Crash Course in KGB/SVR/FSB Disinformation, Active Measures

Crash Course in KGB/SVR/FSB Disinformation and Active Measures

CNN "The Cold War" Interview with retired KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin:

"On the other hand -- and this is the other side of the Soviet intelligence, very important: perhaps I would describe it as the heart and soul of the Soviet intelligence -- was subversion. Not intelligence collection, but subversion: active measures to weaken the West, to drive wedges in the Western community alliances of all sorts, particularly NATO, to sow discord among allies, to weaken the United States in the eyes of the people of Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and thus to prepare ground in case the war really occurs. To make America more vulnerable to the anger and distrust of other peoples."

"In that sense, the Soviet intelligence [was] really unparalleled. ... The [KGB] programs -- which would run all sorts of congresses, peace congresses, youth congresses, festivals, women's movements, trade union movements, campaigns against U.S. missiles in Europe, campaigns against neutron weapons, allegations that AIDS ... was invented by the CIA ... all sorts of forgeries and faked material -- [were] targeted at politicians, the academic community, at [the] public at large."

"It was really a worldwide campaign, often not only sponsored and funded, but conducted and manipulated by the KGB. And this was again part and parcel of this campaign to weaken [the] military, economic and psychological climate in the West."

"The communists must be prepared to make every sacrifice and, if necessary, even resort to all sorts of cunning schemes and stratagems, to employ illegal methods, to evade and conceal the truth..... The practical part of communist policy is to incite one [enemy] against another..... We communists must use one country against another. My words were calculated to evoke hatred, aversion, and contempt..... not to convince but to break up the ranks of the opponent, not to correct an opponent's mistake but to destroy him, to wipe his organization off the face of the earth. This formulation is indeed of such a nature as to evoke the worst thoughts, the worst suspicions about the opponent."---V. Lenin

Out of these 'Principles of Leninism' the contemporary Soviet concept of Dezinformatsiya, or disinformation, has evolved. The Russians define disinformation as 'the dissemination of false and provocative information.' As practised by the KGB, disinformation is far more complex than the definition implies. It entails:

the distribution of forged or fabricated documents, letters, manuscripts, and photographs;
the propagation of misleading or malicious rumours and erroneous intelligence by agents;
the duping of visitors to the Soviet Union; and
physical acts committed for psychological effect.

These techniques are used variously to influence policies of foreign governments, disrupt relations among other nations, undermine the confidence of foreign populations in their leaders and institutions, discredit individuals and groups opposed to Soviet policies, deceive foreigners about Soviet intentions and conditions within the Soviet Union, and, at times, simply to obscure depredations and blunders of the KGB itself.

Disinformation operations differ from conventional propaganda in that their true origins are concealed, and they usually involve some form of clandestine action. For this reason, Soviet rulers always have charged their clandestine apparatus with primary responsibility for disinformation. --John Barron, KGB, 1974

Soviet Active Measures in the "Post-Cold War" Era, 1988-1991

A Report Prepared at the Request of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations by the United States Information Agency, June 1992

Active measures is a Russian term that refers to the manipulative use of slogans, arguments, disinformation, and carefully selected true information, which the Russians used to try to influence the attitudes and actions of foreign publics and governments.
"Black" or covert active measures operations were coordinated by Service A of the KGB's First Chief Directorate, the part of the KGB responsible for foreign intelligence operations. According to KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, in his book Instructions From the Centre: Top Secret Files on KGB Foreign Operations 1975-1985, in the mid-1980s Service A consisted of approximately 120 professional officers, including 30 to 40 who were stationed at the Novosti Press Agency. (p. 3) Its technical staff included a highly competent group of forgers.

According to recent defectors, KGB active measures received increased attention and resources during the Gorbachev era. Their information indicates that the size and importance of Service A expanded during the late 1980s and early 1990s

KGB active measures techniques included the use of agents of influence, forgeries, covert media placements, and controlled media to covertly introduce carefully crafted arguments, information, disinformation, and slogans into the discourse in government, media, religious, business, economic, and public arenas in targeted countries. These operations were characterized as "black" because the Soviet role was totally concealed. These KGB operations were carried out by members of line PR (political intelligence) in Soviet residencies, the KGB units in Soviet embassies in foreign countries. According to Gordievsky, line PR officers were supposed to spend about 25 percent of their time on active measures operations.

The below goals of Soviet Communist disinformation and active measures was published 22 years ago in "Dezinformatsia: Active Measures in Soviet Strategy" by Richard Shultz and Roy Godson, 1984, page 44. It is interesting to note how certain groups and organizations (influenced by foreign intelligence services or other foreign entities?) in today's world continue these goals against the US.

To influence America, European and world public opinion to believe that US military and political policies are the major cause of international conflict and crisis.
To demonstrate that the United States is an aggressive, militaristic, and imperialistic power.
To isolate the United States from its friends and allies, and to discredit those states which cooperate with the United States.
To discredit US military and intelligence establishments.
To demonstrate that the policies and objectives of the United States are incompatible with those of the under-developed nations.
To confuse world public opinion concerning Soviet global ambitions, creating a favorable environment for Soviet foreign policy.

Additional Resources:

The CI Centre Course has a course that looks more in-depth at the issue of disinformation and active measures: 205: National Security Policy and Counterintelligence Implications of Denial and Deception Practices. This course is free of charge to US Intelligence Community personnel. More Information

Disinformation definitions, examples

Identifying Misinformation, US State Department

Disinformation and Deception book list by J. Michael Waller

Disinforming the Public, by Lawrence Bittman

Old and new information tricks: Disinformation, The Economist, 3 Aug 2006

Pallywood Middle East deception

Apparatus of Lies: Saddam’s Disinformation and Propaganda 1990-2003, The White House

The KGB and Soviet disinformation: an insider's view Book review

"......Bittman confirms two beliefs long held by knowledgeable critics of the media: a) Soviet disinformation is successful; and b) it is successful in large part because journalists think they are too sophisticated to be duped by Soviet agents."

CBS Corrects A Twelve-Year-Old Error, AIM

.....The KGB also attacked the U.S. with disinformation that was calculated to damage the reputation of the country, important public officials and the American people. One of the charges they spread was that the U.S. military had created the AIDS virus and introduced it into Africa, where it was wreaking havoc. Christopher Andrew said that in the first six months of 1987, this story was reported on the front pages of newspapers in over 40 third-world countries.........on March 30, 1987, Dan Rather put the story on the CBS Evening News. His source was a Soviet military publication that attributed the story to "unnamed scientists in the United States, Britain and East Germany." He did not report any U.S. reaction to this charge. Nor did he mention that five months earlier reporters at the State Department had been told all about this Soviet disinformation campaign.

Crackdown on "Disinformation", Time, 6 October 1980

......Soviet experts in the West have known of the KGB'S disinformation activities for years; dealing with them is quite another matter. For the first time, French authorities have begun to crack down on the practice. In the past 15 months, two writers have been arrested and charged with using secret foreign contacts to jeopardize national security.