Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Who was Kim Philby and how did he assist Soviet intelligence?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
KGB
Director of the Soviet secret police Lavrenty Beria.
Kim Philby (1912β1988) was a British intelligence officer and the most successful Soviet double agent of the Cold War. A committed communist who became a Soviet agent in 1933, he eventually attained the rank of colonel in the KGB.1
Philby provided critical assistance to Soviet intelligence through several high-level positions:
- Counterespionage Leadership: As head of MI-6 counterespionage operations during and after World War II, he was tasked with stopping Soviet subversion but instead betrayed Western operations.1
- Intelligence Liaison: While serving as the top liaison between British and U.S. intelligence in Washington, he transmitted sensitive information about MI-6 and the Central Intelligence Agency to the Soviets.1
- Operational Sabotage: He revealed an Allied plan to send anticommunist forces into Albania, ensuring their defeat, and warned fellow spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean that they were under suspicion, allowing them to defect.1
Philbyβs betrayal is believed to have caused the deaths of many Western agents.1