March 18, 1946: All People's Commissariats were renamed to Ministries. MGB – "Ministry of State Security" Viktor Abakumov (March 18, 1946 – July 14, 1951) Sergei Ogoltsov (July 14, 1951 – August 9, 1951) (acting) Semyon Ignatyev (August 9, 1951 – March 5, 1953) The East German secret police, the Stasi, took their name from this iteration. – "Committee of Information" (foreign intelligence service) Peter Fedotov MGB Fedor Kuznetsov GRU Yakov Malik Foreign Ministry May 30, 1947: Official decision with the expressed purpose of "upgrading coordination of different intelligence services and concentrating their efforts on major directions". In the summer of 1948 the military personnel in KI were returned to the Soviet military to reconstitute foreign military intelligence service (GRU). KI sections dealing with the new East Bloc and Soviet émigrés were returned to the MGB in late 1948. In 1951 the KI returned to the MGB. March 5, 1953: MVD and MGB are merged into the MVD by Lavrentiy Beria. MVD – "Ministry of Internal Affairs" Lavrentiy Beria (March 5, 1953 – June 26, 1953) Sergei Kruglov (June 1953 – March 13, 1954) March 13, 1954: Newly independent force became the KGB, as Beria was purged and the MVD divested itself again of the functions of secret policing. After renamings and tumults, the KGB remained stable until 1991. KGB – Committee for State Security Ivan Serov (March 13, 1954 – December 8, 1958) Alexander Shelepin (December 25, 1958 – November 13, 1961) Vladimir Semichastny (November 13, 1961 – May 18, 1967) Yuri Andropov (May 18, 1967 – May 26, 1982) Vitaly Fedorchuk (May 26, 1982 – December 17, 1982) Viktor Chebrikov (December 17, 1982 – October 1, 1988) Vladimir Kryuchkov (October 1, 1988 – August 28, 1991) Leonid Shebarshin (August 22, 1991 – August 23, 1991) (acting) Vadim Bakatin (August 29, 1991 – December 3, 1991) In 1991, after the State Emergency Committee failed to overthrow Gorbachev and Yeltsin took over, General Vadim Bakatin was given instructions to dissolve the KGB. In Russia today, KGB functions are performed by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Counterintelligence Service which later became the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) in 1995, and the Federal Protective Service (FSO). The GRU continues to operate as well. Leadership See also Commanders of the border troops USSR and RF Director of the Federal Security Service Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service FAPSI