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. He worked as a double agent for the British secret service during the Cold War, between 1974 and 1985. In 1972 Gordievsky went back to Denmark for a second tour. Moore also wrote that, although the claims are difficult to corroborate without MI6 and KGB files, Gordievsky's past record in revealing KGB contacts in Britain had been shown to be reliable.[27]. Oleg Gordievsky (Former Colonel of the KGB and Bureau Chief in London) Oleg Gordievsky is a Russian-born former British secret agent. After a long period of no contact MI6 was delighted when Moscow sent Gordievsky to London. Gordievskys brother, Vasili, who was training to be an illegal spy, told the officials that his brother would be interested in the service. This was the most embarrassing failure in KGB history., Macintyre describes the former spy in his book as one of the loneliest men he has met. Please, The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. I'm a behavioural scientist and here are the tell-tale signs that give away a killer, Bronx cop is under investigation after 'she tried to stop narcotics detectives from busting her major drug dealer boyfriend', America's deadliest jobs: More than 340 workers are killed every day - and logging, hunting and roofing are the riskiest trades, At least 14 people are injured in roof collapse at home near Ohio State University, Prince Harry's 24-hour flying visit for Coronation: Duke 'plans to be on plane back to the US just two hours after the historic ceremony finishes at 1pm so he can get back for son Archie's fourth birthday', Gunman sends tourists running for cover after argument between two men in Hell's Kitchen boils over into bullets, New AI 'can accurately spot cancer': Algorithm is better at identifying cancerous nodules than existing methods, study claims, Inside America's oldest operating McDonald's: This restaurant serves up nostalgia with its orginal 1953 decor intact - and it's the only place where you can order this secret menu item, Miley Cyrus' mom Tish is engaged to Prison Break star Dominic Purcell eight months after ex Billy Ray popped the question to singer Firerose. Oleg Gordievsky: With Leila Gordievsky, Oleg Gordievsky, Ronald Reagan, Oliver 'Buck' Revell. and
His accusations over the years have proved controversial and his claims have been interpreted very differently by the right and left in Britain. [7][2] Under increasing surveillance and pressure in Moscow and seriously suspected of being a double agent, in July 1985 he managed to send a pre-arranged covert signal to MI6 to be rescued. Gordievsky was sentenced to death by the Soviet Union after his escape from his country, a sentence which was never rescinded by post-Soviet Russian authorities. For tickets, go to www.cvhf.org.uk or call 01722 781133. 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. [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. The execution order on him has never been rescinded., Mikhail Gorbachev meets Margaret Thatcher at Chequers in 1984; Gordievsky had briefed them both, Macintyre believes Putin and the other former KGB officers who run Russia now are still up to their old tricks. The corner was monitored by agents every week for seven years, even when Gordievsky was called over to work from the Soviet embassy in Britain in 1982. Gordievsky. . But when they got to the border sniffer dogs detected Gordievsky in the boot of the car and began circling. 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. Aldrich Ames, a former CIA agent who became a mole for the KGB. Gordievsky has little contact with his two grown-up daughters, Maria and Anna, or his ex-wife Leila. First he shook off his KGB tails, then made for the border with Finland, hiding in remote undergrowth until he was picked up by a rescue car driven by two British agents who, astonishingly, had brought along their baby. [31] Gordievsky accused MI6 of trying to suppress the incident from being known. It worked, due mainly to the quick thinking of the wife of one of the MI6 drivers, who changed her baby . However, he does view him as stunningly naive. Gordievsky was forced to leave his second wife Leila and their two children behind in the USSR. Gordievsky heard all about it as a senior KGB operative, but quickly passed word on to his handlers, who took it to the highest level. Menu. Gordievsky fled the country by triggering an audacious escape plan dreamed up by MI6. 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. [4], Gordievsky joined the KGB in 1963, and was posted to the Soviet embassy in Copenhagen in 1966. [4] The building of the wall appalled him, and he became disillusioned with the Soviet system. An FBI report later stated that Ames had not advised the Soviets about Gordievsky until 13 June 1985; by that time, Gordievsky was under KGB surveillance but he had not yet been charged with treason as of 19 July 1985 when MI6 agents began the process of his escape. He sold info on all double agents in KGB working for CIA and then this new info about Oleg. [9][2] By the time he arrived again in Copenhagen in October 1972 for a second three-year stint, both the PET as well as MI6 which had been tipped off by one of Gordievsky's old university friends felt he was a persuadable agent. Oleg Gordievsky in 1980, when he was still a double-agent At five o'clock on a Friday afternoon on July 19, 1985, a short, thick-set man in a worn jacket and corduroy trousers stepped out of a . Though there was no substantial threat, the MI6 engineered an escape plan, codenamed PIMLICO, for their prized asset. For tickets, go to, Chalke Valley History Festival 24th 30th June 2019 The largest Festival dedicated entirely to History in the UK, Do not sell or share my personal information. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. ", "How Britain's best Cold War spy was smuggled out of the Soviet Union", "Double agent Gordievsky claims he was poisoned by the Kremlin", "Former KGB defector claims he was poisoned by Russians", "SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL ENTERS THE WORLD OF GLOBAL ESPIONAGE IN SPY WARS WITH DAMIAN LEWIS", Biographer Ben Macintyre summarizes Gordievsky's life, career, and escape from the USSR, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oleg_Gordievsky&oldid=1150970448. He was initially paralysed and still has no feeling in his fingers. 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? 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. Gordievskys mother was not thrilled when she was told that her younger son was following in his fathers footsteps. 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. (modern). Gordievskys double life started after a junior MI6 officer saw his name while leafing through a personnel file. analyse how our Sites are used. He spoke extensively to Gordievsky, who is now 79 and living in the home counties a remarkable figure, proud, shrewd and irascible. 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. Upon his arrival in Moscow, he was sure that he was under surveillance and his house was bugged. 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. Joseph Curtis For Mailonline
The Soviets thought it was real. However, there was no need to execute the plan at the time. 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. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. [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. Salisbury reaction: 'It would be comical but for the fact someone died', Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. An MI6 agent walked past carrying a Harrods bag, eating a Mars bar, and the two made eye contact. It comes as the book The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre - revealed the daring Operation Pimlico plan was almost scuppered when British officials struggled to get then prime minister Margaret Thatchers approval while she was visiting The Queen at Balmoral because the phone line was engaged for 20 minutes while the monarch tried to borrow her mothers video recorder to watch Dads Army. expert analysis, our dedicated Brussels Briefing newsletter. He enrolled at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations at age 17. and defected to Britain. Only 2% of people can spot the odd couple hidden among the silhouettes so are you among them? In a way, Oleg lost everything. It set out the characteristics it was looking for in a potential agent: narcissism, vanity, greed and marital infidelity. One morning its local head of station approached him while he was playing badminton at a suburban sports club. Customise your myFT page to track [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. A lot of what spies do doesnt amount to a hill of beans. We use Gordievsky made contact with the Danish security services. Whatever little sense of belonging he had toward his country or his fathers beloved KGB, quickly changed into rage and anguish. Gordievsky described to Leila the Englishmen he'd met in Copenhagen witty, sophisticated people, full of laughter and generosity. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side. Macintyre's book claims he was also the source of the information that alleged former Labour leader Michael Foot was giving information to the Russians in the late 1980s. 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. [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. Lunch followed. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. [7] He waited on a particular street corner, on a particular weekday at 7.30 pm, carrying a Safeway bag as a signal. There were close shaves, including an approach to the Soviet embassy by Michael Bettaney, a renegade MI5 loner. However, the marriage was effectively dead by then and eventually it foundered completely. We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments. [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. Its an old Stalinist technique called maskirovka, little masquerade, which means confusing everybody so that nobody knows what is real and what isnt. 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. [2] He was suddenly summoned back to Moscow via a telegram on 16 May 1985. 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. All rights reserved. He came to believe that he was serving a corrupt, barbarian regime. Gordievsky says he first "dreamed" of living in London after the 20th party congress in 1956, when former Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev launched his famous denunciation of Stalin. He was promoted while in Moscow, but all he could think about was how he could go abroad. It went some way towards exorcising the Cambridge spies, who a generation earlier had travelled in the opposite direction. That he managed to deceive his KGB colleagues during this time was remarkable. 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. and
[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". He was made to learn the principles of communism at school. He knows all too well the KGBs view of treachery, and that his enemies play a long game. Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky was born on October 10, 1938, in Moscow, in the erstwhile USSR, to Anton Gordievsky, an NKVD official, and Olga Nikolayevna Gornova, a statistician. In 1985 the KGB circulated a top secret personality questionnaire. [2] In 1974 he agreed to pass secrets to MI6, a step he viewed as "nothing less than undermining the Soviet system". [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. 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. I got very lucky. He would re-establish contact with MI6 as soon as it was safe to do so. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, 'How can I fix this?' [2] A September 2018 article indicated that by that time he was living in an undisclosed location in the Home counties of England. During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Both of them had high aspirations in life. He is known as one of the greatest spies in the world.
