Aleksandr Titovich Golubev (; 9 February 1936 – 8 February 2020) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and later Russian intelligence officer who held a number of posts in the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

and the Foreign Intelligence Service, reaching the rank of general-lieutenant. Born into a peasant family in the Byelorussian SFSR, Golubev grew up during the war years, and spent his early career in the navy, and combining working as a machinist with political activity with the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

. He joined the

in 1959 and studied English and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, graduating from domestic intelligence work to foreign intelligence as part of the

First Chief Directorate The First Main Directorate () of the Committee for State Security under the USSR council of ministers (PGU KGB) was the organization responsible for foreign operations and intelligence agency, intelligence activities by providing for the training a ...

. Golubev developed particular expertise in Afghani affairs, and had a role in planning and then carrying out

Operation Storm-333 Operation Storm-333 (, ) was a military raid executed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan on 27 December 1979. Special forces and airborne troops stormed the heavily fortified Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinated Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin ...

, the overthrow of incumbent Afghan president

Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Dari/; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and ...

in 1979. As part of the operation Golubev commanded a detachment of

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

troops during the military assault on Amin's headquarters at the

Tajbeg Palace Tajbeg Palace (; ; ''Palace of the Large Crown''), also inaccurately called the Queen's Palace, is one of the palaces in the popular Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. The stately mansion is located about south-west from the city's center. It ...

. He then served for a time as KGB

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...

in Istanbul, before rising through several posts in the KGB's command prior to the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. Golubev continued to work in the security services of the Russian Federation, serving as a head of department of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and a senior consultant to the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He retired with the rank of general-lieutenant in 2001, and was head of the Council of Veterans of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation for a number of years. He died in 2020, having received numerous awards and honours over his career in intelligence.

Early life and service

Golubev was born into a peasant family on 9 February 1936, in the village of Pakhomlevichi, Lepiel District, in Vitebsk Region, then part of the Byelorussian SFSR, in the Soviet Union. He grew up during the Axis invasion and occupation of parts of the Soviet Union's western regions, and after graduating from high school, went to serve in the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

from 1955. He then worked as a

milling machine Milling is the process of machining using rotary cutters to remove material by advancing a cutter into a workpiece. This may be done by varying directions on one or several axes, cutter head speed, and pressure. Milling covers a wide variety of ...

operator at a tractor factory in Ordzhonikidze,

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, and was elected to the city's

committee.

Intelligence work

Golubev joined the

in 1959 and initially studied at the KGB's Institute of Foreign Languages, until its dissolution in 1960. He then moved to the Higher Red Banner School of the KGB and studied

and English, graduating in 1964. He was initially assigned to domestic KGB operations in North Ossetia, but also took overseas trips to Iraq, Kuwait and Iran. He took the in 1967 and from 1969 onwards was working in foreign intelligence as part of the

. He served as an operational officer and then a

in several overseas postings, including Iran, and in 1975 became head of the Afghan directorate of the 3rd department of the K Department of KGB's First Chief Directorate. Golubev was in Afghanistan during the buildup to the Soviet intervention there and the beginning of the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

. Golubev had a role in planning and then carrying out

, the overthrow of incumbent president

, in November and December 1979. In late November Golubev, then with the rank of colonel, took command of a detachment of the Zenit

group which had arrived in

Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near t ...

disguised as technical workers. Golubev commanded the group during the military assault on Amin's headquarters at the

. In 1981 Golubev became KGB resident in Istanbul, remaining there until 1987, when he returned to the USSR to become head of the First Chief Directorate's K Department. In 1989 he became head of the First Chief Directorate's 20th department, serving as such until October 1991. The following month he became head of the KGB of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

's intelligence department of the KGB of the RSFSR, and then of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the until December 1991. Following the

in December 1991, Golubev continued to work in the security services of the Russian Federation. From 1993 he was a head of department of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and from June 1997 he was a senior consultant of the Group of Consultants to the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He had been promoted to general-major in December 1990, and to general-lieutenant in December 1993. In 1997 he became a Member of the Interdepartmental Commission of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on Border Policy.

Retirement

Golubev retired with the rank of general-lieutenant in 2001. In retirement he was head of the Council of Veterans of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation for a number of years. He was married, with two sons. Golubev died in Moscow on 8 February 2020 at the age of 83. Over his career he had received the Order of Military Merit, the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

, the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

and the

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

, as well as medals from the Soviet Union, Russia and Afghanistan, in addition to the badges of , and "For Service in Intelligence".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golubev, Aleksandr 1936 births 2020 deaths People from Lyepyel district Soviet lieutenant generals Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner KGB officers Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia) officers Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War