Leila, his second wife, was a typist and was completely different from his first wife. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side. He left them on the swings, went behind the hedge and dropped a brick with the notes, wrapped in a plastic bag., But, of course, Gordievsky had told the British too. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. One morning its local head of station approached him while he was playing badminton at a suburban sports club. The wife and daughters of Oleg Gordievsky arrived today in London to be reunited with him six years after he quit the K.G.B. Luke Hardings Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House is published by Guardian Faber. But he has interviewed all of the former officers involved in the case, who tell their stories for the first time. A refresher memo was concealed in an OUP edition of Shakespeares sonnets. Hes estranged from his children. After another failed attempt from the Danes, it was time for him to return home, to a more repressive and psychotic Russia, in 1970. Foot fiercely challenged the story and won a famous libel victory against the newspaper. Summoned back to Moscow, he survived a KGB interrogation, despite being drugged. He took up cross-country running during his university days. Menu. Gordievsky managed to escape in July 1985, while his wife and children were on a vacation. Oleg Gordievsky, the most prominent Soviet agent to defect to Britain during the Cold War, personally pleaded with Margaret Thatcher to help secure the release of his family from Moscow. But they all returned to Moscow after he was recalled by the KGB, with his family told Gordievsky had suffered a heart problem. [9][2] MI6 subsequently made contact with Gordievsky, and began running him as a double agent in 1974. Gordievsky was featured in the PBS documentary Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy. Valerie Pettit (right) may have seemed to her neighbours in the village of West Clandon, Surrey, as an ordinary churchgoing elderly woman, but with her death came revelations of her central role in organising the 1985 escape of Russian spyOleg Gordievsky (left). 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[29] He accused MI6 of forcing Special Branch to drop its early investigations into his allegations;[29] according to him, the investigation was only reopened due to the intervention of former MI5 Director General Eliza Manningham-Buller. You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period. Joseph Curtis For Mailonline Oleg's first wife. [2] In 1974 he agreed to pass secrets to MI6, a step he viewed as "nothing less than undermining the Soviet system". He was suspected of espionage for a foreign power, but his superiors stalled on taking any overt further action against him. This was after Stalins death and during the brief period of relaxation Russia witnessed. Pettit (second right) stood next toGordievsky (left) as they stopped for a photograph on their way through Finland during the daring escape, Russian spy Gordievsky, widely acknowledged to be the most valuable secret service mole at the heart of the KGB, with his ex-wife Mrs Leyla Gordievsky. Stalins Russia did not offer a normal childhood to Gordievsky or his elder brother, Vasili. Gordievsky remains a passionate Anglophile, subscribing to The Spectator and penning articles for the Literary Review. [8], Following his exfiltration from the USSR to the UK in 1985, he became of even greater use to the West, in that the information he disclosed (and had previously disclosed) could be immediately acted upon and shared without endangering his life, identity, or position. To order a copy for 21.50 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Born in 1929 near the Lord's Cricket ground she was the eldest daughter of Charles Pettit, a solicitor who was badly wounded in the Second World War, and Valerie Douglas, a Scottish dancer. Edit. When a 90-year-old retired Foreign Office secretary died recently the secrets of her Cold War past could finally be revealed. Pettit was the architect of Operation Pimlico, an operation that smuggled KGB colonel Oleg Gordievsky out of Moscow when he was betrayed by a disgruntled CIA officer in May 1985, The Times reported. Actually, Gordievsky had already decided to switch sides a betrayal Macintyre calls whole-souled and righteous. [2] After his arrival, he was taken to a KGB safe house outside Moscow, drugged, and interrogated. [5] His second posting to Denmark ended in 1978, and he was recalled to Moscow this time for a lengthy period because he quickly divorced his wife and married a woman he had been having an affair with, and the KGB frowned upon affairs and divorces as immoral. Hes paid an enormous cost. The cash went to fund the magazine Tribune. There were close shaves, including an approach to the Soviet embassy by Michael Bettaney, a renegade MI5 loner. 894646. The marriage was in deep trouble anyway its frailty even more exposed when Gordievsky fell in love with Leila Aliyeva, a Russian-born typist for the World Health Organisation in Copenhagen. After Gordievskys brother died on duty, his request to leave Moscow was accepted in 1972, and he was sent to Denmark again, this time as the Second Secretary at the Russian embassy in Copenhagen. IMDbPro. Mr Gordievsky, who became the highest-ranking Soviet spy to defect to the West, escaped to Britain in 1985. The Skripal case gave this story an immediacy that I had not anticipated. The remnants of the KGB are still really angry about Gordievsky. There was great suspicion that a high-ranking American CIA officer, Aldrich Ames, who had been selling secrets to the KGB, reported Gordievsky's treachery to Soviet counterintelligence. Oleg Gordievsky was the most significant British agent of the cold war. The