Viktor Mikhailovich Chebrikov (; 27 April 1923 – 2 July 1999) 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 ...

public official and security administrator and head of 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 ...

from December 1982 to October 1988.Montgomery, Isobel (7 July 1999)
Viktor Chebrikov: KGB chief who favoured modest Soviet reforms.
''

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Life and career

Born in the industrial city of Yekaterinoslav in eastern

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Soviet Union 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 ...

(now

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

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) on 27 April 1923, he finished military school in 1942 and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a battalion commander.New York Times, 5 July 1999 From July 1942, he commanded a platoon of a cadet rifle regiment in the 64th Army on the Stalingrad Front, but on August 14, 1942, he was seriously wounded. After his recovery, he was deputy platoon commander and commander of a mortar platoon in the 262nd Infantry Regiment of the 184th Infantry Division on the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts. From 1943 until the end of the war he fought in the ranks of the 575th Infantry Regiment of the 161st Infantry Division on Stepnoye, from August 1943 - on Voronezh, from October 1943 - on the 1st Ukrainian, from August 1944 - on the 4th Ukrainian fronts. His contemporaries describe him as having fought bravely and selflessly. At the front, he was wounded three times (one severe wound and two medium ones), shell-shocked and frostbitten, but each time he returned to duty. After the war Chebrikov wanted to continue his military career, but was refused by the prestigious Frunze Military Academy because of his bad eyesight;The Guardian, 7 July 1999 abandoning his military ambitions, he earned an engineering degree, joined the Communist Party in 1950, and embarked on a political-administrative career, rising through the Ukrainian party ranks until he became First Secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk Party Committee in 1961. In 1967, he was brought to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as personnel manager for the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

. He was Deputy chairman of the

under

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

from 1968-1982. They began an anti-corruption drive that continued until Andropov's death. Following a brief period under

Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko ( – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1984 until his death a year later. Born to a poor family in Siberia, Chernenko jo ...

, Chebrikov was appointed Chairman of the KGB under

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. Through information supplied by American spy

Aldrich Ames Aldrich Hazen Ames (; born May 26, 1941) is an American former Central Intelligence Agency, CIA counterintelligence officer who was convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994. He is serving a life sentence, without th ...

, Chebrikov was able to dismantle the network of CIA operatives in his country. Chebrikov was highly respected for his skills among his American counterparts; according to Kenneth E. deGraffenreid, the senior

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

intelligence official in the Ronald Reagan administration: "One has to say that Chebrikov's term as KGB chief was the heyday of the KGB in terms of foreign intelligence. In terms of intelligence production—spies, and dishing the Americans on the secrets—they were going strong right up to the end. We uncovered 80 spies during those years. These guys were on the make, and there was no question about their influence."

Work in the Committee for State Security

As Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, Chebrikov became known primarily as the initiator of the investigation of the "Uzbek case" about high levels of corruption in Uzbekistan, which resulted in the sudden death of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan and candidate for membership in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU Sharof Rashidov, arrests of dozens of high-ranking leaders of Uzbekistan. Some other high-ranking corrupt officials were exposed and convicted (up to capital punishment). Also, in the period 1983-1986, almost all known dissidents were arrested or expelled from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which led to paralysis of the dissident movement. However, Chebrikov sided with officials such as

Yegor Ligachyov Yegor Kuzmich Ligachyov (also transliterated as Ligachev; ; 29 November 1920 – 7 May 2021) was a Soviet and Russian politician who was a high-ranking official in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and who continued an active po ...

who believed Gorbachev's

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and

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

reforms were being implemented too quickly. After the 19th Communist Party Conference confirmed the party's support for Gorbachev's reforms, officials who had opposed them were dismissed from office in the autumn of 1988. An October 1988 extraordinary session of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

, which had been granted more power by the conference, dismissed Chebrikov as KGB Chairman and replaced him with General

Vladimir Kryuchkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov (; 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 a ...

.Wines, Michael (5 July 1999). Viktor Chebrikov, 76, Leader Of K.G.B. in Spying Heyday. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Recognition

Chebrikov was awarded four Orders of Lenin (22 March 1966; 13 December 1977; 26 April 1983; 12 February 1985), Orders of the October Revolution (31 August 1971), Red Banner (21 May 1945), Alexander Nevsky (24 August 1944), Patriotic War 1st degree (04/23/1985), three Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (19 July 1958; 26 April 1973; 8 October 1980). He was also awarded medals, including "For Courage" (1 February 1943). Awards from other countries include Order of the February Victory (Czechoslovakia, 5 November 1984). He received the USSR State Prize (1980, for participation in the creation of special equipment).

References