English spy Oleg Gordievsky

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The name of this man was often heard in the media in the first half of the nineties. Moreover, the attitude towards him was very ambiguous. For some Oleg Gordievsky was a hero, for others a traitor. Nowadays, it has been forgotten. Let's try to remember about this extraordinary figure.

Facts of the biography of the former intelligence officer

Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky, whose biography has become the subject of close study of several leading intelligence agencies of the world, was born on October 10, 1938 in Moscow in the family of an NKVD officer. This circumstance largely predetermined for him the choice of a life path. After graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1962, Oleg Gordievsky began serving in the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. For several years, under diplomatic cover, he worked in a number of Western European countries for intelligence of the Soviet Union.

Up to a certain point, the career was developing quite well. But at this stage, his unremarkable Soviet biography ends. Oleg Gordievsky today would not be interesting to anyone if he had not made a sharp turn in his fate. However, this remained a mystery to everyone until 1985.year.

Turn

In early 1969, an employee of the consular department of the Soviet embassy in Denmark, Oleg Gordievsky, on his own initiative, contacted the British intelligence services in Copenhagen and offered them his services. His proposal was accepted. From this moment, the Soviet part of his biography ends. Oleg Gordievsky returned to Moscow as an English spy.

And the more successfully his service career continued to develop, the more valuable he was for British intelligence.

Motivation

Oleg Gordievsky himself assures that the revolution in his mind occurred back in 1956 after he read N. S. Khrushchev at the 20th Congress on Stalin's crimes. And the final decision to work against the ruling political regime in the Soviet Union was made after the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968, when the events of the Prague Spring took place.

The former Soviet intelligence officer categorically denies any selfish motives for his act. Which, however, did not prevent him from regularly receiving a salary to a bank account from British intelligence for many years.

Failure and escape

Outwardly, everything was quite well. Oleg Gordievsky returned to Copenhagen to his former position with a promotion. In the early seventies, he served in Moscow in the central apparatus of the intelligence department. After that, under diplomatic cover, he was appointed to the Sovietresidency in London, which he later headed. Nevertheless, under the pretext of being appointed to a senior position in the KGB of the USSR, he was recalled to Moscow. In the capital, Oleg Gordievsky realized that he had been exposed and was under surveillance. The expectation of an imminent arrest pushes him to a desperate step.

With great difficulty, the exposed spy manages to contact his resident in Moscow. It is believed that it is difficult to escape from the Soviet Union, he Oleg Gordievsky was able to do it. He left the country across the Finnish border in the trunk of a car that belonged to the British Embassy. Diplomatic plates allow you to cross the border without inspection.

Consequences

The escape of a failed spy caused a fair amount of resonance in the diplomatic environment and in the Western media. For some time, Oleg Gordievsky was in the center of great attention to his person. He was not going to keep his mouth shut, so with great pleasure he handed over all intelligence information to the British intelligence services. This led to resignations, revelations and criminal cases against a number of prominent British figures who collaborated with Soviet intelligence. In the fall of 1985, on the basis of information from Oleg Gordievsky, 31 employees of the Soviet embassy were expelled from the British capital. As it is customary to formulate in the press, "for activities incompatible with diplomatic status." As a symmetrical response, only 25 employees were expelled from Moscow, apparently not necessary for even counting the number of spies in the embassy.found. It was the largest exchange of its kind in the history of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the states of Western Europe.

Of course, the betrayal of the former Soviet intelligence officer did not go unnoticed in his homeland. For high treason, Oleg Gordievsky was sentenced to capital punishment - execution by firing squad with confiscation of property. Of course, in absentia. Subsequently, the confiscation of property at the request of the spy's wife was cancelled. The defector's family, wife and two daughters, were only able to reunite with him in September 1991. Currently, Oleg Gordievsky lives in London, leads an active social life, is accepted at the highest level.

Memoir book by Oleg Gordievsky

Retired defectors and spies often write memoirs of their life filled with adventure and danger. There is always a certain demand for such literature. Oleg Gordievsky was no exception. "Next stop - execution" - that was the title of his book, published in London. It tells in detail about the methods of work of the Chekists inside the country and far beyond its borders. It cannot be said that this book became a bestseller, but it enjoyed some success. It was translated into foreign languages and even came out in Russia.