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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 9d

University of Toronto Press book catalogue, Fall 2025. @socintelhist.bsky.social

My new book #KGBLiterati is prominently featured on page 30.

#spies #spyfiction #coldwar #newrelease

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 14d

Honored to step into the role of Treasurer for Society for Intelligence History!

Thanks to everyone for your trust and support. Here's to a successful term! @socintelhist.bsky.social

#intelhistory #intelstudies

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 16d

Soviet deception operation you probably never heard about.

Operation STORM, #MGB plan to fake the landing of #CIA agents in Lithuania. Based on my ongoing archival research at
@hooverinstitution.bsky.social

The link for my article: tinyurl.com/5h4zyj6c

#spies #coldwar @socintelhist.bsky.social

Deception Operation STORM

Faking the landing of CIA agents in Lithuania in the early Cold War

tinyurl.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 22d

When #CIA veteran William Hood wrote that "some of the best fiction by former insiders is out of print" in 1989, did he know that this would apply to his own spy novels?

Few knew #KGB so well as Hood & I plan to write about his novels if I ever compile enough archival material.

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 23d

My new article on Substack!

"The Spy Who Wasn't There: #MGB Search for a Suspected Agent of U.S. Intelligence in Lithuania in 1950"
#coldwar #spies @socintelhist.bsky.social

Based on my ongoing archival research @hooverinstitution.bsky.social.

The link: kgbstack.substack.com/p/the-spy-wh...

The Spy Who Wasn't There

MGB search for a suspected agent of U.S. intelligence in Lithuania in 1950

kgbstack.substack.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 24d

Happy 95th birthday to my grandmother!

As I do archival research at @hooverinstitution.bsky.social,
I always think about the fact that she was born in 1930 when Hoover was U.S. president.

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 25d

Thank you to the Hoover Library & Archives and @hooverinstitution.bsky.social for a research grant this semester! @socintelhist.bsky.social
#coldwar #KGB #intelhistory

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 8

My new article on Substack!

Part 3 of "11 Lithuanian #KGB Counterintelligence Operations Against the West in 1955." #spies #coldwar

Based on my ongoing research at the Hoover Library & Archives, Stanford University. @socintelhist.bsky.social

The link: tinyurl.com/48h2ujp6

Part 3: 11 Lithuanian KGB Counterintel Ops Against the West in 1955

Clandestine operations of KGB agents dispatched to the West revealed in the archives.

tinyurl.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 6

4. The permission of the supreme leader for the arrest (done; just waiting for the "right" moment)
5. The arrest
6. The prison term (in the past, execution)

Charges: incompetence & losses in the Ukraine war linked to corruption (in reality, getting rid of a political rival).

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 6

The Arrest of Sergey Shoigu (this is how it will happen according to the Chekist playbook)

1. The arrest of close associates (done)
2. The incriminating testimonies obtained from the associates (done)
3. The sending of the testimonies to the supreme leader (done)
4. (see below)

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 5

Thanks, Microsoft Copilot! 😎

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 4

The Chekist modus operandi going back to Operation Trust & KRO. ⬇️

"The main players on the Russian side were not diplomats or traditional spies — they were counterintelligence officers..." @andreisoldatov.bsky.social

cepa.org/article/too-...

Too Much US Reverence for the Kremlin’s Smiling Hardmen

Western negotiators need to remember who they’re dealing with when they talk to the Kremlin’s representatives.

cepa.org

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 3

While #CIA linked Leonov's recall to Moscow to this event, Leonov wrote that there were no issues in his work and that when he returned, he was promoted to the deputy chief of #KGB Latin American Department.

Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 3

Unsurprisingly, #KGB General Nikolay Leonov (1928-2022) wrote nothing in his memoirs about this egregious failure of his tradecraft exposed by #CIA & leading to the arrests of 2 KGB Colombian Communist assets & the seizure of $100,000.

Read it here: nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Sep 2

My new article on Substack!

"Soviet State Security & Pope Pius XII: How #MGB obtained & lost an official letter from the Vatican"

Based on my ongoing research at Hoover Library & Archives, Stanford University. @socintelhist.bsky.social

kgbstack.substack.com/p/soviet-sta...

Soviet State Security and Pope Pius XII

How MGB obtained and lost an official letter from the Vatican

kgbstack.substack.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 26

#CIA v. #KGB in the book world. @socintelhist.bsky.social

The CIA Book Club: tinyurl.com/ms29kbv4

KGB Literati (pre-order): tinyurl.com/2j3zhw44

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 25

My new article on Substack!

Part 2 of "11 Lithuanian #KGB Counterintelligence Operations against the West in 1955"

Based on my research at Hoover Archives, Stanford University. @socintelhist.bsky.social

The link: tinyurl.com/29m9jjxk

Part 2: 11 Lithuanian KGB Counterintel Ops Against the West in 1955

Clandestine operations of KGB agents dispatched to the West revealed in the archives.

tinyurl.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 18

My new article on Substack!

"11 Lithuanian #KGB Counterintelligence Operations against the West in 1955 - Part 1"

Based on my research at Hoover Library & Archives. @stanforduniversity.bsky.social @socintelhist.bsky.social

The link: tinyurl.com/cnv4r437

11 Lithuanian KGB Counterintel Ops Against the West in 1955 - Part 1

Clandestine operations of KGB agents dispatched to the West revealed in the archives.

tinyurl.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 14

#CIA on my FOIA request from 2021:

"As you are aware, we provided you with a previous estimated completion date of 8 July 2025, which expired.

Therefore, we checked on the status and have been provided an updated estimated completion date of 10 February 2027." 😎

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 13

"Real Spy Comics was formed by intelligence and special operations community veterans from both the United States and from around the world."

Highly recommend! #spies #stories

sof.news/publications...

Real Spy Comics - Educational and Entertaining | SOF News

One of the unusual booths manned by vendors at SOF Week 2025 was "Real Spy Comics" - an educational and entertaining media organization.

sof.news

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 11

My new article on Substack!

"KGB vs. CIA & Mossad in the 1950s:
The Case of #KGB General Aleksey Gorbatenko"

Here's the link: tinyurl.com/3tuzb244 @socintelhist.bsky.social

KGB vs. CIA & Mossad in the 1950s: The Case of KGB General Aleksey Gorbatenko

Gorbatenko directed Soviet counterintelligence operations against the CIA and the Mossad in the 1950s.

tinyurl.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 9

Despite the subtitle, this excellent book argues that "counterintelligence at its core" is NOT only "assessing & preventing foreign espionage."

Kevin P. Riehle offers a clear & succinct definition of counterintelligence that works across all ages and cultures. Highly recommend!

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 7

#CIA's Soviet #MGB leadership list in a report from June 1948 had only one mistake.

There was no MGB deputy minister named A. S. Atakishiev. All other names are accurate.

S. I. Atakishiev was a deputy minister of NKGB-MGB branch in Azerbaijan.

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 5

#KGB secrets you might want to know about. ⬇️

kgbstack.substack.com

KGB Stuff by Filip Kovacevic | Substack

KGB secrets you may want to know about. My new book is KGB Literati: Spy Fiction & State Security in the Soviet Union (University of Toronto Press, October 2025). I've been a university professor for ...

kgbstack.substack.com

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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · Aug 4

What did KGB Know About Iran's SAVAK and CIA in Iran in Mid-1970s?

Find out in my new article just published on Substack. #espionage #coldwarhistory @socintelhist.bsky.social

Here's the link: open.substack.com/pub/kgbstack...

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