Oleg Gordievsky and the 1983 KGB Order to Monitor Blood Banks
Kept secret for decades until published by a double agent, a 1983 Top Secret cable ordered the KGB to monitor blood banks to predict a nuclear first strike.
By Roy Castellano ·
Able Archer 83
Leonard Perroots and the 1983 Nuclear Hair Trigger
A Top Secret report kept hidden until 2015 shows how a single officer's addendum exposed a U.S. intelligence failure that nearly triggered a Soviet preemptive strike.
By Eleanor Voss ·
Sergei Akhromeyev and the 1990 Denial of Able Archer
A former Soviet Marshal's memories of the 1983 nuclear scare remained hidden for decades, portraying American intentions as a drive for world supremacy.
By Eleanor Voss ·
Leonard Perroots and the Deleted Record of a Nuclear Near-Miss
The State Department scrubbed the record of a 1983 nuclear close-call from its public site, leaving the National Security Archive to recover the ghost of a narrowly avoided apocalypse.
By Eleanor Voss ·
Col. Gen. Danilevich blamed KGB incompetence for 1983 nuclear panic
Soviet military planners feared a catastrophic miscalculation as incompetent KGB officers exaggerated nuclear threats during the frightening tensions of 1983.
By Roy Castellano ·