104-10044-10056 _ CG [PME EE SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT ORCON COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT SBCI-6957 29 November 1990 COUNTRY: USSR SUBJECT: Marina and Lee Harvey OSWALD DOT: 1981-1989 SOURCE: A former KGB officer NOTE This information is based on reporting from sensitive sources. Any further dissemination of this information beyond the original distribution, including use in briefings and studies, or inclusion in computer data bases outside of SE Division must first be coordinated with the originating office. Normally, it is not releasable outside the DO or to toreign or domestic liaison services. HEAKKEKKEREEEE (ACTION: Background Information] 1. According to senior staff officers from the sMinsk KGB Counterintelligence School [Minsk CI School] and Department 1 {American targets] of the Second Chief Directorate [internal security and counterintelligence--SCD] Headquarters, ex~marine Lee Harvey OSWALD was an agent of the KGB, and was one before he met his future wife, Marina. The Minsk UKGB had recruited Marina as a "swallow" [Soviet female prostitute] for use in sexual entrapment operations. Marina was directed against OSWALD, who fell in love with her, when he was living in Minsk. [Headquarters Comment: It was unclear whether the local or regional UKGB was involved.] Although she was interested in OSWALD, Marina was more interested in getting away from the USSR and poverty. The UKGB considered her an agent, albeit a reluctant one. 2. Circa the late 1950s, following his defection to the USSR, OSWALD was resettled in an apartment house close to both the Minsk CI School and Victory Square in a beautiful area on the Aon WARNING NOTICE - INTELLIGENCE CL BY 0646851 | esclaee SOURCES OR METHODS INVOLVED DECL OADR ‘ ® _ DRV f SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT .ORCON ERED E80 oe s sae 6 Bat es al i ea AA 1 HAA AA mA
13-00000 ~y me, “os | SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT ORCON SBCI-6957 Svisloch River where he was placed under full surveillance by the Minsk UKGB. The Second Department--(foreign counterintelligence) of the UKGB considered OSWALD an agent because he provided them with information on his past. [Source Comment: It was common practice in a UKGB to claim a foreigner living in its region as an agent. A regional UKGB would forward the subject's physical description, age, and any other information it gathered to KGB Headquarters, claiming the subject as a foreign agent. Such regionally claimed agents were not agents in the classic sense, rather they were an attempt by the regional UKGB to gain prestige. ] 3. Circa 1981 Colonel YURSHAK, then an instructor at the Minsk CI School, stated that he had been involved in the OSWALD Case when he was with the Minsk UKGB. The Minsk UKGB kept numerous files on OSWALD which contained agent, surveillance, and monitoring reports as well as other information. {Headquarters Comment: When Source questioned the KGB's rationale for running OSWALD, an ex-marine with very little access to information, he was only assured that OSWALD was run in Minsk as an agent. ] YURSHAK, who held a low opinion of OSWALD, stated that OSWALD was a bit crazy and unpredictable. OSWALD was never required to sign an agreement to cooperate, even though he was cooperating. YURSHAK believed that OSWALD knew he was in contact with the KGB. 4. OSWALD was interrogated several times in Moscow by officers from KGB Headquarters (NFI). OSWALD's KGB handlers _ considered passing him to the First Chief Directorate [foreign intelligence-~FCD] to be handled by a KGB Residency in the United States, but-the proposal was ultimately rejected because OSWALD was considered too unstable. Upon OSWALD's returned to the U.S., his files would have been sent to KGB Headquarters, probably to Department 1 [American targets] of the SCD. 5. OSWALD fell into a deep depression in the USSR; he was homesick and wanted to return to the United States. He eventually received Soviet permission to return to the United States with his wife, Marina. Once in the U.S., Marina angered the KGB by refusing to continue cooperating with then. 6. {Headquarters Comment: At least six KGB officers and former UKGB staff officers told Source about the OSWALD Case. Their stories were consistent. Each of these officers told Source that the KGB did not handle OSWALD after his redefection to the U.S. and had no further contact with him. They also said that the KGB never tasked OSWALD, and certainly never tasked him to kill President Kennedy.] [Source Comment: The rumors in the 2 SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT ORCON
13-000)0 SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT ORCON SBCI-6957 West suggesting that the KGB was involved in KENNEDY's assassination were absurd. of assassinating a major world leader. ]} HEADQUARTERS. COMMENT: The KGB would never risk the scandal This report will be forwarded via separate message to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ALL PORTIONS CARRY CLASSIFICATION AND CONTROLS OF OVERALL DOCUMENT Originator: SE/ISG/P -| kcyn G-73683 Distribution: ee ee ee ee be CIC/CEG/EXT C/CIC/CEG/INT C/CIC/AG C/CIC/SE C/CIC/OG C/SE; DC/SE; AC/SE/USSR C/SE/ISG SE/ISG/RC SE/ISG/P (chrono) SE/ISG/P (production) SE/ISG/P (originator) OG/DMSE for 074-120-347. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE INTEL AFFILIATION ON 201 T-CARD OR INDEX RECORDS 3 4 Ne GO SECRET NOFORN NOCONTRACT ORCON | ie / dV 7 ROASIAN ©