CIA documents: Agency monitored Soviet forces buildup ahead of ‘68 invasion of Czechoslovakia

CIA monitored Soviet forces before ‘Prague Spring’

AUSTIN, Texas — Newly released documents show the CIA closely watched the massive buildup of Soviet forces before the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and warned President Lyndon Johnson that military action could happen.

The previously classified documents were released Friday during a symposium at the LBJ presidential library. They include an Aug. 2, 1968 memo that said Moscow had built a large invasion force in about two weeks’ time.

The Soviets called the movements military exercises, but rolled into Czechoslovakia 18 days later.

Peter Nyren of the CIA’s historical collections division says the memo shows that although the agency may not have known the exact day of a planned invasion, it was telling the president about an unprecedented buildup of forces.