Aleksandr Golubev

Aleksandr Titovich Golubev (; 9 February 1936 – 8 February 2020) was a Soviet and later Russian intelligence officer who held a number of posts in the KGB and the Foreign Intelligence Service, reaching the rank of lieutenant general.

Born into a peasant family in the Byelorussian SFSR, Golubev grew up during the war years, and spent his early career in the navy, and combining working as a machinist with political activity with the Komsomol. He joined the KGB in 1959 and studied English and Persian, graduating from domestic intelligence work to foreign intelligence as part of the First Chief Directorate. Golubev developed particular expertise in Afghani affairs, and had a role in planning and then carrying out Operation Storm-333, the overthrow of incumbent Afghan president Hafizullah Amin in 1979. As part of the operation Golubev commanded a detachment of Spetsnaz troops during the military assault on Amin's headquarters at the Tajbeg Palace. He then served for a time as KGB resident in Istanbul, before rising through several posts in the KGB's command prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Golubev continued to work in the security services of the Russian Federation, serving as a head of department of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and a senior consultant to the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He retired with the rank of general-lieutenant in 2001, and was head of the Council of Veterans of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation for a number of years. He died in 2020, having received numerous awards and honours over his career in intelligence.

Early life and service Golubev was born into a peasant family on 9 February 1936, in the village of Pakhomlevichi, Lepiel District, in Vitebsk Region, then part of the Byelorussian SFSR, in the Soviet Union. He then worked as a milling machine operator at a tractor factory in Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetia, and was elected to the city's Komsomol committee. Golubev commanded the group during the military assault on Amin's headquarters at the Tajbeg Palace.

Retirement Golubev retired with the rank of general-lieutenant in 2001.

Over his career he had received the Order of Military Merit, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Badge of Honour, as well as medals from the Soviet Union, Russia and Afghanistan, in addition to the badges of , and "For Service in Intelligence".