Moscow Helsinki Group
In May 1976, he organized the Moscow Helsinki Group and became its chairman. Andrei Sakharov praised Orlov for systematically documenting Soviet violations of the human rights provisions of the Helsinki accords. Orlov ignored orders to disband the Moscow Helsinki Group when the KGB told him the group was illegal. The KGB head Yuri Andropov determined, "The need has thus emerged to terminate the actions of Orlov, fellow Helsinki monitor Ginzburg and others once and for all, on the basis of existing law."