daughter of a Russian. After his short test in Berlin, Gordievsky was sent to the KGB covert training centre called School 101, deep into the woods in North Moscow, along with 120 other trainees. Macintrye had no access to MI6s archives, which remain secret. Leila and the girls were called back to Moscow, unaware he was a double agent. Covert surveillance photographs of Gordievsky taken by the Danish intelligence service PET during his postings to Copenhagen. Upon his arrival in Moscow, he was sure that he was under surveillance and his house was bugged. One of his great pleasures, he says, is feeding the foxes who visit his garden. Gordievsky has told the story of his own improbable survival in a gripping 1995 memoir, Next Stop Execution. As soon as he arrived he realised he had been rumbled. For an extraordinary period he was briefing British and Soviet spies and Margaret Thatcher, who referred to him as Mr Collins. Gordievsky would go on to meet his British handlers once a month; he didnt want money and said he was spying out of ideological conviction. Ive known for some time that I am on the assassination list drawn up by elements in Moscow, he said at the time. the countries of your choice. The books most contentious section concerns Michael Foot whom, Macintyre writes, the KGB cultivated for two decades. Stalin: General secretary of the communist party. There has been only one sinister episode during this gilded life in the stockbroker belt. In the meantime, he had learned English and closely studied the KGBs British files. cookies Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. A lot of what spies do doesnt amount to a hill of beans. They were married before his first foreign posting in Denmark. [2], Unbeknownst to him, Gordievsky had been betrayed in early May (or early June 1985 at the latest) by CIA officer Aldrich Ames. (modern). False identities are being created all the time online, but at the end it does still come down to two people looking each other in the eye and saying, OK, I trust you.. He told his wife Yelena nothing of what he was up to. Hes not gathering intelligence. MI6 was waiting. Gordievsky was almost discovered at a checkpoint after sniffer dogs were used to inspect the vehicles, only for the diplomats wives to put off the hounds with the distinctive smells of a bag of cheese and onion crisps and a babys soiled nappy. Like Oleg, Leila came from KGB stock: her father, Ali, had risen to the rank of major in the KGB, before retiring to Moscow. Telemann : One of the composers. Check if your [18] She and their children were on holiday in the Azerbaijan SSR at the time of his escape. Sep 20th 2018. . , updated Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, 'How can I fix this?' But intelligence is more important than its ever been. His accusations over the years have proved controversial and his claims have been interpreted very differently by the right and left in Britain. As soon as the family completes the usual passport and exit paperwork, I think they will be able to go. Gordievsky witnessed how people, trying to flee to the other side, were oppressed and shot at by the administration in East Berlin. Hes always maintained that he made the right decision and I dont think I would challenge that, morally, in terms of what was happening in the world then., Leila Gordievsky did eventually come to Britain, after the end of the Soviet Union, but the marriage quickly failed. [2] The escape plan was code-named "Operation Pimlico", and was devised by an MI6 officer named Valerie Pettit.[14][15]. [2] He raised the alarm with his supermarket bag and gave his minders the slip. IMDb Best of 2022. It was the only time that the spooks managed to exfiltrate a penetration agent from the USSR, outwitting their Russian adversaries. This was the time when a mass exodus from East to West Berlin was taking place and the infamous Berlin wall was getting built. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Work in recent years included being a consultant editor for the journal of National Security, co-hosting a TV show titled Wanted in the Nineties and writing content for Literary Review. Oleg was called back to USSR and his family was later too. As soon as he arrived he realised he had been rumbled. The comments below have not been moderated. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. It was the only time that the spooks managed to exfiltrate a penetration agent from the USSR, outwitting their Russian adversaries. [33], In March 2020, Gordievsky's story was recounted in an episode of Spy Wars With Damian Lewis, on the Smithsonian Channel in the US, streaming on various cable services. Gordievskys brother, Vasili, who was training to be an illegal spy, told the officials that his brother would be interested in the service. Gordievsky fled the country by triggering an audacious escape plan dreamed up by MI6. Unlike his brother, Gordievsky was assigned a desk job in Moscow and was required to create documentation for other spies to mask their true identities. 