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Defectors have always been a volatile commodity, and while some, such as Oleg Lyalin, adjust to their new life, others, such as the KGB officers
Vladimir Kuzichkin and Viktor Makarov, found the process challenging. Both developed mental health issues, and Kuzichkin was once discovered stark naked in
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Kuzichkin graduated from the Red Banner
Institute in July 1976, and he was assigned to Directorate S, the illegal intelligence unit of the First Chief Directorate. His department was responsible for covering Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey. Kuzichkin went to Tehran, using a position as attaché at the
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According to
Kuzichkin, in the spring of 1982, he checked the cache and found that the film had disappeared. Assuming he would be blamed for the disappearance, and fearing the repercussions, he fled to the west, escaping Iran via Turkey. He was the first known officer to defect from Directorate S.
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Kuzichkin worked in the 'N Line' at the residency in Tehran, responsible for overseeing and protecting the activities of the KGB's illegal agents. His time in Iran (1977-1982) coincided with a period of political turmoil for the
Soviets in the Middle East, centered around the
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After making it to London, Kuzichkin was debriefed by MI6 and the CIA. The CIA shared details about Soviet agents in Iran with the
Khomeini regime, who in turn arrested and executed nearly 200 people. Most of those arrested or killed were members of the
403:
163:, there was another attack on the Soviet embassy, and this time the assailants were able to penetrate embassy property and cause damage; the assailants were arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and no one was hurt. The
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in Iran beginning in 1977. The details of his defection are uncertain, but he arrived in Great
Britain in October 1982. Kuzichkin gave information on Soviet operations, agents, and socialist activists to
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Upon return from Iran, Kuzichkin's KGB handler, Nikolai
Sakalin, put Kuzichkin in touch with Nikolai Korznikov, deputy head of illegal intelligence operations for the KGB. Kuzichkin was sent to the
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began in
September 1980, and gave the Khomeini regime pretense for cracking down on opposition at home. It was under these circumstances that Kuzichkin and the head of the Soviet residence,
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for the
British since early 1981, feeding MI6 intelligence for a period of 18 months. Other sources put Kuzichkin's first contact with the British at a later date, in the summer of 1982.
100:; before his departure, Kuzichkin was recruited into intelligence service by the KGB. He arrived in Iran near the end of 1973, and spent a year working as interpreter at an iron mine in
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On 1 January 1980, Kuzichkin was present when a group of civilians rushed the Soviet embassy in Tehran, apparently in response to the invasion of
Afghanistan. They were repelled by the
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regime in Iran at first tolerated the Soviets and Iranian leftist groups, but grew increasingly hostile. In Afghanistan, the Soviet Union supported the ruling Marxist-Leninist
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and its efforts to radically reform the country, which prompted widespread revolt. Soviet leadership and the KGB decided to assassinate and replace PDPA leader
155:, but leadership at the embassy ordered the destruction of all secret documents and equipment. Foreign embassies were on high-alert after the beginning of the
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171:, created and hid a secret cache of intelligence; they photographed important documents and hid the undeveloped film in the wall of the residency.
194:, with their leadership also arrested and forced to apologize on a televised broadcast. 18 Soviet diplomats were officially expelled from Iran.
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While still at the institute, Kuzichkin took an opportunity to travel to Iran and work as an interpreter for the
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a motorway service station in Somerset, resulting in his immediate hospitalisation.
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182:, in his review of Kuzichkin's memoir, claimed that Kuzichkin had been working as a
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The veracity of Kuzichkin's account and the details of his defection are unknown.
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Kuzichkin was born in Moscow in 1947 to a large family. He joined the
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for three years. Upon exiting the service, Kuzichkin enrolled at the
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with a more moderate option. Against the recommendation of the KGB,
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Soviet intelligence personnel who defected to the United Kingdom
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When Reagan first helped Khomeini, The Times, 21 November 1986
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initiated for a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
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to Great Britain. He worked as an undercover agent for the
579:"SOVIET DIPLOMAT IN IRAN DEFECTS AND FLEES TO BRITAIN"
65:published the U.S. edition in 1991 under the title
210:claimed that Major Kuzichkin ordered him to kill
111:to receive intelligence training in August 1975.
551:Anderson, Jack; Van Atta, Dale (3 April 1985).
662:Inside the KGB: My Life in Soviet Intelligence
202:After the publication of Kuzichkin's memoir,
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50:regime, which executed many of the agents.
159:. On 27 April 1980, the anniversary of the
67:Inside the KGB: My Life in Soviet Espionage
452:"The Soviets: Coups and Killings in Kabul"
605:"CIA Curried Favor With Khomeini, Exiles"
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450:Kuzichkin, Vladimir (22 November 1982).
138:People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
87:Institute of Asian and African Countries
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89:, where he studied Iranian history and
46:then provided the information to the
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577:Rattner, Steven (24 October 1982).
553:"Defection Hurt Iranian Communists"
402:Asinovskiy, Dmitry (October 2022).
119:Revolution, defection and aftermath
603:Woodward, Bob (19 November 1986).
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73:Early life and recruitment to KGB
287:Rusbridger, James (5 May 1991).
59:Inside the KGB: Myth and Reality
42:; British intelligence and the
17:Vladimir Anatolyevich Kuzichkin
224:List of Eastern Bloc defectors
130:Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
53:His memoirs were published by
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20:Владимир Анатольевич Кузичкин
660:Kuzichkin, Vladimir (1991).
640:Strzelał nie tylko Ali Agca?
249:"Kuzichkin, Vladimir, 1947-"
645:, Eva Losinska, 13 May 2011
153:Iranian Revolutionary Guard
104:and completing his thesis.
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98:Ministry of Foreign Trade
630:Gulf News, 09 March 2018
22:(born 1947) is a former
698:KGB operatives in Iran
289:"Tight Little Network"
229:List of KGB defectors
81:and was stationed in
57:in the UK in 1990 as
109:Red Banner Institute
27:foreign intelligence
538:, pp. 372–384.
502:, pp. 326–328.
490:, pp. 321–323.
478:, pp. 320–321.
421:10.1017/irn.2022.23
157:Iran hostage crisis
583:The New York Times
293:The New York Times
126:Iranian Revolution
115:embassy as cover.
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169:Leonid Shebarshin
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536:Kuzichkin 1991
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524:Kuzichkin 1991
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512:Kuzichkin 1991
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488:Kuzichkin 1991
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476:Kuzichkin 1991
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414:(4): 929–951.
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385:Kuzichkin 1991
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373:Kuzichkin 1991
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361:Kuzichkin 1991
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349:Kuzichkin 1991
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63:Pantheon Books
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212:John Paul II
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184:double agent
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29:officer who
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683:1947 births
258:24 February
192:Tudeh Party
79:Soviet Army
677:Categories
653:References
614:27 August
588:27 August
562:27 August
461:28 August
435:28 August
430:0021-0862
298:25 August
235:Footnotes
253:WorldCat
218:See also
208:Ali Agca
146:Brezhnev
134:Khomeini
128:and the
48:Khomeini
31:defected
91:Persian
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24:Soviet
616:2023
590:2023
564:2023
463:2023
456:Time
437:2023
426:ISSN
300:2023
260:2013
102:Bafq
416:doi
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44:CIA
40:MI6
35:KGB
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