KGB, Security Service of the Soviet Union, USSR T-Shirt

KGB (КГБ) is the commonly used acronym for the Russian: Комитет государственной безопасности​ (help·info) (Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Committee for State Security). It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organisation during that time. The KGB has been considered a military service and was governed by army laws and regulations, similar to the Soviet Army or MVD Internal Troops. While most of the KGB archives remain classified, two on-line documentary sources are available. Since breaking away from Georgia de facto in the early 1990s with Russian help, South Ossetia established its own KGB (keeping this unreformed name). The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus also uses the acronym KGB.