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. [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". [7], Although MI6 had passed on information provided by Gordievsky to the American CIA, the British would not reveal their source, so the CIA had conducted a covert operation to discover who the source was. 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. His fathers obsession with the uniform and lack of morality of any sort did not instil much humanity in young Gordievskys heart. [2] He steadily advanced in rank there with the help of secret aid and manipulation by MI6, which handed him abundant non-damaging information and contacts; MI6 also steadily banished his direct superiors back to Moscow on trumped-up charges so that Gordievsky took their place. The Kremlin genuinely believed the West was going to launch a first nuclear strike.. [2] 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? [2], Two of Gordievsky's most important contributions were averting a potential nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, when NATO exercise Able Archer 83 was misinterpreted by the Soviets as a potential first strike,[10] and identifying Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet heir-apparent long before he came to prominence. Oleg was assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the job of supporting "illegals" in the . [34], Media related to Oleg Gordievsky at Wikimedia Commons, "Gordievsky" redirects here. [2], Unbeknownst to him, Gordievsky had been betrayed in early May (or early June 1985 at the latest) by CIA officer Aldrich Ames. 'She opened the boot to let me out,' wrote Gordievsky, now 81 and still living in a safehouse in Britain. One of his great pleasures, he says, is feeding the foxes who visit his garden. 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. Play it now! MI6 was waiting. Some were upper-class cold war adventurers. Since settling here, he has worked as a security adviser and has often appeared on TV as an expert on Russian espionage. The allegiance of Hollis remains a debated historical issue; the MI5 official website has cited Gordievsky's revelation as a vindication of Hollis. Once the car reached safety the officer who was driving put Sibelius's Finlandia into the cassette player, and turned it up to full volume. Under death sentence Oleg Gordievsky in London, 1997. leg Gordievsky was the most significant British agent of the cold war. Reunited: Oleg Gordievsky and wife Leila in 1991 Newspapers in English Newspapers from United Kingdom. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month. The MI6 had to share Gordievskys whereabouts with the Americans. [2] Two British diplomats and their wives were Gordievsky's courier; to dissuade sniffer dogs at the Finnish border one of the wives dropped her baby's dirty nappy on the ground, causing the dogs to flee. He told his wife Yelena nothing of what he was up to. We use At 7.30pm on Tuesdays British officers would watch a bread shop next to Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a diplomatic complex. and defected to Britain. Lunch followed. Gordievsky has written a number of books on the subject of the KGB and is a frequently quoted media pundit on the subject. A refresher memo was concealed in an OUP edition of Shakespeares sonnets. [2] After his arrival, he was taken to a KGB safe house outside Moscow, drugged, and interrogated. He was presented with the prestigious Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users needs. analyse how our Sites are used. and other data for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, [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. It went some way towards exorcising the Cambridge spies, who a generation earlier had travelled in the opposite direction. The comments below have not been moderated, By At lunchtimes he would slip out of the embassy and hand over microfilm strips to his case officer for copying. 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. However, the marriage was effectively dead by then and eventually it foundered completely. 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. These mutual signals indicated that the escape plan was to be activated immediately. He is known as one of the greatest spies in the world. 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. Gordievsky (pictured in 1976) continues to defy Moscow from a safehouse in Britain. 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. [2] In 1974 he agreed to pass secrets to MI6, a step he viewed as "nothing less than undermining the Soviet system". p&p of 1.99. But they all returned to Moscow after he was recalled by the KGB, with his family told Gordievsky had suffered a heart problem. 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. [2] The 2019 edition of the book includes an Afterword of post-publication reactions from officers of MI6, the KGB, and the CIA who had been involved in the events surrounding Gordievsky. 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. They talk about their new life in England now Leila and the children have been allowed to join him after 6 years, and the possibility of a return to Russia and Moscow, their home town. Registered in England No. I fell in love at first sight, [and] our love flared. 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. His visa was cleared by the Danes intentionally, in consultation with the MI6. He was approached by the British intelligence head of the local station, codenamed Bromhead. His codename was SUNBEAM. He calmly accepted to take up the dubious role. [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. Now this (barrier) is removed, he said. Best-selling author Jane Green gives some 'brutal love' to a woman with nowhere left to turn, Experts are recommending 'Swedish death cleaning' - and they say it's your duty to your children, Donald Trump Jr. says Ron DeSantis is 'afraid to cross Paul Ryan and Fox' after Florida governor refuses to comment on Tucker Carlson being fired from network, Man with micropenis reveals how he broaches the topic with potential sexual partners, Tee off in the tee box: Moment a BRAWL between rival golfers erupts on Florida course after one group accuses another of playing too slow, Two teens, aged 16 and 18, are killed and four high schoolers are fighting for their lives after 19-year-old opens fire at Mississippi house party. 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. 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. 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. Women played a crucial part. [2] During this Moscow period, it was too risky for him to send any information to MI6. On July 16, 1985, a man could be seen standing outsidea bread shop on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the wide avenue running from the centre of Moscow, at 7.30pm. expert analysis, our dedicated Brussels Briefing newsletter. However, he now became sceptical. They were married before his first foreign posting in Denmark. [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. Though there was no substantial threat, the MI6 engineered an escape plan, codenamed PIMLICO, for their prized asset. Gordievsky, who studied history, geography, economics, and international affairs, wanted to learn English as a language. 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. Even though he knew his life would revolve around serving the Soviet Union, either in the foreign office or as part of the intelligence service, the way he was pulled into the system was not intentional. In the summer of 1982 Gordievsky moved to London and began regular meetings at a Bayswater safe house with his MI6 handlers. He lost his family. After his escape, Gordievsky was given a safe house in the suburbs, where he still lives. Even more astounding was that in summer 1985 after Gordievsky was hastily recalled from London to Moscow by his suspicious bosses British intelligence officers helped him to escape. [2], On completion of his studies, Gordievsky joined the foreign service and was posted to East Berlin in August 1961, just before the erection of the Berlin Wall. He was finally able to divorce Yelena in 1979 and quickly married Leila, with whom he had had two daughters, Maria and Anna. If Oleg had been caught he would have been tortured and executed, and most of his family would have been rounded up as well., Oleg Gordievsky today.