Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

26 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Omg I knew it!11!!! by mrcoolbp · · Score: 2, Funny

    *comment redacted*

    --
    check out www.soylentnews.org a community-driven alternative
  2. seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by user317 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    whats the difference between this guy and snowden?

    --
    me fail english? thats unpossible
    1. 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?

    2. 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?

    3. 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.

    4. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 2

      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.

      Your answer makes too much sense, and it was not marinated in bullshit sauce at all. That is not how we post replies in slashdot!(10+1)

    5. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How is the parent post Insightful? The only entity Snowden alerted were the American public, if you could say even that. I could be mistaken, but Glen Greenwald was filtering the information and chose to release information pertaining to foreign governments. All Snowden did was flee to other countries because his own was no longer safe for him.

      Even if he were responsible for notifying Germany of phone-hacking their heads of state, I still agree with that 100%. History has shown American's apathy will plow through every serious civil issue that doesn't directly interfere with their self-indulgence. Notifying foreign governments is probably the only way to put *real* pressure on the US's craptacular governing bodies, though the court is obviously still out on whether even that makes a difference.

    6. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by plover · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here are a few more differences and corrections:
      * Mitrokhin turned the data over to British officials only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He did not endanger his country's ongoing intelligence operations. He may have embarrassed several former Soviet officials, but the revelations were not a crime against his country, as that country no longer existed at the time of their release. While the act of copying the classified data would certainly have been a crime against the Soviet Union, again, that country was gone. (Snowden released the data of his own still-active country, including information about active operations.)
      * The data he turned over was archival material spanning decades and ending in the 1980s; he gave it up in the early 1990s. Some of it was less than ten years old at the time it was delivered. (Snowden's data was indeed more current and relevant.)
      * After the publication of his notes in two books, the SVR actually provided academic access to the old KGB archives for a time. I think that was ended after the wrong person was embarrassed by his historical record, perhaps a former lieutenant colonel in the KGB. (The NSA has not yet opened their doors to the public in response to Snowden's release.)
      * He was not a "whistleblower" in that he did not release this data in an attempt to change any ongoing practices. He was a historian who respected the truth, and did not want the facts distorted or destroyed by a regime with a long history of rewriting history. (Snowden is an activist, who is trying to effect change.)
      * Mitrokhin's position was a Senior Archivist. He had access to essentially all KGB historical records, not simply operations of which he was a part. (Snowden was an administrator of systems, and had access to the records they contained; he also used other people's credentials to gain additional access to other records.)

      --
      John
    7. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 4, Informative

      If he had this "decency" you speak of, he would have only alerted his own people and not the foreign governments.

      And how is he supposed to only tell the US when the internet covers the whole planet, local news is an illusion.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    8. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by GNious · · Score: 5, Informative

      He tried - the US didn't want to listen to him.

    9. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by blueg3 · · Score: 2

      Oh, sure, act against the status quo and they ship you off to Slashdot Gitmo.

    10. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by omems · · Score: 4, Funny

      it's spelled "Beta."

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

      Oh my, he did something ethically ambiguous, that must be the same thing as being an enemy.

      Your biting insight totally destroys the fact that the majority of American citizens appreciate the knowledge of being unethically spied on.

      I'm sure your appallingly simplistic worldview can help us with other challenges. Please guide us.

  3. 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...

  4. Re:Strictly speaking... by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2, Informative

    trove
    noun \trv\
    Definition of TROVE
    1
    : discovery, find
    2
    : a valuable collection : treasure; also : haul, collection

    No adjective record in the dictionary.

  5. And in 20 years by wiredog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The Russians will release the complete Snowden Archive.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
    1. Re:And in 20 years by Kuberz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And China will release nothing.

    2. Re:And in 20 years by TubeSteak · · Score: 2

      Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, said: âoeThis collection is a wonderful illustration of the value of archives and the power of archivists. It was Mitrokhin's position as archivist that allowed him his unprecedented access and overview of the KGB files. It was his commitment to preserving and providing access to the truth that led him to make his copies, at huge personal risk. We are therefore proud to house his papers and to honour his wish that they should be made freely available for research."

      It's a "commitment to preserving and providing access to the truth" when they spy for [my team].
      Otherwise they should be brought home and prosecuted for treason and espionage.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  6. Re:Strictly speaking... by danomatika · · Score: 3, Informative

    Strictly speaking, trove is an adjective.

    Strictly speaking, you're wrong. Trove is a noun for "a collection of objects" and short for "treasure-trove". Ref: http://dictionary.reference.co...

  7. Re:Strictly speaking... by blueg3 · · Score: 2, Informative

    In English, "trove" has been a standalone noun for more than two hundred years. It's short for "treasure trove".

    Etymologically, the "trove" in "treasure trove" comes from an adjective, but "trove" by itself isn't an English adjective. That's language for you.

    Strictly speaking, you're inventing a meaning that would make sense etymologically and asserting that it's the "real" meaning of the word. It's only dictionaries and speakers of English that disagree with you.

  8. Re:Strictly speaking... by jugulator · · Score: 2

    Strictly speaking, your attempt at being a grammar elitist failed. The word "trove" is a noun. Always has been.

  9. The Sword and the Shield by bhlowe · · Score: 2

    The Sword and the Shield was written in 2000 and covered a lot of the information about the Mitrokhin archive. It is 700 pages and is an interesting read. The actual archive is probably only of interest to the serious student that can read and understand Russian and really loves cold war history.

    1. Re:The Sword and the Shield by k6mfw · · Score: 2

      more I look into this, illustrates how much countries do all kinds of manipulations instead of "intelligence operations" particularly systematic silencing of dissidents at home and abroad.

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
  10. searching for reports from Boris and Natasha by k6mfw · · Score: 4, Funny

    on how they bungled every mission involving Moose and Squirrel.

    --
    mfwright@batnet.com
  11. Nobody check this by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 3, Insightful

    These old KGB archives are very inconvenient. They have a lot of damaging information about people who are still in politics, who cooperated in the past. It's not a good thing for the world to remember that the KGB funded the anti-nuclear movement in Europe, or Greenpeace, or Amnesty International. Let's just let this quietly lay. Fortunately, it's all in Russian and translators are a pain in the ass.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  12. Re:Not anonymously available by royallthefourth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Surely you realize that scanning and creating a workable computer index of this material is a huge task