Filip Kovacevic

Just 4 days left until my new book #KGBLiterati hits the shelves! amazon.com/KGB-Literati...

Kevin Riehle: "Kovacevic's meticulous research illuminates a dark corner in Soviet intel history by opening the world of Soviet spy fiction to a non-Russian audience." @socintelhist.bsky.social ⬇️

Former #CIA officer & acclaimed spy fiction novelist I. S. Berry on my new book: "#KGBLiterati is a revelation, drawing back the iron-curtain to reveal the little-known world of Soviet espionage literature."

#KGBLiterati release is 7 days from today.

The link: amazon.com/KGB-Literati...

An Inside Look at Top Secret Regional KGB Spy Museum in 1960 Based on archival Lithuanian KGB documents

What was inside a top secret regional #KGB spy museum in 1960? @socintelhist.bsky.social

Find out in my new article based on the ongoing archival research of #KGB documents at @hooverinstitution.bsky.social. #spies #intelhistory #coldwar

The link: tinyurl.com/y6v3by35

Roman Kim, Soviet #NKVD officer who wrote #spy fiction, based his novel Burn After Reading in the US before and during WWII.

His main protagonists are two US Navy officers.

To find out more, check out my upcoming book #KGBLiterati.

The link: amazon.com/KGB-Literati...

Death and the Maidens How Two Polish Sisters Deceived Soviet Counterintelligence in post-WWII Vilnius

My new article on Substack!

"Death and the Maidens: How Two Polish Sisters Deceived Soviet #Counterintelligence in Post-WWII Vilnius"

Based on my ongoing research of #KGB files at @hooverinstitution.bsky.social. #intelhistory #SMERSH @socintelhist.bsky.social

The link: tinyurl.com/3cubry5e

Soviet-Bloc and U.S. Intelligence Operations during the Cold War YouTube video by Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Very informative webinar on U.S., Soviet, and East German intelligence documents & archives organized by the Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies @harvard.edu.

Highly recommend! #CIA #NSA #KGB #HVA @socintelhist.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/live/wPe-5MI...

Countdown has begun! #newbook #intelhistory

#KGBLiterati will be released in 20 days. (pre-order: amazon.com/KGB-Literati...)

Here's a sneak #preview of some of the main themes.

Hey @netflix.com, here is the plot for your next blockbuster!

The spies, the atomic bomb stuff, the romantic tension, the double-crossings, the car chase, the daring escape & even more daring return, even Stalin...

And all true!

3. Did # CIA lose a liaison agent trying to rescue Salimanov’s girlfriend Irma?
4. Is Salimanov’s codename ICARUS related to his doomed decision to return for Irma?

I have filed a FOIA request with #CIA regarding Salimanov’s case.

Even 75 years later, there are still many unresolved enigmas.

1. When and how was Salimanov recruited?
2. Was he flown to the U.S. as General Ogoltsov stated to the Politburo?

Who Was CIA's First Penetration of Soviet Intelligence? New information on Colonel Georgy Salimanov's defection to the CIA in Germany in 1950 and his later capture by the MGB

Who was #CIA's first penetration of Soviet intelligence?

Perhaps not who you think.

Find out in my new article on Substack. #spies #coldwar #intelhistory @socintelhist.bsky.social

Here's the link: tinyurl.com/yh46crbs

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

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

Deception Operation STORM Faking the landing of CIA agents in Lithuania in the early Cold War

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

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.

The Spy Who Wasn't There MGB search for a suspected agent of U.S. intelligence in Lithuania in 1950

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...

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.

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

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.

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

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).

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)

Thanks, Microsoft Copilot! 😎

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.

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-...

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.

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...

Soviet State Security and Pope Pius XII How MGB obtained and lost an official letter from the Vatican

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...

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

The CIA Book Club: tinyurl.com/ms29kbv4

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

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.

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

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.

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

#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." 😎