Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

a competent and brave intelligence officer; he met agents on the

streets of Tehran during the Iranian Revolution. It was his fate to be

promoted to the top of his service when the system he had served for

three decades was collapsing. His memoirs, Ruka Moskvy(The Hand

of Moscow), portrayed the problems of the KGB both operationally

and politically.

SHELEPIN, ALEKSANDR NIKOLAEVICH (1918–1994). Shelepin

joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League) in 1939 and rose

very quickly in the organization during the Great Patriotic War.

From 1952 to 1958 he was the Komsomol first secretary, and he was

a minor ally of Nikita Khrushchevin Khrushchev’s power struggle

with conservatives. On 25 December 1958, Khrushchev appointed

Shelepin to head theKGBas part of his move to solidify Commu-

nist Partycontrol of the security service. During his three years as

KGB chair, Shelepin had a reputation as a hardliner on domestic and

foreign policy issues. He clashed with Aleksandr Korotkov, the rezi-

dentin Berlin, over the recruitment of agents, and he pushed hard for

policies that would guarantee the security of East Berlin. His advice

was significant in Khrushchev’s decision to build the Berlin Wall.

Shelepin also played a key role in the modernization of the KGB’s

active measures. He ordered the creation of Service D within the

First Chief Directorate to coordinate active measures suggested by

KGB overseas components. Shelepin ordered the chief of Service D,

Ivan Agayants, to target West German and American politicians in

an effort to damage the NATO alliance.

As KGB boss, Shelepin apparently did far more harm than good.

He appointed young Komsomol activists to management-level posi-

tions in the KGB, replacing experienced Chekists. He fought with

senior managers in foreign intelligence over tradecraftissues, which

created problems for the KGB in Germany. Most of all, Shelepin was

disliked for using the KGB as part of his ambitious scheme to rise to

the top of the Communist Party.

In January 1961 Shelepin left the KGB to work in the Central

Committee Secretariat, and he convinced Khrushchev to appoint his

protégé and successor in the Komsomol, Vladimir Semichastniy, to

succeed him as head of the KGB. Shelepin played a key role in the

coup that brought Leonid Brezhnevto power in October 1964. His

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