The widely feared KGB had the power to control people's lives, and the creative intelligentsia often found itself a target of special attention. Sooner or later an actor would receive an “invitation” to Lubyanka, where KGB headquarters was located. Here are three stories of entrapment, recruitment and redemption.
Mikhail Kazakov (Russian and Israeli actor and director, 1934-2011)
The KGB recruited the famous actor in 1957, tasking him with the seduction of an American journalist. In 1957, many foreigners came to Moscow to attend the World Festival of Youth and Students, and the KGB urgently needed extra agents to squeeze as much information from the visitors as possible. Thus, the Soviet actor fell into the secret police's line of sight.
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