Because of the quality of information he passed on, he was one of the West's most valuable double agents. When arrested, Polyakov told his Born in pre-revolutionary Russia, fluent in Russian, and keenly knowledgeable of Russian history, Kisevalters almost unique personal abilities and the circumstances of his early years eventually combined with the vagaries of the Cold War to place him at the very center of Americas national security during one of the most critical moments in world history. family (and their future) at grave risk. He knew the specifics of The importance of Kisevalters personal qualities are soundly woven into the op-erational history of these two casesPopov and Penkovskyimparting a clear realization that, without Kisevalter, these two cases might not have produced the vital intelligence that they did, leaving the reader to wonder how, and in what ways, might the world be different today had not Kisevalter been present., Copyright 2005 American Diplomacy Publishers Chapel Hill NC, Vladimir Putins Mistrust of the West Runs Deep, Public Diplomacy Challenges in Reaching Russian Audiences, Russias Cultural Heritage Can Be a Bridge to the Future, Reagan in China: Dont Say Anything about the Turkeys, Pan Am 103 and the Birth of No Double Standard, Subcontinent Adrift: Strategic Futures of South Asia, Fighting Corruption in the Arab World Should Be a U.S. MI6 told MI5, its domestic sister agency, and MI5 told Armstrong, but Armstrong kept Foots duplicity to himself. Fischer believes The Penkovsky Papers likely fueled the myth, unreservedly praising the Soviet spy in flowery language including: The extent and ingenuity of his work for the West added up to the most extraordinary intelligence feat of this century. This bit of bravado was excessive, Fischer said. The Soviets would always believe the United States was holding something back to give themselves an advantage. In 1965 his journal, "The Penkovsky Papers" was published in the United States. When his family is kidnapped, Paul Dark, the most resourceful and dangerous double-agent of the 20th century, must take action or lose the most precious people in his universe. In his new book The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, veteran espionage historian Ben MacIntyre confirms a troubling decisionor lack thereofthat some had suspected for years. 1953 and offered his services as a spy, motivated in part by anger All three were discovered. Pp. The general consensus is that if the Cuban launch sites had been completed and the missiles had reached operational status, the strategic status quo between the superpowers would have shifted in the Soviet Unions favor. Not only that, Gordievsky accompanied the news with specific information from a fat file hed examined at length in the Lubyanka, the KGBs headquarters and torture prison, leaving no doubt that Foot was a rat. The Institute of International Relations housed a small KGB station, which began looking for new recruits. Russian Lt. Col. Oleg Penkovsky, portrayed by actor Merab Ninidze in the Benjamin Cumberbatch thriller The Courier (2020), is hailed as the spy who saved the world, the Wests most valuable Cold War double agent, and the man who risked his life to stop a nuclear war between superpowers. This paper is about Oleg Penkovsky and his profound contributions to the UK and US military intelligence. Wynne later upset MI5 when he published his memoirs, The Man from Moscow and wrote the introduction to The Penkovsky Papers. As important as Popov was to the United States and the West, it was Colonel Oleg Penkovsky, another Soviet GRU officer, who has earned the sobriquet, the "spy who saved the world.'. However, there was no need to execute the plan at the time. How the traitor Oleg Penkovsky was 7 7.The Courier vs. the True Story of British Spy Greville Wynne Russian Lt. Col. Oleg Penkovsky, portrayed by actor Merab Ninidze in the Benjamin Cumberbatch thriller The Courier (2020), is hailed as 'the spy who saved the world', the West's most valuable Cold War double agent, and the man who risked his life to stop a nuclear war between superpowers. Penkovsky joined the Soviet Red Army in 1937 and served as an artillery officer in World War II . His many secrets died with him.. the Kremlin, and that those double agents provided timely According to MacIntyre: [Armstrong] did not tell Margaret Thatcher or her other top advisers; he did not tell anyone in the Civil Service, the Conservative Party, or the Labour Party. After Andropovs death, his obsession lingered in the Moscow bowels of the institution he had directed, even though, as Gordievsky also reported, no agent on the ground thought the West had any intention to strike first. Penkovsky is believed to have been executed later that year. In 1961, he offered his services to British Intelligence and used British businessman, Greville M. Wynne as his contact. What happened to their family? role was invaluable, and it was one that he played until the endin He also experienced great difculty in establishing contact with Western intelligence. Everything to know about their son and. Moving on to the family, Greville Wynne had a son named Andrew Wynne. perhaps the best known of Soviet double agents. In the end, He was made to learn the principles of communism at school. saw the Scandinavian countries as a model for Russia. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Instead, Kennedy demanded that the missiles be removed and announced the imposition of a naval blockade of Soviet ships bound for Cuban ports on October 24, 1962. Thankfully, Thatcher and the Tories won in 1983. At another - during the Russian spys first debriefing in London - Penkovsky asked his handlers to provide 29 (nonexistent) nuclear mini-bombs that he could place strategically around Moscow to decapitate the Soviet political leadership and high command. Sorry! While Oleg was tried and executed by the Soviets, they sentenced Wynne to eight years in prison. This denial led to a downtrodden state of the soul, a state of being that Gordievsky terms Homo sovieticus in his memoir. Greville Wynne was released in exchange for Gordon Lonsdale in April 1964. