Colonel-General Sergei Lebedev became director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, on May 20, 2000. He graduated in 1970 from the Chernihiv branch of Kiev's Polytechnical Institute. A 1978 graduate (cum laude) of the Diplomatic Academy of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Lebedev speaks German and English.
Career
Before intelligence work, Lebedev served in the Army during 1971-72. He began his career in 1975 when he joined the KGB in 1973. He began duties in the First Chief Directorate (foreign intelligence) in 1975.