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. It charts his recruitment by the KGB, where his older brother Vasili served as a deep-cover illegal, and Gordievskys growing disillusionment with the grey totalitarian world of 1960s Moscow. The spy mentioned the possibility of fleeing to London to his wife without telling her of his true identity and was quickly dismissed, which made him decide not to include her and his daughters, then aged five and three, in the Pimlico plan. Vitaly: Yurichenko: A KGB officer. The allegiance of Hollis remains a debated historical issue; the MI5 official website has cited Gordievsky's revelation as a vindication of Hollis. He said he was poisoned with thallium, a highly toxic metal used in insecticides which was favoured by the KGB in assassinations during the Cold War. In 1981, the chairman of the KGB mistook a NATO exercise as the first nuclear strike by America and its allies. Confusion. He claimed he was the victim of a Kremlin-inspired assassination plot. In 2008, he spent 34 hours unconscious in hospital after falling ill at his home. At an early age he learned German. However, he does view him as stunningly naive. In 1997 the Queen made Gordievsky a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George, Then came Able Archer 83, a Nato war-game training exercise in November 1983, leading up to a simulated nuclear attack. If youd like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. What he didn't tell her was about the secret life that awaited him. All rights reserved. Whatever little sense of belonging he had toward his country or his fathers beloved KGB, quickly changed into rage and anguish. However, it cannot be legally carried out because of the Russian membership of the Council of Europe., He has written quite a few books on the KGB.. They have a duty of care to her as they do to Oleg. Oleg Gordievsky, Soviet spy and double agent. He was trained thoroughly in every aspect of intelligence service, including, intelligence, counter-intelligence, surveillance, and combat. Self: Sunday. Following the norm for teenagers at the time, Gordievsky joined the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League.. He resolved to fight the communist system from the inside. The accusations were first published in the Sunday Times two decades ago. Though there was no substantial threat, the MI6 engineered an escape plan, codenamed PIMLICO, for their prized asset. However, he could not risk trying to escape openly. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. London, May 17, 1985: Oleg Gordievsky was at the pinnacle of his career. Gordievsky was asked to sit for an interview in German. Get local insights from Lisbon to Moscow with an unrivalled network of journalists across Europe, Of course they are still at it. In later life, Gordievsky has been cantankerous and reproving. In 1990, he was consultant editor of the journal Intelligence and National Security, and he worked on television in the UK in the 1990s, including the game show Wanted. The daughter of a Russian mother and a father from Azerbaijan, she was tall and striking, with a shock of dark hair and deep brown eyes behind long eyelashes. These were Moscows secret instructions. On 13 June, Ames named The Soviets panicked and prepared to launch their missiles first, believing it was the only way to save themselves. Women played a crucial part. [13], An elaborate escape plan from the USSR had been already devised for Gordievsky by MI6 in 1978, when the KGB called him back to Moscow for a few years after his second three-year stint in Copenhagen. organisation By Do not sell or share my personal information. Indeed, the information passed by Gordievsky became the first proof of how worried the Soviet leadership had become about the possibility of a NATO nuclear first strike. It included details of the KGBs attempts to influence western elections through active measures. 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He informed his handler, James Spooner of the MI6, of Soviets paranoia. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. He felt sure that if she discovered the truth, as a loyal KGB officer herself, she would shop him. [2] After being recalled to Moscow under suspicion, he was exfiltrated from the Soviet Union in July 1985 under a plan code-named Operation Pimlico. Gordievsky was forced to leave his second wife Leila and their two children behind in the USSR. She was interrogated and detained for some six years, the Soviets presuming (wrongly) that she had been complicit in Gordievsky's activities. . Mrs Leyca Gordievsky (centre) with her children Maria and Annia she is the wife of former KGB defector Oleg Geordievsky Later that evening, two MI6 officers Roy Ascot, the MI6 station chief. An MI6 officer would acknowledge the call for help by walking close by with a green Harrods bag while eating a British chocolate bar - a KitKat or Mars Bar. Unable to do so, he took his elder brothers advice and learnt Swedish. Since settling here, he has worked as a security adviser and has often appeared on TV as an expert on Russian espionage. [2], Soviet authorities subsequently sentenced Gordievsky to death in absentia for treason,[17] a sentence never rescinded by post-Soviet Russian authorities, but which cannot be legally carried out because of Russia's then-membership in the Council of Europe. Extraordinary., Oleg Gordievsky in his KGB uniform (left); his wife Leila (right), Gordievsky had been brought up a loyalist, the son of a KGB agent, but his stomach was turned by the sight of the Berlin Wall going up while he was stationed there. university Both of them had high aspirations in life. [2] He was suddenly summoned back to Moscow via a telegram on 16 May 1985. This signal would trigger a plan to smuggle Gordievsky into Finland in the boot of a diplomatic car. For details about Ben Macintyres book tour, visit, Ben Macintyre will be speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival on Saturday 29th June. Customise your myFT page to track Phone orders min. Two cars driven by MI6 officers and their wives got him across the border. For 11 years, he spied for MI6. [4] The building of the wall appalled him, and he became disillusioned with the Soviet system. Just minutes later the cars parked up in a clearing in a forest where Pettit was waiting. Gordievsky has written a number of books on the subject of the KGB and is a frequently quoted media pundit on the subject. Oleg resented the strict discipline, the endless paperwork, the malevolent atmosphere. The plan was simple, and almost comic. Some 20 minutes later he was passed by a man holding a Harrod's carrier bag and eating a Mars Bar. Gordievsky made contact with the Danish security services. After defecting to the UK in 1985, Gordievsky did not meet his family for 6 years, till they were allowed to leave Moscow in 1991, and join the spy. According to The Times, the couple met in secret trysts at various Copenhagen hotels every few weeks, but he could not divulge his life as a double agent to her and said half of my existence and my thoughts had to remain secret. He spoke extensively to Gordievsky, who is now 79 and living in the home counties a remarkable figure, proud, shrewd and irascible. The two officers' wives were forced to deploy tactics of distraction. However, the marriage was effectively dead by then and eventually it foundered completely. Olegs personal life was a romantic thriller of sorts. Ben Macintyres wonderful The Spy and the Traitor complements and enhances Gordievskys first-person account. [4] He proved an excellent student at school, where he learned to speak German. At lunchtimes he would slip out of the embassy and hand over microfilm strips to his case officer for copying. One opened a bag of cheese-and-onion crisps while another dropped her child's dirty nappy under the boot to disguise Gordievsky. He was summoned back to Moscow the next day, under the guise of being made the head of the KGB in Britain. His fathers obsession with the uniform and lack of morality of any sort did not instil much humanity in young Gordievskys heart. [19], Gordievsky's exfiltration greatly embarrassed both the KGB and the Soviet Union and resulted in disruptions by Viktor Babunov, the KGB's chief of counterintelligence, within the KGB including Sergei Ivanov's career with the KGB, who was KGB resident in Finland, as well as numerous members of the Leningrad KGB, which was responsible for surveillance of British subjects, and numerous persons close to Vladimir Putin, who was a member of the Leningrad KGB. Seven years earlier, as deputy to the head of MI6's Soviet Operations section, a 48-year-old Pettit devised a cunning way for British intelligence officers to get Gordievsky - recruited by MI6 in Copenhagen in 1973 - out of Moscow if he was ever under suspicion. Godievsky was summoned back to Moscow (pictured) in 1985 under the guise of being made the head of the KGB in Britain. According to one officer present Pettit was visibly moved, 'her expression a mixture of recognition and love', despite usually disapproving of emotional outbursts. It was reported in 2013 that Gordievsky was in a long-term relationship with a British woman he had met in the 1990s. Ames first met and sold classified information to a KGB agent on 15 May 1985, in Washington, DC; the following day Gordievsky received the telegram from KGB leadership recalling him to Moscow. They underestimated just how furious the KGB was. Fake news there was plenty of that sloshing around. 05:57 EDT 17 Sep 2018 IMDb Best of 2022. [2] During this Moscow period, it was too risky for him to send any information to MI6. It wasnt as easy as turning up outside his front door., Security is still tight, particularly after the poisoning of the double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last year. Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky, CMG ( ; born 10 October 1938) is a former colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate ( rezident) and bureau chief in London, and was a double agent, providing information to the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1974 to 1985. [6][2] After returning to Moscow on 19 May 1985, Gordievsky was drugged and interrogated, but not yet criminally charged; instead he was placed in a non-existent desk job in a nonoperational department of the KGB. Oleg Gordievsky was successfully smuggled across Russias border with Finland in July 1985 after hiding in the car boot of an MI6 boss, who was travelling across the border with his deputy and their families in separate vehicles. After completing his escape, he would not see his family again until the collapse of the Soviet regime six years later, although their marriage soon ended due to their prolonged time apart. Gordievsky, MI6 discovered, was a star asset. Moment commuter blasts eco-zealots, Royal superfans camping on The Mall ahead of King's Coronation, Women's rights activists and pro-trans campaigners separated, Ukraine drone strike hits major fuel depot in port Sevastopol, Russian freight train derails and bursts into flames after explosion, Historic chairs to be reused by the King for the coronation service, Hundreds of Household Division members rehearse for coronation, Braverman: People crossing Channel are 'at odds with British values', 'You motherf***ers don't understand': Bam Margera details 'turmoil', Cambridge students party in the park during annual celebrations, Revealed: woman who sprang Gordievsky from KGB clutches | News | The Times. They injected him with a truth drug but Gordievsky gave nothing away, so he was released. analyse how our Sites are used. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the Settings & Account section. Discover the stars who skyrocketed on IMDb's STARmeter chart this year, and explore more of the Best of 2022; including top trailers, posters, and photos. Though both the Gordievsky brothers were stationed together in East Germany, for a short period of time in 1961, they had no idea about the nature of each others work, maintaining the same kind of secrecy that was the norm in their family. He didnt do it for money; he did it purely for ideological reasons., All this is laid out in The Spy And The Traitor, which is about to be released in paperback.
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