[hermgem]

Well, one of the KGB chairmen happened to be a Mr. Putin.
How's the time line for Mr. Putin's ascendancy to his KGB chairmanship?
What segment of this spy and disinformation organization did Putin so successfully oversee that it propelled him all the way to be KGB head?

[Iris7]

You pose an interesting question. I very seriously doubt the answer will come out in my lifetime (am 60 yrs. old).

Russians have been running secret societies as far back as can be tracked. Peter the Great had much interest in such organizations.

Massie's bio, still the best.

[endthematrix]

Putin was a lieutenant colonel at the time of his "departure" from the KGB.

He wasn't a chairman or head of the KGB - At least that's what I had read.