KGB Criticism
In 1980 Kalugin was demoted to deputy head of the Leningrad KGB as a result of an intrigue initiated by Vladimir Kryuchkov who was at this time a close confidant of Yuri Andropov and had been privately criticized by Kalugin. Kalugin was accused of recruiting an agent twenty years prior who was actually an American spy. This made Kalugin himself seem to be a security risk. He was suspected of working for the CIA, although there was no supporting evidence. Vladimir Kryuchkov, Chairman of the KGB and orchestrator of the 1991 coup plot, alleged that in his time in counterintelligence he failed to discover a single American agent while his successor would allegedly find over a dozen. Former CIA mole Karl Koecher made unsupported claims that Kalugin was responsible for Koecher's eventual arrest.
The unsubstantiated accusations did not stop him from criticizing the agency's policies and methods, complaining about the fact that the KGB was overlooking corruption in the highest circles of Soviet society while terrorizing common people. His unbridled public criticism led to reassignment to Security Officers posts first in the Academy of Sciences in 1987, then at the Ministry of Electronics in 1988. His career at the KGB ended with his forced retirement on February 26, 1990.
As the Soviet Union underwent changes under Mikhail Gorbachev, Kalugin became more vocal and public in his criticism of the KGB, denouncing Soviet security forces as "Stalinist" domestic political police, although he never disputed the importance of espionage abroad. Finally, in 1990, Gorbachev signed a decree stripping Kalugin of his rank, decorations, and pension. In August 1991, Gorbachev returned his rank, decorations and pension. Despite opposition from the KGB, he was elected in September 1990 to the Supreme Soviet as a People's Deputy for the Krasnodar region.
Read more about this topic: Oleg Kalugin
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