KGB Active Measures Patterns: The Case of the Holodomor in the 1980s

• In Event: KGB Archives: New Directions

Abstract

Following the events of the Prague Spring in 1968, pivotal tasks of the KGB entailed countering ideological sabotage of the enemy. It caused the elevation of active measures, and disinformation campaigns emerged as an essential component of this strategy, which endured until the Soviet Union's dissolution. Even amidst the Perestroika, alterations in the modus operandi of KGB's foreign active measures were absent. One of the last noteworthy examples of this disinformation activity was the operation codenamed "Pharisees." This covert campaign aimed to obstruct the recognition of the Holodomor and its classification as an act of genocide by international authorities.
Limited information regarding the "Pharisees" operation is available due to the KGB's destruction of numerous documents in the late 1980s. However, preserved informational reports from the KGB chiefs to the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine make it possible to analyze who and when completed the decision to start the disinformation operation, what measures were planned, and what the KGB agents managed to accomplish abroad.
A comparative analysis of the "Pharisees" operation with other known KGB activities allows us to answer the question of how unique each of the active measures of the secret services was. Was each disinformation operation masterfully planned and executed active measures, or was it still a routine KGB activity when the task was solved according to typical patterns? Answering this question sheds light on the operational strategies and effectiveness of Soviet intelligence efforts during the Cold War era.

Author

• Andriy Kohut, Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine (Ukraine)