List of Soviet assassinations

This is a list of people confirmed and alleged to have been assassinated by the government of the Soviet Union.[1] Some of the assassinations or targeted killings took place overseas.

Soviet assassinations

Assassinations confirmed or generally accepted to have been committed by the Soviet Union.

Target Position Date City Country Perpetrator Method
Fyodor Kokoshkin Member of the First Russian State Duma 1918-01-20 Leningrad Russian SFSR Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee Shot.
Nicholas II last Tsar of Russia 1918-07-17 Yekaterinburg Cheka Execution.[2]
Francis Cromie British naval attaché 1918-08-31 Petrograd Bolsheviks Killed in combat
Alexander Dutov Russian Cossacks 1921-02-07 Suiding China Bolsheviks Shot.[3][4]
Vladimir Nesterovich Defected Red Army commander and intelligence officer 1925-08-06 Mainz Germany GRU Poisoning.[5][6]
Pyotr Wrangel Russian White Army General 1928-04-25 Brussels Belgium Soviet agent Poisoning.
Alexander Kutepov White Army General 1930-01-26 Paris France OGPU Heart attack during kidnapping.[7]
Noe Ramishvili former Prime Minister of Georgia 1930-12-07 Paris France Shot.[8][9][10]
Sergey Kirov First Secretary of the Leningrad City Bolsheviks 1934-12-01 Leningrad Soviet Union NKVD Shot by revolver.
Faizal Maksum One of the leaders of the Basmachi movement 1935-??-?? Kashgar East Turkestan [11]
Nester Lakoba Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Abkhaz ASSR 1936-12-28 Tbilisi Georgian SSR Poisoned.[12][13]
Andreu Nin Leader of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) 1937-06-20 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid Second Spanish Republic Tortured to death.[14][15][16][17]
Aghasi Khanjian First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia 1937-07-09 Tbilisi Georgian SSR Shot.[18]
Georges Agabekov Defected OGPU agent 1937-08-?? Pyrenees Mountains Unsure French or Spanish side in the Pyrenees Mountains Unknown.
Ignace Reiss Soviet spy 1937-09-04 Lausanne  Switzerland Strangulation and/or machine gun.[19][20]
Kurt Landau Austrian communist, Member of the International Left Opposition 1937-09-23 Barcelona Second Spanish Republic Unknown.[20]
Yevhen Konovalets Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists 1938-05-23 Rotterdam Netherlands Explosive hidden in box of chocolates.
Rudolf Klement Senior official in the Fourth International and longtime confidant of Trotsky 1938-07-13 Paris France Unknown. Possible beheading.[21]
Zinaida Reich Soviet actress 1939-07-15 Moscow Soviet Union Stabbing.
Jadwiga Szeptycka Archaeologist and ethnographer 1939-09-27 Prylbychi Second Polish Republic Shot.[22]
Leon Trotsky Soviet politician and Marxist revolutionary theorist 1940-08-21 Coyoacán Mexico Exsanguination from attack by ice pick[23]
Nikolai Koltsov Soviet biologist 1940-12-02 Leningrad Soviet Union Poisoning.[24]
Mairbek Sheripov Chechen nationalist 1942-11-07 Chechnya Soviet Union Soviet security force Soviet reprisal raid.
Wilhelm Kube Generalkommissar of Weissruthenien 1943-09-22 Minsk Soviet Union Yelena Mazanik Timed explosive.
Solomon Mikhoels Soviet actor and the artistic director of the Moscow State Jewish Theatre. 1948-01-13 MGB Death staged as traffic accident.[25]
Khasan Israilov Chechen nationalist 1944-12-29 Chechnya Soviet security force Unknown.
Yurii Lypa Ukrainian nationalist 1944-08-20 Shutova Ukrainian SSR NKVD Tortured to death.[26]
Konstantin Volkov Soviet diplomat and NKVD officer 1945-09-?? Istanbul Turkey Disappeared from his post.
Isaiah Oggins American-born spy for the Soviet secret police 1947-??-?? Norilsk Russian SFSR Poisoned with curare.[27][28]
Theodore Romzha Bishop of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo 1947-10-31 Uzhhorod Ukrainian SSR Poisoned with curare.[29][30]
Wolfgang Salus Czechoslovak Trotskyist 1953-03-05 Munich West Germany KGB Poisoned.[31][32]
Alexander Trushnovich Chairman of the Committee for Aid to Russian Refugees, leader of the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists 1954-04-13 West Berlin West Germany Choked to death during botched kidnapping.[33]
Danylo Skoropadskyi Leader of the Hetmanite movement 1957-02-23 London United Kingdom Poisoned with air gun.[34][35]
Lev Rebet Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists 1957-10-10 Munich West Germany Poisoning with vapor gun.[36]
Imre Nagy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary 1958-06-16 Budapest Hungary Soviet show trial Execution.
Stepan Bandera Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists 1959-10-15 Munich West Germany KGB Poisoning by cyanide gas.[36]
Nicholas Shadrin Defected Soviet naval officer 1975-12-20 Vienna Austria KGB Accidental forced overdose during kidnapping.[37][38][39]
Mohammed Daoud Khan President of Afghanistan 1978-04-28 Kabul Afghanistan Afghanistan KGB / PDPA Shot.
Georgi Markov Bulgarian dissident journalist 1978-09-11 London United Kingdom KGB Poisoning by ricin-filled pellet by Bulgarian umbrella.[40]
Hafizullah Amin President of Afghanistan 1979-12-27 Kabul Afghanistan Afghanistan Targeted assault on the Tajbeg Palace (see: Operation Storm-333)[41][42]

