Imagine Russian spies sabotaging Hoover Dam or poisoning Southern Nevada's water supply. It might sound like something out of a James Bond movie, but it was all part of a Moscow plot to throw Southern Nevada into a panic.

The information comes from a man who was Russia's top spy for many years, a general in the KGB. His name is Oleg Kalugin.

During the darkest days of the Cold War -- when the missiles of the superpowers were poised for launch, when the world teetered on the edge of the abyss -- it was the job of Russian spies to find less destructive ways for communism to prevail.

"The eventual aim of destroying Western societies, not through nuclear confrontation, but through subversion. We had hundreds of spies," said Major Gen. Oleg Kalugin.

Kalugin knows about subversion. As the long-time chief of foreign counterintelligence for the dreaded KGB, he supervised a world-wide web of intrigue, espionage and dirty tricks. Kalugin first came to the United States in the late 1950s as a foreign exchange student, then later as a correspondent for Radio Moscow, and finally as a full-fledged intelligence agent working in Washington.

He was the embodiment of what Americans feared as the Commie menace.

"I volunteered to be a KGB member to contribute to the victory of communism. I was a dedicated communist," said Kalugin, who now lives in the U.S. and does contract work for the federal government.

Kalugin recently spoke to Las Vegas Department of Energy employees about the continuing spy threat from his former country. Although his primary job was to recruit spies and gather intelligence, he was taught intricate details of the KGB's top secret plans to disrupt and sabotage the U.S. in the event that hostilities seemed imminent.

"We had contingency plans with the ultimate goal of blowing up power grids or poisoning water supplies. Before you fire a missile at Russia, your power supplies would be blown up; your water poisoned. It would create a major panic," he said.

Kalugin was only in Nevada once while working for the KGB. He says there is no doubt Nevada would have been a prime target during the Cold War, and that this state was the subject of intense espionage activity.

"Nevada was one of the crucial states for the country, the dam, testing sites, Department of Energy facilities at that time, absolutely a priority," Kalugin said.

Hoover Dam would have been a prime target for sabotage, he says, as well as the power lines coming out of the dam. The Las Vegas water supply would have been poisoned; Nellis would have been disrupted; DOE facilities -- including the Test Site -- would have been targeted.

He declined to answer whether Area 51 would have made the list. Certainly during the Cold War, Las Vegas teemed with Russian spooks.

"Some of the areas specially protected by the U.S. government at the time, Soviet intelligence, military intelligence was actively involved in exploring the local areas," Kalugin said.

During his spy career, Kalugin says he was routinely followed by the FBI, which made it all the more necessary to recruit others to do some of his leg work. Las Vegas, with all of its temptations, was a perfect place to find people who might do Russia's bidding, and it still is -- one reason the DOE brought Kalugin in to speak to its employees.

"I would get to know vulnerabilities, weaknesses, the buttons you could push," said Doug Newson with the DOE. "If I could see you pulling on those slots, dice, drinking, various problems you have, it would be a super location for people to target."

Oleg Kalugin, the one-time head of counterintelligence for the Russian KGB, told Eyewitness News that it was no problem to find Americans who were willing to sell out. And, he adds, Las Vegas is a great place to recruit spies.

Political liberals aren't going to like what Kalugin has to say. Kalugin supervised hundreds of spies while working for the KGB, and he spent much of his time trying to recruit Americans to help the Russians, including some famous names. Persons with left-leaning politics were always targeted first, he said, and Nevada is a great place for targeting future recruits.

Nikita Kruschev's vow that "we will bury you" was no idle boast. The Russians believed they would triumph, if not through force of arms, then through any means necessary.

"We thought we could achieve this through education and also the spread of the gospel of communism, that we shall triumph because the ideas we propagated were simply invincible," Kalugin said.

Kalugin's enthusiasm for the Communist Manifesto propelled him at a young age to the pinnacle of Soviet power. He became a major general in the KGB, chief of foreign counterintelligence, and master of a sinister cabal of spies and saboteurs.

"I specialized in active measures, disinformation, deception and recruitment," he said.

But how do you find people who might be willing to sell out their country? Kalugin says it was easy, especially during the turbulent '60s and '70s, when so many young people were disillusioned with the government.

"If you impress a person with your own convictions and he is soft, a liberal or left wing, you may get him involved," Kalugin said. "Espionage will come later on; you first establish a bond of friendship."

