Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky (born 10 October 1938 in Moscow, Russia), was a Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate (rezidentura) and bureau chief in London, who defected to the United Kingdom. He became one of the highest-ranking KGB defectors ever. October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in Leap years). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: (help· info)) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee, (Russian: (help· info); Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ... This article is about the British city. ...

Early career

Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and on completion of his studies, joined the foreign service where he was posted to East Berlin in August 1961, just prior to completion of the Berlin Wall. He joined the KGB in 1963, and was posted to the Soviet embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Russias leading educational institution in the field of international relations and diplomacy Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Russia-related stubs ... East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003. ... Copenhagen ( (help· info) IPA: ) is the capital of Denmark, and the name of the municipality (Danish, kommune) in which it resides. ...

Double agent

During his Danish posting, Gordievsky became disenchanted with his work and his country, particularly after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 – sentiment that did not go unnoticed by the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, who sent an officer from the British embassy to make contact with Gordievsky and request his services as an agent for British intelligence. The value of MI6's recruitment of such a highly-placed and valuable intelligence asset increased dramatically when, in 1982, Gordievsky was assigned to the Soviet embassy in London as the KGB Resident-designate ("rezidentura"), responsible for Soviet intelligence gathering and espionage in the UK. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service or simply Six, is the United Kingdoms external security agency. ... This article is about the British city. ...

Gordievsky was suddenly ordered back to Moscow on 22 May 1985 and arrested at the dacha of one of his superiors. It was not known how Gordievsky's cover was blown, but MI6 analysts later strongly suspected Aldrich Ames, an American CIA agent, who had been been a double agent for the KGB. Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: (help· info)) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... Dacha ▶(?) (Russian: да́ча) is a name for summer home or vacation house in Russia and CIS countries where people spend their summer holidays and grow fruit and vegetables for their own use. ... Aldrich Ames Aldrich Hazen Ames (born June 16, 1941 in River Falls, Wisconsin) is a former Central InteIIigence Agency counter-intelligence officer and analyst, who in 1994 was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...

Defection

Gordievsky was interviewed by the KGB for several weeks, and told he would never work overseas again. Although he was suspected of espionage for a foreign power, his superiors appeared to have no solid proof, and in June 1985, he was allowed to return to his Moscow flat, where he was joined by his wife and two children.

Although he almost certainly remained under KGB surveillance, Gordievsky managed to inform MI6 of his situtation, and the British concocted an audacious plan to retrieve their prize asset from the heart of Moscow.

On 19 July 1985, Gordievsky told his wife he was going jogging, but instead took a train to the Finnish border, where he was met by British embassy cars and smuggled across the border into Finland, then flown to England via Norway. His wife and children joined him in the UK six years later. July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st...

Gordievsky was featured in the PBS documentary Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy

Recent times

Gordievsky's books on KGB operations and history are considered by some to be among the best sources for reliable information about the secret operations of an obsessively secretive state.

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. Wanted was a British 1990s game show on Channel 4, although more similar to modern Reality Television than the classic gameshow format. ...

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 safety of the United Kingdom. February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Buckingham is the UKs first and only independent university. ...

Gordievsky had a letter published in the Daily Telegraph on 3 August 2005, accusing the BBC of being "The Red Service". He said: This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is largest the publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television). ...

"Just listen with attention to the ideological nuances on Radio 4, BBC television, and the BBC World Service, and you will realise that communism is not a dying creed."

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. ... World Service logo The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 33 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ...

Publications

• Gordievsky, Oleg; Andrew, Christopher (1990). KGB: The Inside Story, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-48561-2.
• Gordievsky, Oleg; Andrew, Christopher (1990). The KGB, HarperCollins. ISBN 0-060-16605-3.
• Gordievsky, Oleg; Andrew, Christopher (1991). Instructions from the Centre: Top Secret Files on KGB Foreign Operations, 1975-85, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-56650-7.
• Gordievsky, Oleg; Andrew, Christopher (1992). More Instructions from the Centre: Top Secret Files on KGB Foreign Operations, 1975-85, Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0-714-63475-1.
• Gordievsky, Oleg (1995). Next Stop Execution (autobiography), Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-62086-0.

References

• Urban, Mark (1996). UK Eyes Alpha: The Inside Story of British Intelligence, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19068-5.
• Buckingham Honours Oleg Gordievsky, University of Buckingham, 28 February 2005.

The University of Buckingham is the UKs first and only independent university. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• http://www.videofact.com/english/agents21.htm
• Oleg comments on British 'spy rock'