Alleged assassinations

Assassinations alleged or suspected to have been carried out by the Soviet Union.

Target Position Date City Country Perpetrator Method
Nikolay Vtorov Russian industrialist 1918-05-20 Moscow Russian SFSR Bolsheviks Unknown.[43]
Juliet Stuart Poyntz CPUSA member and soviet intelligence agent 1937-06-03 New York United States NKVD Possible execution.[44]
Lev Sedov Leon Trotsky's eldest son 1938-02-16 Paris France Shot.
Walter Krivitsky Defected Soviet intelligence officer 1941-02-10 Washington, D.C. United States Shot by revolver.[45]
Arkadi Maslow Leading figure in the Communist Party of Germany 1941-11-20 Havana Cuba Shot.[46]
Leonid Karas Belarusian writer and journalist for Radio Liberty 1954-09-?? Munich West Germany KGB Drowning.[47]
Abdurrahman Fatalibeyli Defected Soviet army major; CIA agent and later chief of the Azerbaijani desk for Radio Liberty 1954-11-22 Munich West Germany Strangulation.
Ilie Motrescu Romanian writer 1969-07-26 Near Krasnoilsk Ukrainian SSR Unknown.[48]
Alla Horska Ukrainian Soviet dissident 1970-11-28 Vasylkiv Shot and disguised as a murder-suicide.[49][50]
Sultan Ibraimov Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan 1980-12-04 Cholpon Ata Soviet Union Shot twice in the head.

