What did the declassified documents reveal?

Cold open. This is a declassified diplomatic cable titled twelve November nineteen forty-four, identified as “12nov work KGB agents.” It originated from the United States diplomatic service in New York and was addressed to Moscow. The document is notable because it reveals operational details concerning Soviet intelligence assets and the handling of a liaison operative named ART during the later stages of the Second World War. The source is archived at the Black Vault, accessible via the URL https://archive.org/download/12novworkkgbagents/12novworkkgbagentsdjvu.txt. Provenance. The cable was released to the public through the Black Vault’s digital archive. The entry does not list a specific Freedom of Information Act case number, and the release date is not recorded in the metadata. The declassification authority is indicated as the United States government, with the material made available for public consumption by the Black Vault team. The canonical reference for this document is the same URL as the archive entry. The document. Reissue (T3Q5) From NEW YORK To: MOSCOW No: 1592 twelve November nineteen forty-four To VIKTOR I. Your number five one nine one four. One. The handing over of ART [ i 1 ] for liaison to YuLIYa [ i i i ? ] will be delayed for a minimum of a month or a month and a half since ART together with her sick son is in another town where the son is to undergo a serious operation. As this period is the maximum for LYuSYali‑vj, should ART be absent for a more prolonged period we shall be compelled temporarily to put YuLIYa or ARTEM [ v j ] in direct liaison with EL’ZAfviJ. At the moment we are checking to see whether there is physical surveillance on YuLIYa and ARTEM (only if there is none as yet, ARTEM [1 group garbled] that he is being followed, but checking does not yet beat out what he says). Two, BERGlviil has been given the task of making an immediate start on the search for an apartment. Ho, nine three Your number five one seven one one eight one. Telegraph costra’s [ v i i i j ] address as it has not been kept at our end. “WN‑32” [ i x j ] has been put into cold storage [ ZAKQNSEKVIROVAMI ]. Mo, nine four IftVlIWlW Motes: [ a ] tbl Comments t [ i ! [ i i l ] Lliil fivj | v j [ v i l f v i i ] t v i i i [ i x ] t. One not available. I, YuLIYa. VIKTOR I. Lieutenant General F. M., FITIN. ART: Probably Helen KORAL. YuLIYa: i e JULIA, OLga Valentinovna KhLOFKOVA. LYuSYa: Olimpiada Grigor’evna TRONOVA, ARTEM: Unidentified cover name. EL ’ 2 A: i e ELSA, Helen’ LOWRY, wife of Iskhak Abdulovich AKhMEROV. 3 EPG: Unidentified cover name. COSTRA: Presumably Louis COSTRA, whose address given in NEW YORK’s number one zero five one of second July nineteen forty‑three (three slash M B F slash T one two six six one). hn‑32; unidentified cover name. AYI Stepan Zakharovich AFRESYaN, Soviet i i rm HFW VOTf

Why was this case declassified?

This material was released by the National Security Agency (NSA) through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

12nov Work KGB Agents

◆ BLUF — The short version

Cold open. ” It originated from the United States diplomatic service in New York and was addressed to Moscow. The document is notable because it reveals operational details concerning Soviet intelligence assets and the handling of a liaison operative named ART during the later stages of the Second World War.

Agency: National Security Agency (NSA)
Date: JUL 18 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

↯ Dispatch — press play3:09

0:003:09

↯ Share

X in r/

Episode notes

Cold open. This is a declassified diplomatic cable titled twelve November nineteen forty-four, identified as “12nov work KGB agents.” It originated from the United States diplomatic service in New York and was addressed to Moscow. The document is notable because it reveals operational details…

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was 12nov Work KGB Agents about?: Cold open. ” It originated from the United States diplomatic service in New York and was addressed to Moscow. The document is notable because it reveals operational details concerning Soviet intelligence assets and the handling of a liaison operative named ART during the later stages of the Second World War.
Why was this case declassified?: This material was released by the National Security Agency (NSA) through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked in the case notes above so the citation chain is fully auditable.

cold-war

Related cases

NSA

More from NSA

✉ Dispatches

A short dispatch when a new file is released — narrated, answer-first, and linked straight to the primary source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

↯ Subscribe to the feed

RSS feed Browse all cases

12nov Work KGB Agents

Questions about this case

Related cases

CIA The Soviet Role In The Korean War

Central Intelligence Agency Record, A "current Intelligence Review"

CIA Relative Influence Of The Soviet Union And Communist China In North Korea

FBI This Declassified Briefing Concerns United States Intelligence On Soviet

Today, We Are Reading A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record

More from NSA

27apr Messages

27dec Press Reports

19dec Psalm Reader

13may Personnel

6mar Oswald

Questions about this case

Related cases

CIA The Soviet Role In The Korean War

Central Intelligence Agency Record, A "current Intelligence Review"

CIA Relative Influence Of The Soviet Union And Communist China In North Korea

FBI This Declassified Briefing Concerns United States Intelligence On Soviet

Today, We Are Reading A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record

More from NSA

27apr Messages

27dec Press Reports

19dec Psalm Reader

13may Personnel

6mar Oswald

Get the next declassified case in your inbox