Munich, a shocking revelation: AP yesterday reported on the existence of a newly declassified FBI report that claims Demjanjuk's Nazi ID card was "quite likely fabricated" by the Soviet Union. Throughout three decades of hearings and...

Russia Sends Hitman After Agent Who Outed Spies

Kevin Spak — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:35:00 CST

Russia has sent a hitman after the double agent who ratted out Anna Chapman and the other amateur spies the US caught this spring. “We know who he is, and where he is,” a high-ranking Kremlin source bragged to a Russian newspaper. “You can have no doubt—a Mercader has...

In Spy Swap, US Got the Pros

Kevin Spak — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:36:00 CDT

The four spies Russia handed over to the US last night didn’t have much in common with the 10 spies they got back. The so-called “sleeper” agents that the US nabbed were mainly in the business of looking for government and think-tank contacts that Russia’s “professional” spies could exploit, one...

Beauty Spy's Dad 'Was KGB Agent'

Rob Quinn — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:29:00 CDT

Alleged deep-cover Russian spy Anna Chapman may have been following in her father's footsteps, says her British ex-husband. The Russian-born beauty "told me her father had been high up in the ranks of the KGB," Alex Chapman tells the Telegraph . "She said he had been an agent in 'old Russia....

Russian Sports, Concert Tycoon Gunned Down

Will McCahill — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:48 CST

A former KGB agent turned sports- and concert-promoter was gunned down today in Moscow, with the submachine gun-toting assailants pulling alongside Shabtai von Kalmanovic’s Mercedes and killing him nearly instantly in a hail of bullets. Kalmanovic, 60, brought stars of the WNBA to Russia during its off-season to play for...

1988: Reagan, Right; Putin, Left

Harry Kimball — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:34:01 CDT

It’s 1988. President Ronald Reagan is making a visit to the Soviet Union, where he tours Moscow’s Red Square alongside Mikhail Gorbachev. He stops and takes questions from a group of tourists about human rights in the United States. Except they’re not tourists, Radio Free Europe reports. They’re KGB agents...

Want to Own a Newspaper? Got $1.50?

Jason Farago — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:19:17 CST

A Russian oligarch with a past in the KGB is set to buy one of London's most visible newspapers, at the knockdown price of just a buck and a half. Alexander Lebedev will acquire the Evening Standard for the token price—the cost of two copies—from a media conglomerate...

Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead

Wesley Oliver — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:24:01 CST

The iconic leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who healed an 80-year rift in the church and restored its prominence in Russian society, died today, the Times of London reports. No official cause of death was given for Patriarch Alexiy, but the Kremlin’s first post-Soviet Orthodox leader had been suffering...

KGB Radiation Poisoning Suspect Ready to Talk

Rob Quinn — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:31:46 CST

A former KGB agent accused of poisoning a Russian dissident in England wants to clear his name, he tells the Times of London. Alexander Lugovoi has offered to send a friend to London to speak with investigators, and may travel to the UK himself if officials pledge not to arrest...