The daughter of a Russian. Women played a crucial part. Oleg is very proud of that. MI6s top spy within the KGB made an amazing escape to the west thanks to the quick-thinking wives of British agents sent to protect him, a new book has revealed. After another failed attempt from the Danes, it was time for him to return home, to a more repressive and psychotic Russia, in 1970. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. [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. Oleg A. Gordievsky: A secret agent. The family loved life in the UK's capital and Gordievsky's career went from strength to strength; he was promoted four times, thanks to the British continually expelling his superiors. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel. And she is still looked after by MI6. Self - Wife of Defector; 1990 1 ep; Credits. Gordievsky was locked in the boot and wrapped in silver foil to fool heat-seeking cameras, but his scent attracted sniffer dogs at the border. The only thing they were insistent on was that I didnt identify any of the intelligence officers by name., And why were those former agents so happy to talk? However, the marriage was effectively dead by then and eventually it foundered completely. At one end of the path was an agent disguised as a cyclist, at the other was another with a pram and a camera, so she could snap whoever came to pick up the brick.. Ever since his defection, Gordievsky has lived comfortably in the Surrey suburbs, for most of that time with his long-term British-born companion Maureen. People in Downing Street and the Oval Office didnt believe it at first, but Oleg managed to convince them it was true and say that unless they calmed down the fighting talk, the West would effectively press the button on its own destruction., Moves were made to calm down the Soviets, who never fired. Its author was Veronica Price a senior intelligence officer, working out of Century House, MI6s unattractive HQ. He still kept the truth from his loved ones, telling them there was a plot against him by jealous colleagues, which doubled up as a way to convince the agents watching him he was still loyal. At 7.30pm on Tuesdays British officers would watch a bread shop next to Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a diplomatic complex. For the Russian chess grandmaster, see, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, "The Spy and the Traitor review a gripping tale of escape from the USSR", "In 'The Spy and the Traitor,' a tale of Cold War espionage that's both thrilling and true", "Thirty years later, we still don't know who betrayed these Cold War spies", "The truth about Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB spy who changed the course of the Cold War", "KGB MAN TURNED BRITISH SPY CAN'T PINPOINT HIS BETRAYER", "Miss Marple mastermind of Cold War spy's escape", "The secret lives of MI6's top female spies", "Gordievsky: Russia has as many spies in Britain now as the USSR ever did", "'Sunday Times' pays Foot damages over KGB claim", "Literary world applauds Rushdie knighthood", "Was Foot a national treasure or the KGBs useful idiot? On 19 July 1985, Gordievsky went for his usual jog, but he instead managed to evade his KGB tails and boarded a train to Vyborg, near the Finnish border, where he was met by British embassy cars, after they managed to lose the three KGB surveillance cars following them. Oleg Gordievsky, the spy who saved the world from nuclear destruction Actually, Gordievsky had already decided to switch sides a betrayal Macintyre calls whole-souled and righteous. Gen Z says telephone calls are microaggressions and sending an audio clip is more personal than a text, FBI joins manhunt for Texas killer who has been on the run for 36 hours after murdering family of five - including eight-year-old - after they asked him to stop firing his AR-15 rifle in his backyard, 'Vaping is the crack cocaine of tobacco': Experts say ultra-concentrated hit of nicotine makes devices WORSE than smoking - as data shows cigarette use at historic low, Could YOU spot a murderer? [12] Nevertheless, biographer Ben Macintyre and most people involved in the Gordievsky case believe that during his first visit with the KGB in Washington in early May 1985, Ames provided sufficient information to prompt an investigation by Colonel Viktor Budanov, the KGB's top investigator, and trigger Gordievsky's recall. You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period. A Czechoslovak spy, Standa Kaplan, had defected to Canada. IfGordievsky found himself in trouble he was told to arm himself with a Safeway shopping bag and stand at a certain central Moscow street corner at exactly 7.30pm on a Tuesday. [26], In the Daily Telegraph in 2010, Charles Moore gave a "full account", which he said had been provided to him by Gordievsky shortly after Foot's death, of the extent of Foot's alleged KGB involvement. By this point Gordievsky was a junior spy abroad, working for the KGBs first directorate, and living in Copenhagen. Edit. However, he could not risk trying to escape openly. The following day, Gordievsky kissed his wife Leila and his two daughters and flew to Moscow, having been summoned back to face his masters, who suspected him of treachery. He had two daughters with Leila. Oleg was assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the job of supporting "illegals" in the . 