RUSSIA: The Incredible Tale of Oleg Gordievsky

Oleg Gordievsky's life reads like a thrilling espionage novel set against the backdrop of Cold War intrigue. Born into a KGB family, Gordievsky embarked on a career that eventually led him to become a double agent for MI6, the British intelligence service. His journey took him from Soviet spy networks in Denmark to a pivotal role as the KGB's London "rezident," where he provided invaluable intelligence to the West. 

This week's blog post follows Gordievsky's daring escape from Moscow in 1985, orchestrated under MI6's "Operation Pimlico," amidst growing suspicions within the KGB. 

Oleg Gordievsky was a Colonel in the KGB 

EARLY LIFE 

Oleg was born on October 10, 1938, to Anton and Olga Gordievsky. His father was an ardent Communist after the Bolshevik Revolution and remained passionate about this cause until his death.

In the 1920s, Anton Gordievsky was deployed to Kazakhstan. His job was to seize grain as part of the collectivization process that Stalin started during that time, a process that led to the Holodomor in Ukraine, and other famines spread around the Soviet USSR, resulting in the deaths of 4 to 7 million people. In the 1930s, Anton joined the OGPU, the predecessor to the NKVD, which was the Joint State Political Directorate.

Olga, on the other hand, was not a passionate fan of Communism. She was disdainful of the system due to her family's suffering from injustices brought on by the Bolsheviks. Olga's father had a watermill that was seized by authorities as part of collectivization. Her brother was sent to a gulag for a decade for expressing opposing views to farm collectivization. Despite her dark mood, Olga played her housewife role to a high degree.

Oleg also had two siblings, a sister named Marina and a brother named Vasili. His brother was also a member of the KGB and worked as an illegal spy, meaning he took on foreign assignments without the cover of a diplomat or as someone officially listed.

Gordievsky grew up during the struggles of WWII. Food was scarce and rationed, and poverty was widespread. However, due to his father's standing, the family managed relatively comfortably for the time. They settled in Moscow after 1943. Oleg learned to read by the age of six and showed interest and talent in history and languages. At the age of 14, he joined the Young Communist League and learned all about the methodologies of the Communist regime. At age 17, he became the head of his local Komsomol.

In 1956, Oleg entered the Institute of International Relations. At the university, Gordievsky studied German, law, politics, and history. During this time, Stalin passed away, and Khrushchev started revealing the atrocities and faults of Stalin's reign. Khrushchev also allowed several liberties that Stalin opposed to before. However, these small acts of freedom were short-lived. 

When Russia invaded Hungary, the liberal reforms under Khrushchev ended, and the country returned to the repressive regimes that existed under Stalin. This led Oleg to desire to travel and experience life outside the oppressive USSR borders. He enrolled in English classes at university, but since the class was full, he was not accepted. However, he chose to learn Swedish instead as he thought it would be a gateway to the Nordics.

BECOMING PART OF THE KGB

Within Oleg's university, there was a KGB office. From there, his brother sought to introduce him to the Service and organized his first KGB interview. In 1961, he was accepted into the KGB and was given his first assignment: Oleg was sent to East Berlin as a German translator. During his stint in East Berlin, Oleg Gordievsky witnessed the building of the Berlin Wall. He also got his first taste of espionage. This time was a very important period in his growth as a spy.

Oleg officially joined the KGB on July 31, 1962, after finishing university. His great ambition was to become an illegal spy, like Vasili. However, he was assigned to Directorate S in Moscow. This was the Illegal Department, but he was tasked with preparing the documentation. During that time, Oleg married Yelena Akopian, who was a German teacher. 

In 1965, he was offered a post in Denmark as a consular worker dealing with visas and other consular works. His actual job was to be a handler for an underground network of KGB spies. He accepted the job without second thoughts. 

DENMARK DAYS

In 1966, the young couple moved to Denmark, and Oleg started his job straight away. He gathered information and searched for suitable Danish identities to be used by spies.

His experience in Denmark was less than exemplary at first. Most of the consular staff were KGB agents who were lazy and uninterested in their work. Gordievsky was determined to rise above the rest. He worked hard at his day job in the mornings. In the evenings, Oleg learned Danish and built his own network of local contacts and spies to use.

