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Quotes tagged “KGB”

“Legasov: No one in the room that night knew the shutdown button (AZ-5) could act as a detonator. They didn't know it, because it was kept from them.

Kadnikov: Comrade Legasov, you're contradicting your own testimony in Vienna.

Legasov: My testimony in Vienna was a lie. I lied to the world. I'm not the only one who kept this secret. There are many. We were following orders, from the KGB, from the Central Committee. And right now, there are 16 reactors in the Soviet Union with the same fatal flaw. Three of them are still running less than 20 kilometers away at Chernobyl.

Kadnikov: Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest the Soviet State is somehow responsible for what happened, then I must warn you, you are treading on dangerous ground.

Legasov: I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on dangerous ground right now, because of our secrets and our lies. They're practically what define us. When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there. But it is...still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how...an RBMK reactor core explodes: Lies.”
— Valery Legasov, Chernobyl, Miniseries: Open Wide, O Earth
Tagged: KGB, Vienna, Soviet Union, Lies
“[After a meeting with the Central Committee, Legasov confronts KGB official Aleksandr Charkov about Khomyuk's arrest]

Legasov: She was arrested by the KGB. You are the first deputy chairman of the KGB.

Aleksandr Charkov: [amused] I am. That's why I don't have to bother with arresting people anymore.

Legasov: But you are bothering with having us followed.

Shcherbina: I think the deputy chairman is busy...

Charkov: No no, it's perfectly understandable. Comrade, I know you've heard the stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. And you see them? They follow me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more.

Legasov: You know the work we're doing here. You really don't trust us?

Charkov: Of course I do. But you know the old Russian proverb: ‘Trust, but verify.’ And the Americans think that Ronald Reagan thought that up. Can you imagine? It was very nice speaking with you. [turns to walk away]

Legasov: I need her.

Charkov: [turns back] So you will be accountable for her? [Legasov nods] Then it's done.

Legasov: Her name is—

Charkov: I know who she is. Good day, Professor. [walks off; Legasov glances at Shcherbina]

Shcherbina: No, that went surprisingly well. You came off like a naive idiot. And naive idiots are not a threat.”
— Valery Legasov, Chernobyl, Miniseries: Open Wide, O Earth
Tagged: KGB, Ronald Reagan
“You will come back to us, comrade. No one ever leaves the KGB.”
— Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson, A View to a Kill
Tagged: KGB, Communism
“[Shaw meets a Russian general in Moscow]
Russian General: Hello.

Sebastian Shaw: [in Russian] Once again, my sympathies for your treatment at the hands of the CIA.

Russian General: These Americans are ruthless.

Shaw: Now they have their missiles placed in Turkey...I expect you'll be planning new missile sites of your own. Somewhere you know the American early-warning system won't help. I hear Cuba is lovely this time of year. And so close to Florida.

Russian General: Missiles in Cuba? You're serious? We may as well declare war.

Shaw: Maybe I wasn't clear enough. You will make this happen.

Russian General: Okay. Let's see what KGB think about this. [he picks up the phone] Hello? General Armivolkoff. [the rest of the Hellfire Club appears] It's nothing. [he hangs up and meets their demands]”
— Sebastian Shaw, X-Men: First Class
Tagged: KGB, CIA, russians, Americans, Cuba, Florida, Cuban Missile Crisis
“I'm in charge of FBI Counter-Intelligence, and my secretary married a KGB officer.”
— Frank Gaad, The Americans, Season 4: Travel Agents
Tagged: FBI, KGB
“[Hemingway] was allegedly a KGB spy, but he wasn't very good at it.”
— Shaunacy Ferro, 10 Surprising Facts About Ernest Hemingway
Tagged: Hemingway, writer, spy, KGB

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This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.

Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.

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