The article discusses the phenomenon of conspiratorial thinking as an element of the ideological worldview among the political elites of the late Soviet Union and contemporary Russia. Noting significant differences and shifts, it stresses the continuity of certain patterns in the way conspiracy theories have been shaping the worldview and the decision‑making of Soviet and Russian leadership. The article provides a theoretical background for the discussed concepts and contextualizes them for the specific circumstances of the Soviet/Russian political environment. It contributes historical background to the discussion mostly dominated by political scientists and introduces the Cold War as one of the principal origins of conspiratorial thinking in contemporary Russian political elites. The article also specifically addresses one of the conspiratorial themes that can be clearly traced as a Cold War legacy in contemporary Russian policymaking: the one on subversive activities of “the West” tied to violent regime changes in Soviet/ Russian allied/client states.