His job was going swimmingly; however, in his personal life, difficulties were piling up. His wife, Yelena, had very strong feminist views and opposed to doing housework, which caused frustrations in their relationship. Unfortunately, the revelation that broke their marriage was that Yelena had been pregnant and had aborted the baby without informing her husband first.

After the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Oleg grew increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with the Soviet Union. He knew that his phone was bugged by the Danish Secret Services and used this fact to call Yelena and complain vehemently about his home country. He hoped that the Western service would take this as a sign he was ready to turn and contact him.

RETURNING TO RUSSIA 

The couple returned to Russia in 1970. During the next few years, Gordievsky survived day to day, suffering in silence under the stifling regime of Moscow. However, he returned to Denmark in October 1972. The two events that prompted this were "Operation Foot," where 105 Soviet spies were forcibly expelled from the United Kingdom and other countries. This meant that the Soviet spy networks had to be rebuilt through the various embassies and consulates. Also, at this time, Oleg's brother, Vasili, died unexpectedly at age 39 from alcoholism.

This time, Oleg's job was as a Political Intelligence Officer for the KGB's First Chief Directorate. His "unofficial" job was to seek Danish citizens who were prepared to sell state secrets or any relevant information to the Soviet Union.

At this point, both PET (Politiets Efterretningstjeneste) and MI6 (the British Secret Services) were quite interested in Oleg. His old university friend, Stanislaw Kaplan, named him as a potential spy who could turn.

DANCING WITH BEING A DOUBLE AGENT

Stanislaw contacted Gordievsky and arranged a meeting under the pretext that he was in Copenhagen for business. Nothing was discussed during this meeting. Kaplan was still of the opinion it was worth a shot to recruit Oleg to his superiors. 

The next covert meeting was over a game of badminton. Then, a meeting was set up with Richard Bromhead, a British consulate and head of MI6 operations in Denmark. They arranged to have lunch and discuss shop talk honestly. The meeting, which took place at the Østerport Hotel in 1973, was reported to the KGB and was not seen as suspicious.

After that, nothing happened for eight months. Oleg was annoyed at the waiting, but he knew it was not a setup. The KGB would not have waited so long if they thought something untoward would conspire. After this period, Bromhead appeared again at the badminton court, and another lunch was set up. During this meeting, the MI6 chief revealed his hand and asked Oleg if he was prepared to be a double agent.

In 1974, Gordievsky agreed to be a double agent for MI6. His code name was Sunbeam.

OPERATING AS SUNBEAM

After three weeks, the two men met again at a safe house, a flat in the suburbs of Copenhagen. Bromhead handed the case over to Philip Hawkins, who spoke German and could therefore communicate better with Oleg. The initial meeting with the new handler went a bit rougher than expected. Hawkins grilled Gordievsky at length about the Soviet spy network in Copenhagen and the general workings of the KGB.

At the same time, Oleg set up the rules of conduct he would operate under with MI6. He had three simple rules: his KGB colleagues in the embassy were to be protected, no money was to exchange hands, and he forbade them from secretly photographing or recording him. He was vehement that he was not in it for the money, but more out of ideological conviction.

MI6 reluctantly agreed to these rules. However, Oleg was secretly recorded at all meetings.

The two men met twice every two months at the safe house, and Oleg went through all the information about the KGB and its inner workings. He outlined the spy rings and every other bit of information that Hawkins was interested in.

In 1977, Gordievsky's handler changed again to Geoffrey Guscott. The new handler and Oleg struck up a good relationship relatively quickly.

MI6 had to be very careful with how they used the information. They could not jeopardize their best double agent. They could not act too hastily and give the KGB any reason to suspect they had a mole. MI6 made sure to scrub clean all the information before passing it on to other agencies or agents.

Oleg routinely smuggled microfilms out of the embassy. The handler had a small device commissioned by MI6 that could record microfilms in a short time—a window short enough to allow Gordievsky to come in and out of the embassy without arousing suspicion.

As time went by, Oleg also relaxed his rules. He knew he was being recorded but still revealed the names of his colleagues at the embassy and of various illegal spies working around the world. He also agreed to have money transferred to an English bank account as a contingency if anything were to happen to him.

