KVI

The KVI (the initials stood for "the Committee for Extraterrestrial Research") was a Russian/Soviet organisation, set up to study alien activities.

According to Ivan Putin's account, it was set up by Tsar Alexander, a contemporary of Queen Victoria, after he learned of the establishment of the Torchwood Institute. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive) According to another account, it was established later, after the Tunguska Event of 1908 after the reign of Alexander had already ended and did not yet have its later name. (PROSE: Trace Memory)

Following the change in government, this organisation was remade into the KVI in the 1920s.

In 1927, a Vondraxian orb was found in Siberia. At some point, someone was exposed to the tachyons inside. The KVI tried to harvest the tachyons, but after the person died, the tachyons were lost. After this, the KVI started studying the history of the Vondraxian Orbs.

By 1967, Kenneth Valentine had defected from Torchwood Institute and had started to help the KVI. They set up a hidden base in Wales. In 1967, Hugo Faulkner had contacted them about Jack Harkness' immortality, so the KVI kidnapped him and Michael Bellini (who happened to be with him at the time). Though they planned to have them both brought to Russia for study, the Vondrax attacked, killing much of the personel and allowing Jack and Michael to escape. The survivors were later arrested by Torchwood. (PROSE: Trace Memory)

Behind the scenes
While not spelled out, the Russian name is most likely Комитет внеземных исследований – Komitet Vnezemnykh Issledovaniy.