Attempted assassinations

Target Position Date City Country Killer Method
Indalecio Prieto Minister of the National Defence 1937 Bilbao Second Spanish Republic NKVD Unspecified.[17]
Georgiy Okolovich Anti-communist dissident 1954 Frankfurt West Germany KGB Cigarette case disguised poison gun.[51][52]
Nikolai Khokhlov Soviet defector 1957-09 Frankfurt West Germany Poisoning with thallium.[53][36]
Vladimir Kostov Bulgarian journalist 1978-08-26 Paris France Poisoning with Bulgarian umbrella.[54]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Filipov, David (23 March 2017). "Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ways". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918". EyeWitness to History. 2005.
  3. ↑ Ganin, Andrey (8 June 2018). "Казачий путь. Атаман Дутов в борьбе с диктатурой большевиков - Российское историческое общество". historyrussia.org. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  4. ↑ Ганин, Андрей Владиславович (2006). Атаман А.И. Дутов (in Russian). Центрполиграф. ISBN 978-5-9524-2447-0.
  5. ↑ Starkov, B. A. (1998). "Советизация Балкан как попытка создания нового типа цивилизации — по новым документам российских архивов." [The Sovietization of the Balkans as an attempt to create a new type of civilization: based on new documents from Russian archives]. In Terzić, Slavenko; Bled, Jean-Paul (eds.). Сусрет или сукоб цивилизација на Балкану: међународни научни скуп 10-12. децембар 1997 [The Meeting or Clash of Civilizations in the Balkans: International Scientific Conference December 10-12, 1997] (in Serbian). Istorijski institut SANU. pp. 499–500. ISBN 978-86-7743-016-0.
  6. ↑ Nehring, Christopher (3 May 2021). "Analysis: Russia's secret services betray their weakness". Deutsch Welle. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Sudoplatov, Pavel; Sudoplatov, Anatolievich Pavel; Schecter, Jerrold L.; Schecter, Leona (1994). Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster. Little, Brown. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-316-77352-2.
  8. ↑ King, Charles (11 February 2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-19-517775-6.
  9. ↑ Lee, Eric (15 September 2017). The Experiment: Georgia's Forgotten Revolution 1918-1921. Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78699-095-2.
  10. ↑ სულაძე, გელა (2018). საქართველოს პირველი პრემიერის, ნოე რამიშვილის, მკვლელობა: საბჭოთა ხელისუფლების სპეცსამსახურების სისხლიანი ოპერაცია. Gamomcʻemloba "Cigni+eri". ISBN 978-9941-9598-0-6.
  11. ↑ Ritter, William S (1985). "The Final Phase in the Liquidation of Anti-Soviet Resistance in Tadzhikistan: Ibrahim Bek and the Basmachi, 1924–31". Soviet Studies. 37 (4): 484–493. doi:10.1080/09668138508411604.
  12. ↑ Rayfield, Donald (15 December 2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-78023-030-6.
  13. ↑ Lakoba, Stanislav (2004). Абхазия после двух империй. XIX–XXI вв [Abkhazia after two empires: XIX–XXI centuries] (in Russian). Moscow: Materik. ISBN 5-85646-146-0.
  14. ↑ Znamenski, Andrei (7 September 2017). "Joseph Grigulevich: A Tale of Identity, Soviet Espionage, and Storytelling". The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review. 44 (3): 314–341. doi:10.1163/18763324-20171267. ISSN 1075-1262 – via Brill.
  15. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1977). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. p. 684. ISBN 978-0-14-020970-9.
  16. ↑ Preston, Paul (8 April 2011). La Guerra Civil Española: reacción, revolución y venganza (in Spanish). DEBOLS!LLO. p. 182. ISBN 978-84-9989-150-7.
  17. 1 2 Bolloten, Burnett (1991). The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 507, 549. ISBN 978-0-8078-1906-7.
  18. ↑ Shakarian, Pietro A. (5 August 2025). Anastas Mikoyan: An Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev's Kremlin. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-07356-3.
  19. ↑ Rosmer, Alfred; Victor Serge; Maurce Wullens (April 1938). L'Assassinat d'Ignace Reiss. Les Humbles.
  20. 1 2 Costello, John; Tsarev, Oleg (1993). Deadly Illusions. Crown. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-517-58850-5 – via Internet Archive.
  21. ↑ Bourrinet, Philippe (1 November 2016). The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900–68): ‘Neither Lenin nor Trotsky nor Stalin!’ - ‘All Workers Must Think for Themselves!’. BRILL. p. 442. ISBN 978-90-04-32593-7.
  22. ↑ Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. 1991. p. 103.
  23. ↑ Mahoney, Harry Thayer; Mahoney, Marjorie Locke (1 June 1998). The Saga of Leon Trotsky: His Clandestine Operations and His Assassination. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-57292-124-5.
  24. ↑ Soyfer, Valery N. (September 2001). "The consequences of political dictatorship for Russian science". Nature Reviews Genetics. 2 (9): 723–729. doi:10.1038/35088598. ISSN 1471-0064.
  25. ↑ Times, Special to The New York (17 January 1963). "Moscow Confirms Police Killed Mikhoels, Yiddish Actor, in '48". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Shkandrij, Myroslav (1 January 2015). Ukrainian Nationalism: Politics, Ideology, and Literature, 1929-1956. Yale University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-300-20628-9.