During this time, he met Leila Aliyeva. She was eleven years younger than him and worked as a typist for the World Health Organization (WHO). They started a relationship. At this time, Oleg was still married to his first wife, Yelena. 

RETURNING TO RUSSIA IN A RISKY SITUATION 

In 1978, Oleg was ordered back to Russia as his posting in Denmark came to an end. This was very risky for him. Despite the fact that MI6 offered him the chance to defect, Gordievsky declined, saying he still had more to offer.

Therefore, he returned to Russia, and MI6 faced a new challenge: devising a plan to extract him from the Soviet Union when the time came. This plan was dubbed "Operation Pimlico."

OPERATION PIMLICO 

Valerie Pettit was the brains behind the plans for the operation. She was one of the first female agents with the British services. The operation was very intricate and difficult.

The plan started with signaling. Gordievsky was to stand outside Kutuzovsky Prospekt Breadshop on a Tuesday at 19:30. He needed to carry a plastic Safeway bag and wear a grey cap and trousers. An MI6 agent would keep an eye out every Tuesday at that time. If he noticed the plan was activated, he would walk by carrying a Harrods bag, eating a Kit-Kat or Mars bar, and wearing grey clothing as well.

The second stage was that three days after the signal was received, Oleg had to get on a train from Moscow to Leningrad. From there, he would take a taxi to the Finland Station and board transport to Zelenogorsk. From there, he would take a bus and get off about 25 kilometers south of Vyborg.

At the same time that Oleg was on his journey, two MI6 agents would take a car with diplomatic plates and drive from Leningrad towards Vyborg. The calculation was that they would arrive at the rendezvous point at a similar time on the Saturday. They were instructed to pack picnic items and would turn off at what seemed like an arbitrary spot.

From there, they would open the boot, which would signal to Oleg to get out of his hiding place and jump in the boot. He would be given tranquilizers and a space blanket to protect from infrared and heat cameras.

They would then head towards Finland, praying that the border guards would not search the car. Once in Finland, Gordievsky would be safe and Operation Pimlico would be successful.

There was also a contingency plan if the above was not possible. On the third Saturday of each month, an MI6 agent would stand under the clock in Moscow Central Market, and Gordievsky would make his presence known by wearing the same grey clothing and carrying the same plastic Safeway bag.

If three Sundays passed, Oleg would go to St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square and go up a certain spiral staircase. An MI6 agent would go down the same staircase, and a message would be passed secretly between them. However, this plan proved too complicated.

BACK IN RUSSIA WITH A NEW LOVE

Both MI6 and Gordievsky agreed that spying could not happen on the same level in Russia as it was done in Denmark.

When arriving in Russia once more, Oleg pursued his divorce from Yelena and intended to finalize his marriage with his mistress, Leila. With this decision, he also limited his career prospects, as the KGB was a traditional institution and looked down on divorce. He was especially affected by his extramarital affair overseas with Leila.

Despite all of this, Oleg decided to pursue another overseas posting. He enrolled in English classes, with plans to transfer to a KGB posting in London. During this time, he had two daughters with his second wife, named Anna and Maria, and his personal life became much more satisfactory.

During the two years he had returned to Russia, Oleg did not give any more information to MI6. However, they continued to systematically process what he had given them in Denmark, and KGB spies were routinely taken out all over the world. This systematic purge led the KGB to suspect they had a mole. Oleg lived under constant stress that he would be found out.

However, nothing happened, and in 1981 he got his dream posting in England. It took some time to process his permissions through the KGB, and his financial and health status were checked thoroughly. In June 1982, the family moved to England.

DOUBLE AGENT IN LONDON

His official job in London was as a consul.

London turned out to be less than stellar for the Gordievsky family. The dirty streets of London were a shock, and Oleg's bosses at the embassy were really foul and bad-tempered.

On his second evening in London, Oleg called a clandestine number and set up a meeting with MI6. He met his new handlers soon after. This time, there was a pair: a man called Jack and a woman called Jane. The woman was actually Valerie Pettit, the genius behind Operation Pimlico.

The spy went back to his previous arrangement with MI6. Except, this time, he could give much more information as he had greater access due to his senior position. He would smuggle documents from the embassy to the safe house and then rush back so they would not be missed.

