Mitrokhin archive names Norwegian KGB agents

A list of Norwegians allegedly recruited by the KGB has been published by Dagbladet, drawing from the Mitrokhin archive, a collection of Soviet intelligence documents smuggled to British authorities by a defector.

The archive identifies several high-profile figures, including government ministers, diplomats, and business leaders, as well as a cleaning assistant, who were reportedly pressured or enticed into cooperation with the KGB.

Among them is Gunnar Bøe, a former wages and prices minister (1959–1962) and personal secretary to Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen. According to the documents, Bøe was recruited in 1959 after financial difficulties arose from property purchases. He allegedly provided original NATO documents and recorded verbal intelligence, including details on U.S. decryption of Soviet military communications, in exchange for payments ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 Norwegian kroner.

Another case involves a senior diplomat, codenamed “Oscar,” who was reportedly blackmailed due to his sexuality in the 1950s. He later supplied the KGB with over a thousand pages of classified NATO and foreign ministry documents, receiving gifts such as icons in return. Though he attempted to withdraw in the 1970s, the KGB maintained pressure, and he remained in their network until at least 1971.

Other named individuals include a director (codenamed “Nik”) who provided technical research intelligence in the 1970s, and a ship designer (“Frog”) whose collaboration ended in 1980.

The Mitrokhin archive, named after KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, was opened to researchers earlier this month. Dagbladet accessed the documents in collaboration with historian Johannes Due Enstad at Cambridge’s Churchill College.