  27. ↑ Meier, Andrew (2008). The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-393-06097-3 – via Internet Archive.
  28. ↑ "Russian Tells of Americans' Fate". The New York Times. 24 September 1992. p. A3. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Birstein, Vadim J. (10 November 2004). The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story Of Soviet Science. Basic Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8133-4280-1.
  30. ↑ Alʹbat︠s︡, Evgenii︠a︡; Albats, Yevgenia; Alʹbat{u0361}s, Evgenii{u0361}a; Al'bac, Evgenija; Albats, Evgeniia (1994). The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia--past, Present, and Future. Farrar Straus Giroux. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-374-18104-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ↑ Weber, Hermann; Weber, Gerda (2006). Leben nach dem "Prinzip links": Erinnerungen aus fünf Jahrzehnten (in German). Ch. Links Verlag. p. 217. ISBN 978-3-86153-405-1.
  32. ↑ Bubke, Hermann (2004). Der Einsatz des Stasi- und KGB-Spions Otto Freitag im München der Nachkriegszeit (in German). Kovac. p. 55. ISBN 978-3-8300-1122-4.
  33. ↑ Goldberg, Carey (24 July 1992). "KGB's True Confessions Spark Emigrants' Anger : Russia: Spy agency admits it killed former dissident. Accusations fly as documents are opened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  34. ↑ West, Nigel (6 October 2016). Spycraft Secrets: An Espionage A-Z. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6898-0.
  35. ↑ West, Nigel (7 August 2017). Encyclopedia of Political Assassinations. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 241. ISBN 979-8-216-22279-8.
  36. 1 2 3 Andrew, Christopher; Mitrokhin, Vasili (1999). The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Basic Books. p. 362, 470. ISBN 978-0-465-00312-9.
  37. ↑ Tyler, Patrick E. (30 October 1985). "Missing U.S. Agent Dead Shadrin Disappeared 10 Years Ago in Vienna". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  38. ↑ Whitney, Craig R. (2 November 1993). "Death of Soviet Defector and Spy Is Tied to Kidnapping by Moscow". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  39. ↑ "A Soviet defector who disappeared 10 years ago while... - UPI Archives". UPI. 28 October 1985. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  40. ↑ Andrew, Christopher M. (1999). The Mitrokhin Archive: the KGB and the World. Internet Archive. London : Allen Lane. pp. 507–508. ISBN 978-0-7139-9358-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  41. ↑ Braithwaite, Rodric (6 September 2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-1989. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-983265-1.
  42. ↑ Попов, Владимир (11 December 2019). "Записки бывшего подполковника КГБ: Разведчики специального назначения в Афганистане". Гордон | Gordon (in Russian). Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  43. ↑ "Nikolai Vtorov – the richest man of Russian history". Russian Personalities. 17 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016.
  44. ↑ Lynn, Denise (13 June 2019). "The Disappearance of Juliet Stuart Poyntz". Nursing Clio.
  45. ↑ Болтянская, Нателла (2 January 2010). "Заказчик убийства — Сталин (тайные убийства по команде Кремля)". Echo of Moscow (in Russian). Archived from the original on 6 January 2010.
  46. ↑ Epstein, Catherine (1 July 2009). The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and Their Century. Harvard University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-674-03654-3.
  47. ↑ "Leonid Karas". The Fight for Press Freedom. U.S. Agency for Global Media.
  48. ↑ Tărâțeanu, Vasile (2019). "Ilie Motrescu". In Simion, Eugen (ed.). Dicționarul general al literaturii române: M–O (in Romanian). Vol. 5 (2 ed.). Editura Muzeul Literaturii Române. pp. 583–584. ISBN 9786065552739.
  49. ↑ Shevelieva, Mariana (18 September 2023). "Алла Горська – вбита за любов до України". Український інтерес. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  50. ↑ Kotubei-Herutska, Olesia (14 March 2024). "Українка з вибору. Історія життя і трагічної загибелі художниці-шістдесятниці Алли Горської" [Ukraine with a choice: The story of the life and tragic killing of Sixtier artist Alla Horska]. Suspilne Kultura (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  51. ↑ "Foreign News: The Whistler". TIME. 3 May 1954. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  52. ↑ Handler, M. S. (23 April 1954). "ANOTHER RUSSIAN DEFECTS TO WEST; BARS SLAYER ROLE; Secret Police Agent Quits Rather Than Kill an Official of Refugee Organization ANOTHER RUSSIAN DEFECTS TO WEST". The New York Times. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  53. ↑ "Defector Lays Poisoning to Soviet". The New York Times. 15 October 1957. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  54. ↑ Salisbury, Daniel; Dewey, Karl (2 January 2023). "Murder on Waterloo Bridge: placing the assassination of Georgi Markov in past and present context, 1970 - 2018". Contemporary British History. 37 (1): 128–156. doi:10.1080/13619462.2022.2160707. ISSN 1361-9462.
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