In return, MI6 would provide Oleg with harmless intelligence that he would use in his KGB reports. This would impress his bosses immensely.

During this period, Gordievsky faced a significant scare when rogue MI5 agent Michael Bettaney attempted to defect to the KGB. Bettaney, who had been transferred to the Soviet counterespionage section in December 1982, took numerous secret documents home from his outstation in Gower Street, London. He then attempted to hand over highlights of these documents to the KGB's London rezident, General Arkady V. Guk, by dropping them through the letterbox of Guk's house, an address he knew through his work. Bettaney was unaware that another member of the KGB Station, Acting Colonel Oleg Gordievsky, was actually an MI6 agent.

Oleg promptly informed MI6, leading to Bettaney's identification and arrest at his home in September 1983, just as he was preparing to fly to Vienna to hand over more secrets to the Soviets. Fortunately, General Guk did not act on the information provided. Shortly thereafter, Guk was declared persona non grata and sent back to Moscow, creating an opportunity for Gordievsky to assume his position.

In 1983, the Gordievsky family went for a holiday in their home country, Russia. There, Oleg's boss informed him that he had aspirations to make him the rezident, or the head of the KGB section, in London. This would be an amazing opportunity for Gordievsky, but also for MI6. This would be the first time that Britain would have access to such a high level of information in the KGB.

Things were going amazingly for Gordievsky at this time. He was acting head of the KGB directorate in London. Oleg had also played a pivotal role in ensuring Gorbachev's success in his English tour at the time. However, on 16th May 1985, he was summoned back to Moscow urgently via telegram.

RECALLED TO MOSCOW 

At this point, Oleg was particularly worried about the upcoming trip to Moscow. He feared that it would be his last. But who could have ratted him out as a double agent? Only a handful of people knew about his collaboration with Western agencies: CIA, PET, and MI6. Even fewer people knew his real identity.

The explanation from Moscow was that he had to come in person to confirm his promotion at the embassy and finalize the details. However, this was not believable because the finer points had already been discussed and planned.

The real reason was Western spy Aldrich Ames, who was a double agent for the Soviet Union for monetary gain. Due to past arrests and various expulsions, a list of twenty candidates came into his possession—names that could potentially be Western double agents against the KGB. Gordievsky's name was mentioned among them.

This would have been the perfect time for the Gordievsky family to defect to the West and assume new identities. However, Oleg felt that he was on the cusp of gathering greater intelligence and offering more than what he had given to the Western agencies so far. He was soon to be the KGB rezident in London. That would be the highest position he had ever held. At that level, the information he could access would be top secret.

Once he arrived in Moscow, he found that his apartment had been broken into and searched. Oleg knew this because a deadbolt he never used was locked at this time. 

The next day, he reported for work dutifully. He met with his boss, and a few normal days passed by. Nothing happened. Oleg knew that due to his rank as a Colonel in the KGB, he would only be arrested once concrete evidence was found of his treachery.

Gordievsky was invited to a work meeting outside of Moscow, which was a bit strange. Before this, he was invited to spend some time at his boss's dacha, which he declined. At the meeting outside of Moscow, he was given a drink spiked with truth serum and subjected to a five-hour interrogation. Oleg didn't remember everything that was asked or said, but he believed he never confessed to being a British spy, even if that was demanded of him. The interrogation ended when he passed out. He was transported to his house soon after he woke up from his collapse.

The next day, he reported to work and met his boss. In the room were his superior and several other agents. Oleg received instructions that his London position would be terminated immediately. He would be allowed to stay in the KGB, but work in a non-operational position. His family was brought back to Moscow shortly after that. 

DEFECTING TO THE WEST

At this point, Gordievsky was constantly protesting his innocence, but he knew it was futile. He realized he was living on borrowed time and decided to initiate "Operation Pimlico." He chose the option of meeting the MI6 agent at St Basil's Cathedral. As he made his way to the rendezvous point, Gordievsky doubled back several times to ensure he wasn't being followed. His obsession with secrecy was paramount. His first stop was Moscow Central Market at the designated time, where he hoped to spot the MI6 agent dressed in grey trousers and a hat, carrying a Harrods bag. 

