In February 1987, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party – the supreme political authority in the Soviet Union – sought to address the ever-growing vocal support in the international community for the independence of the Baltic republics (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). The resulting Politburo decree, titled “On the Measures for Counteracting Ideological Diversions against the Soviet Baltic Republics,” was summarized for the KGB of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic by Lt. Colonel Vilius P. Kontrimas, deputy chief of the First Department (foreign intelligence) on March 24, 1987.

In this September 1986 excerpt, Gorbachev receives a report from KGB chief Chebrikov that he had requested on “what kinds of people are serving sentences for crimes, which Western propaganda calls political.” Obviously following Gorbachev’s lead, Chebrikov proposes to alleviate the prison sentences of two-thirds of the 240 persons he lists under this category; but, in response to a question from Gromyko, he notes two cases where the guilty parties had already received a sentence that could not be reduced—execution for espionage.

Shelepin sets out a plan to discredit CIA chief Allen Dulles.

In this entry, Mitrokhin describes how on November 1, 1979 KGB operatives arrested dissident Tatiana Mikhailova Velikanova. Mitrokhin relates that since Velikanova’s name was widely known outside Soviet borders, the KGB warned its resident agents abroad to adopt certain procedures in case of an emergency.

Tatiana Mikhailova Velikanova (b.1932) was a highly-educated Russian and a mother of three. Beginning in the late 1960s, Velikanova actively participated in public anti-state demonstrations—particularly at the Pushkin Square in Moscow. Drawing upon KGB files, Mitrokhin mentions that in 1969, Velikanova became a member of the Initiative Group for the Defense of Human Rights, a club which according to the KGB, boasted Tatar autonomists, extreme nationalists, religious fanatics, and secessionists amongst its ranks. For more than ten years, Velikanova and her associates were producing anti-Soviet and politically harmful material, distributed to foreign publishing houses and radio stations. Under Velikanova’s initiative, The Chronicles of Current Events, a samizdat publication was issued in Moscow in 1974. The Chronicles described topics such as arrests, judiciary procedures, the pursuit of dissidents, and other aspects of political life in the Soviet Union. The periodical shed negative light on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

By Mitrokhin’s account, although Velikanova had been officially sanctioned by the state with regards to continuing her work, she paid no heed to the warnings. In essence, Velikanova remained largely unmoved by the searches and interrogations subsequently conducted by the State Prosecutor’s Office. The KGB file stated that the West had helped Velikanova by supplying her with financial resources. Velikanova further received assistance from the Fund for Aiding Political Nonconformists. Velikanova’s file stated that she was being investigated by the KGB in accordance with the wishes of the Prosecutor’s Office.

CC BCP Politburo approves Angel Solakov’s recommendation the State Security Committee to commence intelligence and counter-intelligence operations against PRC and Albania. In an attached report Solakov lays out the rationale for such actions. Solakov cites cases where the Chinese and Albanian intelligence services have allegedly embarked upon anti-Soviet actions in various countries of Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

BCP CC Politburo approves the request of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Angel Tzanev, for an increase in the intelligence staff in response to the need for expanding intelligence operations in China, Albania, Romania, Yugoslavia and Vietnam – a move closely coordinated with the KGB.

Information regarding the reaction of a group of 16 Bulgarian Armed Forces officers, discharged for “anti-party and anti-state activity”. Some of them were rehabilitated with a CC BCP Secretariat Resolution “B-9” on October 13, 1972. The BCP CC’s Military Department recommends that the State Security Committee’s Sixth Directorate continue monitoring the group. KDS should also brief regularly the BCP CC about the behavior of those former officers who have not yet been rehabilitated. While those with favorable disposition towards the Party line should be recommended for future rehabilitation, others who are still standing on “anti-party” positions must be warned in the course.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Dimitar Stoyanov reports on the political situation in Ethiopia during the late 1970s. The economic hardship is pushing Mengistu’s government to accept Western aid, in addition to the support it is getting from the Soviet bloc. Mengistu also seems to be critical of the anti-Soviet policy of China.

Based on intelligence sources, the Minister of Internal Affairs Dimitar Stoyanov reports on domestic political developments. Among the issues covered in the memo are the domestic repercussions of the January 1987 Plenary Session of the CPSU Central Committee, as well as the Western allegations of human rights violations in regard to Bulgaria’s policy toward the Turkish ethnic minority.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Dimitar Stoyanov, reports on the coverage in the Western media of the alleged repressions against six Bulgarian dissidents who sent an open letter to the 1986 CSCE Meeting in Vienna. The letter claimed that Bulgaria does not comply fully with the Helsinki Accords on Human Rights of 1975. The Minister reports that although some measures have been taken to neutralize the activities of this particular dissident group, the official investigation has been suspended as there was a risk of further tarnishing Bulgaria’s image abroad.