Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov was a Soviet lawyer, diplomat, and head of the KGB, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
Kryuchkov in 1990
Kryuchkov (center) being interviewed by journalists following the fourth convocation of the Congress of People's Deputies
The Committee for State Security was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 13 March 1954 until 3 December 1991. As a direct successor of preceding agencies such as the Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKGB, NKVD and MGB, it was attached to the Council of Ministers. It was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", carrying out internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence and secret police functions. Similar agencies operated in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR, where the KGB was headquartered, with many associated ministries, state committees and state commissions.
Cell doors at the current KGB Cells Museum in Tartu, Estonia in 2007
KGB special operative Igor Morozov sits on top of the BTR-60 armoured vehicle during his assignment to the Badakhshan Province, c. 1982.
Head of KGB in Lithuania Eduardas Eismuntas, January 1990
The former building of the KGB in Vilnius, Lithuania