After that, he had to wait for three Sundays. On the designated day, he went to the Lenin Museum, briefly stopping in a toilet cubicle to write his message away from prying eyes. Then, he proceeded to St Basil's Cathedral for the brush contact. However, disaster struck when the designated spiral staircase was temporarily closed. The plan was ruined and contact never made. 

Left with no choice, Oleg reverted to the original plan. He positioned himself outside Kutuzovksy Prospekt Breadshop on a Tuesday at 19:30. His father-in-law had invited him to dinner that evening, providing a convenient excuse for Oleg to be outside his home so late. While waiting for the signal, Oleg decided to buy a packet of cigarettes from a nearby store. This nearly proved disastrous as the MI6 agent on duty was momentarily confused; Oleg was known not to smoke. After a tense moment, the two made eye contact, and Oleg knew he had only a few days to finalize his preparations.

FLEEING TO FINLAND

He purchased a ticket for the train to Leningrad, which turned out to be difficult. Oleg had to evade the KGB agents who were constantly following him. Then came the agonizing wait until Friday, when he finally boarded the train.

Unfortunately, on the train, Oleg fell from his bunk bed. He sustained a head injury and arrived in Leningrad covered in blood and visibly injured. He took a taxi to Finland Station to reach Vyborg and proceed to the agreed rendezvous point. However, instead of taking a direct train, he chose to take two buses: first to Terijoki, then to Vyborg.

He arrived at the rendezvous point on Saturday at 11:00 AM but decided to hitchhike to a café for lunch, about 20 kilometers away. While at the café, two police officers were entering the cafe and approaching people. This startled Oleg and made him panic. He quickly left, hitched another ride back to the meeting point, and waited until 3:00 PM when the agents finally arrived to meet him.

Two cars pulled up, each with a couple inside: Arthur Gee and his wife Rachel in one, and the Ascot family—Roy, Caroline, and their fifteen month old baby girl, Florence—in the other. Their cover story was that Rachel had a back injury, and they were heading to Finland for a medical consultation, followed by a weekend in Helsinki for leisure.

They hid Oleg in the trunk and set off towards the Finnish border. They passed through five checkpoints without incident. However, near the final checkpoint, trouble loomed as border guards decided to use sniffer dogs. If Oleg was discovered, it would spell disaster. Caroline cleverly distracted one dog by opening a packet of Golden Wonder cheese and onion crisps, causing the handler to quickly remove the dog. When another dog began to sniff around, she strategically changed the baby's diaper, dispersing an unpleasant smell that deterred the dog. After these tense moments, they were cleared to proceed through the final passport checkpoint. They had made it!

CONCLUSION

It took six years and the collapse of the Soviet Union for Oleg to reunite with his family. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last long after this due to the time apart. 

Gordievsky continued to advise world leaders and serve the West following his defection. He assisted with military intelligence matters concerning the KGB and the Soviet Union. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Buckingham in recognition of his exceptional service to the security and safety of the United Kingdom.

Gordievsky was appointed Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for "services to the security of the United Kingdom" in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours (in the Diplomatic List). The Guardian newspaper noted that it was "the same honor bestowed on his fictional Cold War colleague James Bond."

In England, Oleg lived for many years in a safehouse in London under strict security before moving to an undisclosed location in Surrey. He never enjoyed the freedoms others did in the West due to ongoing fears of retaliation from Russia, similar to other former KGB defectors such as Litvinenko and Skripal.

Oleg authored several books about his life and his views on Russia's political direction. He remains hopeful that one day, Russia will experience the freedoms and democratic governance enjoyed in the West.

References 

• Ben Macintyre: The Spy and the Traitor
• The Guardian: Gordievsky: Russia has as many spies in Britain now as the USSR ever did
• History Extra: Oleg Gordievsky: the double agent who changed the course of the Cold War
• The Telegraph: The inside story of Oleg Gordievsky’s escape from Moscow – told by ex-MI6 chiefs
• DailyMail: How Britain's best Cold War spy was smuggled out of the Soviet Union thanks to a baby's dirty nappy and a packet of cheese and onion crisps
• SpyScape: Escape or Die: MI6’s Daring Extraction of Russian Spymaster Oleg Gordievsky