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/oleg-gordievsky-45102.php, 20th Century Film & Theater Personalities, 21st Century Film & Theater Personalities, 20th Century British Film & Theater Personalities, 21st Century British Film & Theater Personalities. His words came true: he was tried, convicted, and executed, all in the GRU Colonel Oleg Penkovsky was also recruited by British intelligence in the 60-ies in the USSR for many years was considered a symbol of betrayal, such serious damage he . Oleg Penkovsky. Nobody informed Thatcher. Gordievsky was also essential in the development of Thatcher and Reagans understanding of the Soviet mentality toward nuclear weapons. In one of those critical, and fortuitous, coincidences of history, this intelligence became available to President Kennedy just as Premier Khrushchev was moving intermediate range missiles into Cuba. It includes dead drops, car chases, and even radioactive dust sprinkled on shoes. At the height of the miners strike in 198485, Gordievsky learned that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had contacted Moscow to request financial support. How close did he get to the nuclear secrets? Where we were weak is we didn't know how strong or what their strengths and weaknesses were and these are the gaps in our information that Penkovsky was able to fill. or inadvertent disclosure by an erratic President not known for his In October 1962, the world was suspended on the brink of nuclear war. cronies dying under mysterious circumstances) Unfortunately Gordievskys previously happy family was yet another victim of Cold War espionage and communism. The most fraught period of the Cold War was 16 months during 1961-1962, first with the Berlin Missile Crisis and then the Cuban Missile Crisis. HANDLER OF THE SPY WHO SAVED THE WORLD He was placed on the Penkovskys 1963 trial focused on his weak character and vanity. Gordievsky was posted in London as the Deputy Chief of the KGB at the embassy. Cumberbatch and Ninidze do a very good job conveying their newfound bond, which helps the viewer swallow the unbelievable decision that sets the second half of the film in motion. six years; Penkovsky, only two). Also Known As: Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky, Notable Alumni: Moscow State Institute Of International Relations, education: Moscow State Institute Of International Relations, See the events in life of Oleg Gordievsky in Chronological Order, (Former Colonel of the KGB and Bureau Chief in London), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%9C.%D0%A2%D1%8D%D1%82%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%B5%D1%82_%D0%9E.%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE.jpg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBNz0c-D9F8&app=desktop, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gordievsky.png, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reagan%E2%80%99s_meeting_with_Oleg_Gordievsky_in_the_Oval_Office_(04).jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reagan%E2%80%99s_meeting_with_Oleg_Gordievsky_in_the_Oval_Office_(15).jpg. Oleg and Greville grow to like and respect each other, and they eventually meet each other's wives and kids. If The ERA Is So Great For Women, Why Would It Hurt Moms The Most? Penkovsky and Greville smuggled more than 5000 top-secret military documents out of the USSR. In Spies Gordievsky was called back to Moscow in 1985. Hed been working for MI6 for years at that point. The Cuban Missile Crisis was high-stakes brinkmanship played out between US President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, bringing Washington and Moscow to the precipice of nuclear war in October 1962. 0 cemeteries found in Moscow, Moscow Federal City, Russia. But his leaked information on Soviet missile capabilities and played a key role in President Kennedy's . He at least helped to end its slavery to Marxism, if not to KGB thug rule. The truth is more interesting, if less fraught. Wynne left The Ivy restaurant in Seven Dials that day probably wondering what he'd let himself in for. Try again. his own sense of duty and an old-fashioned patriotism. In the West he is hailed as "the spy who saved the world". The U.S. Left Has Become So Authoritarian, Even This North Korean Refugee Is Concerned, Biden And His D.C. Buddies Could Learn A Little Something From The Jeffersonians. He was fascinated by subjects such as language and history, since a young age. IN their own highly bizarre fashion, these two books represent what seems to be the first public encounter, via the literary confrontation of its agents, between the Soviet KGB and the Ameri- can CIA: the British, as spies and the spied-upon, occupy a hazy middle ground. Oops, something didn't work. He enrolled at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations at age 17. You can always change this later in your Account settings. felt compelled to continue spying, even as he knew it placed his During the Berlin Crisis of 61, for example, Fischer said the Russian spy fanned the flames with false reports of the Kremlins mobilization for war. had few illusions about how his countrymen would view him, even those Gordievsky learned that Foot had been paid large sums by the KGB in the 1960s, most of which he used to fund the Democratic Socialist magazine Tribune. Unlock premium content, ad-free browsing, and access to comments for just $4/month. This was the time when a mass exodus from East to West Berlin was taking place and the infamous Berlin wall was getting built. In the long term SDI will ruin the Soviet leadership.. ). who welcomed the fall of the regime. Vladimir Putins inner circle who reject his strongman approach and Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky born 23 April 1919 died 16 May 1963, USSR codenamed HERO, was a colonel with Soviet military intelligence (GRU) during the late . It's FREEso share &compare with friends now! betrayed numerous Western agents. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. James Woolsey of the CIA later noted: Over the next few years, he passed on information from within the KGB to the West, keeping a cautious but consistent contact with his handlers at the MI6.. Olegs personal life was a romantic thriller of sorts. solution. Year should not be greater than current year. family. Foots traitorous complicity with Moscow was revealed in the mid-1990s, when Gordievsky published his highly readable memoir, Next Stop Execution. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. But what, exactly, did Penkovsky have? Both of them had high aspirations in life. His doubts began when Russian tanks crushed the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, and grew stronger the more contact he had with the West. In 1955 Penkovsky was appointed military attach in Ankara. In the midst of the Cold War, a top-ranking Soviet officer named Oleg Penkovsky feared that the risk of nuclear war was too great, and decided to share some of the most closely held secrets of the Soviet arsenal with the West. Gordievsky was stuck at a desk job in Moscow, and she wanted to escape the mundane life she was living in a small house with her parents and five siblings. Hes also an award-winning short story writer. This is the fact that in 1983 the man overseeing both British spy services MI6 and MI5, head of British Civil Service Robert Armstrong, knew that Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers main opponent in the upcoming election was a KGB agent and did not tell her. State Institute of International Relations housed a small KGB station, which began for. 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