KGB

Details

Organization Timeline

Soviet troops fire on striking workers and demonstrators

📅 2 June 1962

Security forces shot demonstrators after a strike spread through the city. At least two dozen people were killed and many wounded; authorities concealed the massacre, prosecuted participants, and...

Yury Orlov is arrested

📅 10 February 1977

The physicist and Moscow Helsinki Group founder was detained after documenting rights violations. His prosecution demonstrated the state’s response to peaceful monitoring and drew international...

Remaining Moscow Helsinki Group members announce dissolution

📅 8 September 1982

With members imprisoned, exiled, or threatened, the group announced it could no longer operate safely. Its records and monitoring practice had already connected local rights claims to the Helsinki...

NATO begins Able Archer 83 as Soviet leaders fear a surprise attack

📅 2 November 1983

The annual command-post exercise practiced nuclear release procedures during a period of acute mistrust. Declassified records show Soviet intelligence closely watched it; historians debate the scale...