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Soviet Union [USSR] ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE FOR STATE SECURITY
The basic organizational structure of the KGB was created in
1954, when the reorganization of the police apparatus was carried
out. In the late 1980s, the KGB remained a highly centralized
institution, with controls implemented by the Politburo through the
KGB headquarters in Moscow.
Structure
The KGB was originally designated as a "state committee
attached to the Council of Ministers." On July 5, 1978, a new law
on the Council of Ministers changed the status of the KGB, along
with that of several other state committees, so that its chairman
was a member of the Council of Ministers by law. According to the
1977 Soviet Constitution, the Council of Ministers "coordinates and
directs" the work of the ministries and state committees, including
the KGB. In practice, however, the KGB had more autonomy than most
other government bodies and operated with a large degree of
independence from the Council of Ministers. The situation was
similar with the Supreme Soviet, which had formal authority over
the Council of Ministers and its agencies. In 1989 the actual
powers of the Supreme Soviet, however, gave it little if any power
over KGB operations.
The KGB was a union-republic state committee, controlling
corresponding state committees of the same name in the fourteen
non-Russian republics. (All-union ministries and state committees,
by contrast, did not have corresponding branches in the republics
but executed their functions directly through Moscow.) Below the
republic level, there existed KGB administrations
(upravleniia) in the
kraia (see Glossary) and
oblasts (see Glossary). In the Russian Republic, however, there was no
separate KGB. Oblast KGB administrations in the Russian Republic
were subordinated directly to the central KGB offices in Moscow. At
the lower levels, autonomous
okruga (see Glossary), cities,
and
raiony (see Glossary) had KGB departments or sections.
The KGB also had a broad network of special departments in all
major government institutions, enterprises, and factories. They
generally consisted of one or more KGB representatives, whose
purpose was to ensure the observance of security regulations and to
monitor political sentiments among employees. The special
departments recruited informers to help them in their tasks. A
separate and very extensive network of special departments existed
within the armed forces and defense-related institutions.
Although a union-republic agency, the KGB was highly
centralized and was controlled rigidly from the top. The KGB
central staff kept a close watch over the operations of its
branches, leaving the latter minimal autonomous authority over
policy or cadre selection. Moreover, local government organs had
little involvement in local KGB activities. Indeed, the high degree
of centralization in the KGB was reflected in the fact that
regional KGB branches were not subordinated to the local
soviets (see Glossary), but only to the KGB hierarchy. Thus, they differed
from local branches of most union-republic ministerial agencies,
such as the MVD, which were subject to dual subordination.
The KGB was directed by a chairman--who was formally appointed
by the Supreme Soviet but actually was selected by the Politburo--
one or two first deputy chairmen, and several (usually four to six)
deputy chairmen. Key decisions were made by the KGB Collegium,
which was a collective leadership body composed of the chairman,
deputy chairmen, chiefs of certain KGB directorates, and one or two
chairmen of republic KGB organizations.
Data as of May 1989
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