Apr 21, 2003 By J.S. Augustine For The 5 min read

CALIFORNIA – He once tapped the phone of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and found him to be a less-than-modest man, a former KGB agent told a California University audience. Former Soviet spy Gen. Oleg D. Kalugin spoke about his career with the Soviet Union and the factors that eventually led him to speak out against and to abandon his position with the Soviet government, which ultimately lead to his conviction on treason charges and his becoming a fugitive.

Kalugin said his career as a spy began when he was recruited by the Soviet KGB while attending Leningrad State University.

His first assignment was to attend Columbia University in New York, while posing undercover as a journalism student to perfect his American language skills and make friends who might help him in the future by supplying him with information that could be of use to his country.

“My career as a spy began in 1958,” said Kalugin. “Although, I wasn’t supposed to spy, then (while attending Columbia University.)”

After attending Columbia, Kalugin worked as a Radio Moscow correspondent at the United Nations in New York, where his career as a spy became even more important.

Kalugin informed the audience of roughly 300 individuals that his duties were to conduct espionage and to influence operations while working at Radio Moscow.

“My goal while working as a spy was to secure human penetration,” said Kalugin. “I remember one time I was tapped into the phone line of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and he was talking with his fiancee. This man wasn’t modest. He would ask his fiancee: ‘Did you see me on television? Did I not look great?’ This was valuable information because it tapped into the intimate side of the government.

“I felt information such as this was important,” added Kalugin, “because you are seeing the human side of someone and you know what their personalities are like.”

With such a philosophy, Kalugin rose quickly among the ranks of the KGB.

Kalugin spoke of his methodology by using, as an example, the case of Timothy McVey, who was convicted of 1996 bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City and later executed.

“My methods as a spy would work, as such: If I could have met McVey when I was recruiting spies, the Oklahoma City bombing would have never happened,” he said. “I would have convinced him to stay within whatever terrorist system he was in and work for the KGB. I would rather have someone work in this capacity for the KGB than to have killed all those people.”

From 1965 to 1970, he served as deputy resident and acting chief of the residency at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., only to move on to reportedly become the youngest general in the history of the KGB.

Eventually, Kalugin became the head of the worldwide foreign counterintelligence (Line KR). It was as the head of Line KR that Kalugin participated in some of the most important espionage cases of his time, including the Walker spy ring.

During his time in the Line KR, Kalugin began to criticize what he describes as “the lawlessness and arbitrary rule within the KGB.”

“My internal criticism caused friction within the leadership, and I was demoted,” said Kalugin.

“It was at this time that I started a slow reassessment of my own life. I realized I wasn’t this starry-eyed, young guy any more.”

Kalugin said that he was beginning to recognize for the first time that the leadership of the KGB internal operations were not about protecting the security of the state, but about maintaining the positions of corrupt Communist Party officials.

One incident that Kalugin referred to was that of a fellow KGB agent, who was wrongfully accused of a crime against the state and was going to be sentenced.

“When I lived in 1960s in the United States, I was never a fan of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Kalugin.

“In 1966, however, Mr. King had said something that stuck with me and I have used as guidance all through life.

“Mr. King said, ‘A man dies when he refuses to stand for that which is true.'” Kalugin said in the case of his fellow agent, he knew the right thing to do was stand up for what was true.

“We are all human, and I had to make a choice,” said Kalugin.

“I decided to defend a man who was unjustly accused of a crime. I had to stop and tell the truth,” said Kalugin.

“That’s what I did, and I am proud of it.”

After resigning from the KGB in 1990, Kalugin began to publicly criticize the Communist Party. It was in the same year that former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a decree stripping Kalugin of his rank, decorations and pension.

After gaining notoriety and a political following for his criticism of the Communist Party, Kalugin successfully ran for the Supreme Soviet “Parliament.”

As a member of the Supreme Soviet, he continued his vocal attacks of the KGB abuses of power.

Today, Kalugin is an active member and educator with the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (also known as CI Centre) in Alexander, Va., where he conducts research and analysis for the U.S. government and provides security training to aid federal agencies in counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

Recently, Kalugin was convicted of treason among the USSR government for his criticism of and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Kalugin has applied for United States citizenship and is listed as a fugitive in his homeland.

Kalugin’s presentation is part of the World Class Series of lectures sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science at California University.

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