KGB Espionage Museum

The KGB Espionage Museum was an intelligence museum in Chelsea, Manhattan, displaying approximately 3,900 original espionage devices. The collection included surveillance cameras, recording equipment, cipher machines, and communication tools from Soviet intelligence agencies.

The museum opened in 2019, displaying artifacts that originally came from a former KGB bunker in Lithuania. The collection documented decades of Soviet surveillance and intelligence operations during the Cold War era.

The collection revealed how Cold War espionage shaped everyday intelligence work and what Soviet agents actually used in the field. Visitors could experience the methods and tools that defined secret operations during this tense period.

The museum was housed in a compact space in Chelsea and was best explored with guided tours that focused on Soviet intelligence operations. Visitors needed time to study the detailed exhibits and period reconstructions throughout the venue.

The museum housed the Fialka Machine, the Soviet equivalent to the Enigma cipher device, alongside unusual weapons like a lipstick pistol known as the Kiss of Death. These rare items came directly from Soviet intelligence services and were virtually unknown to most visitors.