State-security officer who led Soviet foreign intelligence for 15 years
His fifteen years at the head of Soviet foreign intelligence were the longest tenure in the history of Soviet and Russian foreign intelligence: acting head from June 1955, confirmed in May 1956, in post until July 1971. This documented record is the core of his significance.
Born on 3 September 1909 in Bolshoye Ozhogino, Kostroma gubernia, to a peasant family; he died on 12 November 1983 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. He worked as a welder and hull marker at Leningrad shipyards and joined the party in February 1930; recruited into the state-security organs in February 1939, he served in the Leningrad NKVD Water Department and in 1940 spent over seven months abroad on intelligence work under cover as assistant captain of the passenger ship Svaneti. During the war he headed the 1st (Intelligence) Department of the Leningrad NKVD/NKGB, preparing reconnaissance-diversionary groups for insertion behind enemy lines. From 1946 he served in the MGB central apparatus and as adviser in Romania. Acting head of the KGB First Chief Directorate from June 1955, confirmed in May 1956, he directed Soviet foreign intelligence until July 1971.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1926–1931Welder and hull marker at Baltic Shipyard and Northern Shipyard, Leningrad
- 1931–1934Red Army service; graduates evening Communist University at Lenin Military-Political Academy
- 1934–1939Komsomol and party political worker; secretary of the Baltic Sea Shipping Company party committee
- 1939–1941Joins NKVD Leningrad Water Department; undertakes reconnaissance missions abroad under shipping cover
- 1941–1945Heads 1st (Intelligence) Department, NKVD/NKGB Leningrad; infiltrates 40+ sabotage-reconnaissance groups behind German lines
- 1946–1952MGB central apparatus; missions in Scandinavia, Balkans, and Middle East; adviser to Romanian Securitate
- 1952–1955Deputy head (from 1954), then first deputy head (from August 1955) of the KGB First Chief Directorate
- 1955–1971Acting head of the KGB First Chief Directorate from June 1955, confirmed as head in May 1956, in post until July 1971
- 1971–1975Senior Adviser to the Chairman of the KGB
- 1939–1941Over seven months abroad on intelligence work in 1940 under cover as assistant captain of the passenger ship Svaneti
- 1941–1944Deputy head of the Leningrad NKVD/NKGB 1st (Intelligence) Department from August 1941, head from November 1942
Related historical events
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic WarLeningrad intelligence department chiefDuring the war, he sent more than 40 reconnaissance and sabotage groups behind German lines.
- 1962The Cuban Missile CrisisDirected foreign intelligence operations during the crisis as head of the KGB First Chief DirectorateAs head of the KGB First Chief Directorate (foreign intelligence) during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, he oversaw Soviet strategic intelligence collection and overseas operations, providing KGB intelligence support throughout Khrushchev's deployment and withdrawal of missiles from Cuba.
State security and the foreign-intelligence directorate (1939–1975)
Leningrad and the Great Patriotic War
Transferred to the state-security organs on the party's recommendation in February 1939, he served in the Leningrad Regional NKVD Directorate, and in 1940 spent over seven months abroad on intelligence work under cover as assistant captain of the passenger ship Svaneti, visiting several Mediterranean countries. When the 1st (Intelligence) Department was created in the Leningrad Regional NKVD Directorate in August 1941 he became its deputy head at the rank of major, and from November 1942 he headed it. His duties were to prepare and send reconnaissance-diversionary groups behind enemy lines and to conduct operations against German infiltrators; more than 40 such groups were created and sent across the front line with his involvement. He remained in Leningrad throughout the siege.
Postwar MGB and the Romanian period
In 1945 he moved to the MGB central apparatus in Moscow, acting in support of Andrey Vyshinsky during the incorporation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. He was later chief of the second Information Committee department and then MGB adviser during the establishment of the Securitate, helping organize the Romanian security organs; a number of American and British intelligence residencies and other underground organizations were uncovered and liquidated with his direct participation. From September 1946 he held seven posts in the MGB central apparatus by 1953, was posted for several months to Finland, and also worked in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria; from November 1949 he was adviser in Romania and from March 1950 senior adviser. In that period he was the Interior Ministry's chief Soviet adviser, instructing that everything necessary be done to establish the guilt of the accused, and he opposed Georgescu's attempt to close the inquiry. His role in the Pătrășcanu case is nonetheless documented in conflicting accounts: an English-language account states he was responsible for Pătrășcanu's interrogation, while the detailed Romanian-case account describes the chief Soviet adviser who pressed the investigation forward and vetoed its closing. The two accounts are weighed side by side and not merged, and the relevant Politburo transcripts were destroyed on Gheorghiu-Dej's orders, so no definitive assessment is possible.
Fifteen years at the head of foreign intelligence (1955–1971)
From June 1955 he was acting head of the KGB First Chief Directorate for about a year, and in May 1956 he was confirmed as its head, directing Soviet foreign intelligence until July 1971. He was responsible for foreign operations and intelligence collection, including the training and management of covert agents and the collection of political, scientific and technical intelligence, and from 1959 he was a member of the KGB Collegium. His tenure covered the 1956 Hungarian uprising, the Suez Crisis, the Berlin crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Czechoslovak events. No one else in the history of Soviet and Russian foreign intelligence held the post for fifteen years. The significance of his tenure is documented, but the description of him as "the father of international terrorism" is not a documented fact: it is an allegation made by Ion Mihai Pacepa, a Romanian intelligence officer who defected in 1978. Pacepa claimed Sakharovsky turned "grassroots" terrorism into a weapon against the USSR's political enemies, organized training for Palestinian militants in hijacking and bombing civilian aircraft, and had antisemitic fakes such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion reprinted in Arabic propaganda journals. This must be labelled an allegation by a defector, not a verified fact.
Later life and death
From July 1971 to January 1975 he was senior consultant to the Group of Consultants attached to the KGB chairman. He retired on 1 February 1975 after a stroke and died on 12 November 1983, and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. His awards included three Orders of Lenin, the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labour, the Patriotic War 1st class, the Red Star and the Badge of Honour, many medals, orders and medals from a number of foreign states, and the title of honorary state-security officer.