Remember the suspicion among conservatives during the Vietnam conflict that the anti-war movement was aligned with communists? Kalugin says it was true, that the KGB thoroughly infiltrated peace groups, funded peace organizations, even published peacenik magazines.

"We found dozens who hated the U.S. and would do any damage to the U.S. in protest of the slaughter of Vietnamese," Kalugin said.

Celebrities, even Nobel laureates, signed up as unwitting partners of KGB-sponsored organizations. Many in Hollywood promoted the KGB agenda, knowingly or not. "People in the arts for propaganda, not for espionage," Kalugin said.

Jane Fonda was a perfect example. She was a leftist and a pacifist.

"We would always use names to corroborate Russian propaganda," Kalugin said. "This great woman is now on our side. Whether she was didn't matter."

The civil rights movement provided more fertile ground. Although the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover operated under the assumption that Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, Kalugin says it wasn't true, but he says KGB did back some of King's jealous rivals in the movement.

"Some of our assets in civil rights wanted to tarnish King's reputation so they could take over themselves," he said.

The environmental movement was also targeted for KGB infiltration, he says, with the simple message that the best way to preserve nature was to work against the system that would exploit it for profits.

And the anti-nuclear protesters who've been a fixture at the Nevada Test Site for 20 years or more? "These people would be targeted," Kalugin said. "All those who protested government action."

Kalugin says he recruited dozens of big-time journalists as well as members of Congress. Among his most valuable spies was John Walker, who sold vital Navy secrets to the Russians for 18 years.

Kalugin knows details about FBI agent Robert Hanssen's case but would not reveal them just yet. And he shed light on an enduring debate, saying there is no question that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were, in fact, Russian spies.

But it wasn't only leftists who became KGB assets. Kalugin says the rule was -- and is -- to look for people on the extremes.

"The worst anti-American element in recent history is Timothy McVeigh," Kalugin said. "Because of his hatred of the U.S. government, 168 lives were lost. Is he alone? No."

To clarify, the general was not saying that McVeigh had ever worked with the Russians, but was using him as an example of someone on the fringes who might have been targeted for recruitment.

Kalugin says the new regime in Russia is not to be trusted, and that Americans must be on their guard.

One of the top Soviet spies of the Cold War says Americans shouldn't get too comfortable with the new Russia. As Oleg Kalugin reminds us, Russian President Vladimir Putin is a former KGB agent.

Putin's former KGB boss was in Las Vegas recently to lecture Department of Energy workers about the dangers of modern espionage. He offered a scary assessment of the new Russia: "I'm amazed at anti-Americanism, how strong it is in Russia."

The grim assessment by former KGB Major Gen. Kalugin is at odds with the friendly face placed on U.S.-Russian relations by politicians. It was Kalugin's job to direct an army of KGB spies stationed all over the world.

Nevada was always a prime target of espionage, he says, and the KGB had intense subversion plans for this area, including the sabotage of Hoover Dam and the poisoning of the water supply. While subversion is no longer on the front burner for the Russians, the general says, the new Russian president seems to long for the good old days.

"Mr. Putin's heart and soul belong to the soviet system," Kalugin said. "He admires Stalin."

And Kalugin should know: Russian president Vladimir Putin worked under Kalugin at the KGB.

Putin openly admires and even publicly toasts mass murderer Josef Stalin, according to Kalugin. "Can you imagine in Germany today a political leader drinking to Adolf Hitler?" he asked.

Putin, he says, still has a spy's attitude about how to best deal with adversaries. "Vodka, blackmail, and a threat to kill," Kalugin said. Isn't that nice for the president of a big country to say?"

Even though the KGB no longer exists, its successor still spreads fear -- not only internationally, but at home in Russia. When this reporter visited Russia twice in the '90s, most average citizens told us they simply assume they are always being watched. With Putin in charge, that paranoia is reinforced.

In the U.S. and elsewhere, Russia's already huge spy network now operates with powerful new allies: mobsters.

"Russian criminal elements are now omnipotent," Kalugin said. "They are everywhere. Russian security services may use criminals to settle scores with those they find inconvenient."

Local lawmen confirm there is already a strong Russian mob presence here, and Kalugin warns that as long as Southern Nevada is home to important defense installations, spies will always be here.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there are some very interested in ferreting out information related to defense," he said. "Nevada is one of the crucial states."