Haydn : One of the composers. For 11 years, he spied for MI6. The plan was called PIMLICO. That he managed to deceive his KGB colleagues during this time was remarkable. 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. For details about Ben Macintyres book tour, visit, Ben Macintyre will be speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival on Saturday 29th June. Meanwhile, the book also reveals how years earlier Gordievsky had lived more than one double life after he began an affair with a typist Leila Alieva, the daughter of a high ranking KGB agent herself, while based in Copenhagen. It was love at first sight for the pair but it meant Gordievsky had to worry about keeping the relationship from his shrewish wife Yelena as much as keeping his professional secrets from his KGB superiors. [2] The escape plan was code-named "Operation Pimlico", and was devised by an MI6 officer named Valerie Pettit.[14][15]. The family went with Gordievsky when he was posted to London in 1982 and they quickly settled, enjoying British culture and never realising what the double agent was actually up to as he divulged secrets to MI6 on a weekly basis. In the summer of 1982 Gordievsky moved to London and began regular meetings at a Bayswater safe house with his MI6 handlers. One MI6 officer, years later, revealed he never wanted to see another KitKat because those monitoring the spot got used to carrying around a chocolate bar just in case. Gordievsky had been recruited by the West in the late 1960s while stationed with the KGB in Denmark and had been persuaded to become a double agent during a game of badminton. It was to be another six years before Gordievsky was reunited with his family. 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. An operation named RYAN was put in place to find out the details of the attack. Oleg was briefing both sides. A packet of pills to keep him alert and a pouch of snuff to disguise the smell from Russian sniffer dogs, given to him by Pettit, meant he was able to evade surveillance and set Operation Pimlico in motion. And when former spies think of spilling their secrets and telling their amazing stories at last, Ben Macintyre is clearly the man they trust. Leila and Gordievsky divorced soon after her arrival in London. [29] He claimed that he was poisoned with thallium by "rogue elements in Moscow". Leila Gordievsky. Stalins Russia did not offer a normal childhood to Gordievsky or his elder brother, Vasili. [2] Then in a completely spontaneous and highly effective move, Mrs Ascot began changing her daughters full nappy on the boot where Gordievsky was hidden, with the smell enough to offend the dog and cause it to move away. 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. He began reading western newspapers. He had a prodigious memory and thorough knowledge of current and former KGB operations. Gordievsky was asked to sit for an interview in German. Luke Hardings Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House is published by Guardian Faber. Mikhail Lyubimov, his mentor, a Soviet spy. IMDb Best of 2022. After another failed attempt from the Danes, it was time for him to return home, to a more repressive and psychotic Russia, in 1970. 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. He raised the alarm with his supermarket bag and gave his minders the slip. [9][2] MI6 subsequently made contact with Gordievsky, and began running him as a double agent in 1974. 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. He has been a consultant editor for the journal of National Security and co-hosted the Channel 4 show Wanted in the Nineties, in which contestants had to complete a list of challenges without being detected by a ring of spymasters. 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. After about a year, they realised that it must be Gordievsky. "[32], In 2018 Ben Macintyre published a biography of Gordievsky, The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War. Get local insights from Lisbon to Moscow with an unrivalled network of journalists across Europe, [11], Gordievsky was suddenly ordered back to Moscow in mid May 1985, a few weeks after he had been promoted to KGB station chief in London. These mutual signals indicated that the escape plan was to be activated immediately. Gordievskys British contacts were a colourful bunch. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month. 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. The rivalry between the MI6 and the CIA about gathering intelligence put their most prized agent at risk after 1982. Jakob Andersen med Oleg Gordievsky: "De Rde Spioner KGB's operationer i Danmark fra Stalin til Jeltsin, fra Stauning til Nyrup", Hst & Sn, Copenhagen (2002). One of his great pleasures, he says, is feeding the foxes who visit his garden. [2] After his arrival, he was taken to a KGB safe house outside Moscow, drugged, and interrogated. The long absence took its toll, however, and he and his wife Leila separated not long afterwards. It included details of the KGBs attempts to influence western elections through active measures. The comments below have not been moderated, By
We are no longer accepting comments on this article. A campaign to release Leila Gordievsky and daughters. For an extraordinary period he was briefing British and Soviet spies and Margaret Thatcher, who referred to him as Mr Collins. 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. Hes paid an enormous cost. Oleg resented the strict discipline, the endless paperwork, the malevolent atmosphere. Oleg A. Gordievsky: A secret agent. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. He sat in the back of a Finnish rental car as Pettit drove them north for the Norwegian border. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the Settings & Account section. 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. 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! The Soviets panicked and prepared to launch their missiles first, believing it was the only way to save themselves. Hes estranged from his children. This is where Gordievsky carried out his last dead-drop, hiding 8,000 in the bushes for a newly arrived Soviet spy. Gordievsky's second wife, Leiladaughter of a KGB generaland their two daughters were sent back to Moscow, causing panic in MI6.
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