Vladimir Kryuchkov

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Vladimir Kryuchkov
Владимир Крючков
Kryuchkov in 1990
7th Chairman of the Committee for State Security (KGB)
In office 1 October 1988 – 28 August 1991
Premier	Nikolai Ryzhkov Valentin Pavlov
Preceded by	Viktor Chebrikov
Succeeded by	Vadim Bakatin
Full member of the 27th Politburo
In office 20 September 1989 – 14 July 1990
Personal details
Born	(1924-02-29)29 February 1924 Tsaritsyn, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Volgograd, Russia)
Died	23 November 2007(2007-11-23) (aged 83) Moscow, Russia
Nationality	Soviet and Russian
Political party	CPSU (1944–1991)

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov (Russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Крючко́в; 29 February 1924 – 23 November 2007) was a Soviet lawyer, diplomat, and head of the KGB, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Initially working in the Soviet justice system as a prosecutor's assistant, Kryuchkov then graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Soviet Foreign Ministry and became a diplomat. During his years in the foreign service, he met Yuri Andropov, who became his main patron. From 1974 until 1988, Kryuchkov headed the foreign intelligence branch of the KGB, the First Chief Directorate (PGU). During these years, the Directorate was involved in funding and supporting various communist, socialist, and anti-colonial movements across the world, some of which came to power in their countries and established pro-Soviet governments; in addition, under Kryuchkov's leadership the Directorate had major triumphs in penetrating Western intelligence agencies, acquiring valuable scientific and technical intelligence and perfecting the techniques of disinformation and active measures.^[1] At the same time, during his tenure the Directorate became plagued with defectors and had the major responsibility for encouraging the Soviet government to invade Afghanistan, and its ability to influence Western European communist parties diminished even further.^[1]

From 1988 until 1991, Kryuchkov served as the 7th Chairman of the KGB. He was the leader of the abortive August coup and its governing committee.