Active reserve ( KGB ) The active reserve of the KGB are members of the organization who work undercover " either pretending to assume various jobs or using as cover professions in which they are actually trained " . Active reserve KGB officers typically occupied such positions as deputy directors of scientific research or deans responsible for foreign relations in academic institutions of the Soviet Union , although these people were not scientists . Other officers were trained for certain civilian jobs , usually translators , journalists , telephone engineers , or doormen in hotels that served foreigners . The active reserve was significantly expanded in Post - Soviet Russia , when a majority of positions in the Russian power elite were occupied by acting or undercover officers of the Russian state security services , such as the FSB and SVR , the official successors of the KGB . " The only difference between them [ officers of active reserve ] and regular civil - servants is that they have an extra duty : writing reports every month for the FSB . They are the eyes of the master ” , said sociologist Olga Krychtanovskaia . Background . Undercover staff of the KGB included three major categories : ( a ) the active reserve ; ( b ) the " trusted contacts " ( or " reliable people " ) , and ( c ) " civilian informers " ( or " secret helpers " ) . The " active reserve " included KGB officers with a military rank who worked undercover in the Soviet Union . " Trusted contacts " were high placed civilians who collaborated with the KGB without signing any official working agreements , such as directors of personnel departments at various institutions , academics , deans , or writers and actors . Informers were citizens secretly recruited by the KGB , sometimes using forceful recruitment methods , such as blackmail . The precise number of people from various categories remains unknown , but one of the estimates was 11 million " informers " in the Soviet Union , or one out of every eighteen adult citizens History . The active reserve was established by Yuri Andropov in the end of 1960s . " Active reservists " worked in all organizations of importance including press and television . A " Law on Foreign Intelligence " adopted in August 1992 provided conditions for penetration by former KGB officers to all levels of the government and economy , since it stipulated that " career personnel may occupy positions in ministries , departments , establishments , enterprises and organizations in accordance with the requirements of this law without compromising their association with foreign intelligence agencies . " . " All big companies have to put people from the security services on the board of directors . . . and we know that when Lubyanka calls , they have to answer them " , said a Russian banker . A current FSB colonel explained that " We must make sure that companies don ' t make decisions that are not in the interest of the state " . Olga Kryshtanovskaya , director of the Moscow - based Center for the Study of Elites , has found in the beginning of 2000s ( decade ) that up to 78 % of 1 , 016 leading political figures in post - Soviet Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with the KGB or FSB . She said : " If in the Soviet period and the first post - Soviet period , the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues , now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business , political parties , NGOs , regional governments , even culture . . . They started to use all political institutions . " Notable active reserve officers . Many Russian democratic politicians and businessmen hired officers of the active reserve as their closest associates . Most did this knowingly to receive the support of the powerful organization . Anatoly Sobchak asked for advice from Oleg Kalugin in 1990 . He said : " I feel isolated . I need a person who can maintain contacts with the KGB , which controls the city " . Very soon Sobchak hired Vladimir Putin who allegedly remained in the active reserve at this time . Tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky hired former KGB general Alexei Kondaurov . Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov had Yevgeny Primakov , then director of Russian Foreign intelligence . In 1991 businessman Vladimir Gusinsky hired General Philipp Bobkov who supervised the entire system of active reserve in the Soviet Union . Bobkov officially served as a head of security in the Media Most company that belonged to Gusinsky .