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Thousands of Leaked KGB Files Are Now Open To the Public

Posted by timothy on from the file-a-foia-request dept.

schwit1 (797399) writes "Over 20 years after being smuggled out of Russia, a trove of KGB documents are being opened up to the public for the first time. The leaked documents include thousands of files and represent what the FBI is said to view as "the most complete and extensive intelligence ever received from any source." The documents include KGB information on secret Russian weapons caches, Russian spies, and KGB information on the activities of Pope John Paul II. Known as the Mitrokhin Archive, the files are all available as of today at Churchill College's Archives Centre."

4 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. No they're not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With the exception of sections 6-7[which are closed], the collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

    Yeah, thanks...

  2. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No see it's okay because they were dirty commies and aren't allowed to have secrets, what are you some kind of terrorist?

  3. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Snowden had the decency to alert his own people to abuses, rather than just foreign governments?

  4. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by blueg3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well:
    * The documents are being revealed to the public now and document events from 30-40 years ago.
    * These are documents that he personally worked with, rather than a cache of documents acquired for the purpose of copying and releasing them.
    * There's no question, I think, that this guy was a spy and defector. He was moved from Russia to the UK with the help of UK intelligence agencies in exchange for Russian secrets. Nobody's trying to claim that he's a "whistleblower". No comment on his actions or motivations vs. Snowden's, but they are potentially substantially different.
    * This guy is dead.

    Up to you to decide if any of these are substantive differences and why, but there are distinct differences.