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. [2] A September 2018 article indicated that by that time he was living in an undisclosed location in the Home counties of England. One opened a bag of cheese-and-onion crisps while another dropped her child's dirty nappy under the boot to disguise Gordievsky. Then as a KGB trainee he spent six months in East Berlin. Gordievsky made contact with the Danish security services. An MI6 agent walked past carrying a Harrods bag, eating a Mars bar, and the two made eye contact. 'She opened the boot to let me out,' wrote Gordievsky, now 81 and still living in a safehouse in Britain. 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. His first tentative step was to call his then wife Yelena from an embassy phone bugged by the Danes, and to declare: Theyve done it! personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to "I realised they wanted to hush up the crime," he remarked. These were Moscows secret instructions. The methods are just different. Hes not gathering intelligence. Paintings hanging on the walls of his home in Surrey reflect his love of avant-garde art. Hes paid an enormous cost. It was to be another six years before Gordievsky was reunited with his family. The Soviets panicked and prepared to launch their missiles first, believing it was the only way to save themselves. All realised Gordievsky was unique. Gordievsky was sent to East Germany as a translator in August 1961, for a short tenure of 6 months. [3], In April 2008, the media reported that on 2 November 2007, Gordievsky had been taken by ambulance from his home in Surrey to a local hospital, where he spent 34 hours unconscious. 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. When a 90-year-old retired Foreign Office secretary died recently the secrets of her Cold War past could finally be revealed. How Britain's best Cold War spy was smuggled out of the Soviet Union MI6 was waiting. They didnt interfere, but they didnt stop me. Oleg Gordievsky and Leila Alieva met in Copenhagen: she was a typist for the World Health Organization; he was an unhappily married KGB officer, and a spy for MI6. That he managed to deceive his KGB colleagues during this time was remarkable. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Theyre doing it on Facebook, theyre doing it on Twitter, but the technique is the same., What are they after? Lying down in the boot of a Ford Sierra saloon, he was smuggled across the border into Finland. For tickets, go to www.cvhf.org.uk or call 01722 781133. He was summoned back to Moscow the next day, under the guise of being made the head of the KGB in Britain. Next Stop Execution: The Autobiography of Oleg Gordievsky - Goodreads Leila Aliyeva, his second wife. 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Thirty Years Later, We Still Don't Truly Know Who Betrayed These Spies [2] A 1994 report by the Washington Post, however, stated that "After six weeks of questioning Ames the FBI and CIA remain baffled about whether Ames or someone else first warned the Soviets about Gordievsky". A campaign to release Leila Gordievsky and daughters. They love telling their own stories. They still have a powerful resonance today, he says. Telemann : One of the composers. Menu. There were stages in his journey. [22], On 26 February 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Buckingham in recognition of his outstanding service to the security and the safety of the United Kingdom. The Institute of International Relations housed a small KGB station, which began looking for new recruits. 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. The comments below have not been moderated, By He was briefed on RYAN before he left Moscow, but by the time he reached London, the operation was well on its way. "There has been accusation and counter-accusation. I just dont know what to do. He expected an approach from western intelligence. There has been only one sinister episode during this gilded life in the stockbroker belt. It went some way towards exorcising the Cambridge spies, who a generation earlier had travelled in the opposite direction. What he didn't tell her was about the secret life that awaited him. He was presented with the prestigious Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. May Day parade in Moscow, 1970, the year in which Gordievsky was singled out by MI6.