CIA Cryptographically Verified

Post-Soviet KGB Official Reviews Oswald's KGB File, Finds No Evidence He Was an Agent, 1991

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Frequently Asked Questions

After personally reviewing five thick volumes of KGB files on Oswald, the official concluded Oswald was at no time a KGB-controlled agent, though the KGB did watch him closely during his time in the Soviet Union.

He was Vyacheslav Nikonov, grandson of former Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, serving as deputy to reformist KGB chief Vadim Bakatin during the final months of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Public-Interest Summary

A November 1991 CIA cable reporting on discussions with a KGB official identified as 'Slava' Nikonov — grandson of former Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and, at the time, deputy to reformist KGB chief Vadim Bakatin during the final months of the Soviet Union — describing how Nikonov personally reviewed five thick volumes of KGB files on Lee Harvey Oswald and concluded Oswald was at no time a KGB-controlled agent. Nikonov reportedly found the file showed the KGB watched Oswald closely and constantly during his time in the USSR, described a stormy relationship with his Soviet wife, and reported Oswald was a poor shot at the shooting range. The same cable separately reports Nikonov's inquiry into the fate of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, concluding he was likely executed in 1947. This is a remarkable post-Soviet-era primary-source data point directly addressing the central JFK-assassination question of whether Oswald was ever a Soviet intelligence asset.

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Extracted Entities

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Lee Harvey Oswald Raoul Wallenberg Vadim Bakatin Vyacheslav Nikonov November 1991

People Organizations Locations Amounts

Provenance

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/104-10014-10064.pdf

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Cold War Intelligence & Tradecraft Files

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