Oleg Antonowitsch Gordijewski

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Oleg Gordijewski (right) with Ronald Reagan

Oleg Gordievsky ( Russian Олег Антонович Гордиевский * 10. October 1938 in Moscow ) is a former KGB - colonel and the highest-ranking defector publicly known of the KGB in the West.

Life

Gordijewski joined the KGB in 1963 and worked, among other things, in the Soviet embassy in Denmark . He was recruited by the British secret service MI6 in 1974 and from then on acted as a double agent .

When Gordijewski became deputy resident of the KGB in London in 1982 , his value to Western intelligence agencies increased considerably. In 1983 he informed MI6 about the Soviet misinterpretation of the NATO maneuver Able Archer 83 as a potential nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union. Gordijewski's information led directly to the fact that the maneuver was not played out to the last detail in order not to further provoke the Soviet Union and to prevent a real nuclear escalation. Gordiyevsky's role during this crisis continues to be valued very highly in the United States and Britain to this day. He also provided the West with important information about the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev , even before it was officially determined that Gorbachev would be appointed as the new general secretary of the CPSU in 1985 .

In May 1985, Gordijewski was suddenly recalled to Moscow and interrogated by his organization. Unable to prove his betrayal, he was released in June. He informed MI6 in Moscow of his dangerous situation, and in July an elaborate escape operation prepared by the British secret service began, which brought Gordiyevsky via Finland and Norway to England, where he arrived in September. His family, who were meanwhile on vacation in Azerbaijan , could not follow him to England until 1991, after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher intervened with Gorbachev. The case went through the press around the world.

Gordijewski enjoys a great public reputation in Great Britain and can be seen regularly as a guest or presenter on television programs. He was made Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 . In 2005 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham .

Together with the author Christopher Andrew, he published numerous books on the KGB in which he reported on operations by the secret service that had been secret until then .

In November 2006 he accused the Russian secret service FSB of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko .

On November 2, 2007, Oleg Gordijewski was hospitalized and remained unconscious for 34 hours. After that, he was initially partially paralyzed and left numb in his fingers. Gordievsky claimed that they wanted to poison him.

Publications (selection)

  • Oleg Gordijewski, Christopher Andrew: KGB. The history of his overseas operations from Lenin to Gorbachev. Bertelsmann, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-06264-3 .

Web links

Commons : Oleg Gordievsky  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bruce Kennedy: War games. Soviets, fearing Western attack, prepared for worst in '83. In: CNN Interactive. CNN, archived from the original on June 10, 2001 ; accessed on December 25, 2014 .
  2. ↑ SOVIET TURMOIL; KGB to Allow Defector's Family to Leave. In: New York Times. August 31, 1991, archived from the original on December 25, 2014 ; accessed on December 25, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Queen warms the heart of an ice-cold spy. He used to be an ice-cold spy, now the charm of old ladies puts him mildly: Oleg Gordievsky is delighted with the Queen. In: Focus.de. October 18, 2007, archived from the original on June 19, 2007 ; Retrieved December 25, 2014 .
  4. ↑ BUCKINGHAM HONORS OLEG GORDIEVSKY. February 28, 2005, archived from the original on September 25, 2006 ; accessed on December 25, 2014 .
  5. ↑ "It was a sadistic slow murder". Dead ex-spy Litvinenko. In: Süddeutsche.de. November 24, 2006, archived from the original on September 18, 2009 ; Retrieved December 25, 2014 .
  6. ^ Sebastian Borger, London: Litvinenko case: Russians bully Great Britain. In: spiegel.de. July 18, 2007, archived from the original on November 6, 2014 ; Retrieved December 25, 2014 .
  7. ↑ JASON LEWIS, TOM MANGOLD: Police probe 'new KGB poison attack' as defector Gordievsky is found unconscious in Surrey home. April 6, 2008, archived from the original on October 10, 2014 ; accessed on December 25, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Gordijewski, Oleg Antonowitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Гордиевский, Олег Антонович
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian secret service agent and defector
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow