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passed that portion back to the KGB, which was the "smoking gun" required to confirm their suspicions. The KGB eventually discovered that he was a double agent. As part of his confession, Vetrov wrote a blistering denunciation of the Soviet system, "The
Confession of a Traitor". The KGB promised that he would not be executed if he provided a confession; Vetrov did so but was charged with treason, convicted by the
27:
219:
430:, an engineer working under Prévost. He asked for no payment or any promise of extrication to the West, since his motivation was frustration with the Soviet system, and a personal grudge against his superiors. "This totalitarian order crushes individuals and promotes discord between people", Vetrov wrote.
453:
In
February 1982, after heavy drinking caused by a cooling-off period imposed by the French, who were fearful of his discovery through too much contact, Vetrov stabbed his mistress during an argument in his car (she survived). When a man knocked on the car window, Vetrov thought his spying had been
421:
system, he decided to pass important state secrets to the west for purely ideological reasons, though he eventually and reluctantly accepted 25,500 rubles (roughly equivalent to four years of his salary). At the end of 1980 or in early 1981, he contacted Prévost, by then working in the Soviet Union,
461:
While in jail, Vetrov carelessly revealed in letters that he had been involved in "something big" before going to jail. Subsequent to that, portions of the list of Line X agents (in Vetrov's handwriting) were given to partner nations (resulting in further expulsions), one of whom had a mole which
433:
Between the spring of 1981 and early 1982, Vetrov, code-named FAREWELL, gave the DST almost 4,000 secret documents, including the complete official list of 250 Line X officers stationed under legal cover in embassies around the world and a breakdown of the Soviet espionage effort to obtain
469:
The information which Vetrov provided (400 names) enabled the western countries to expel nearly 150 Soviet technology spies around the world, including the 47 mentioned above, most of whom were from Line X. This caused the collapse of the Soviet's information program at a time when it was
416:
There, he rose through the ranks of
Directorate T, eventually supervising the evaluation of the intelligence collected by Line X agents around the world, and passing key information to the relevant users inside the Soviet Union. Having become increasingly disillusioned with the
946:
707:
442:, and several other bodies all took part in such efforts. One report states that information provided by Vetrov "neutralized 422 KGB officers and 54 Western agents (Soviet moles) working for the KGB and the USSR bloc".
338:, which recruited him. He was known by that name throughout NATO's intelligence services. The code-name was chosen as an English word so that the KGB would assume he worked for the CIA if it learned his codename.
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The information received by DST allowed France to expel 47 KGB agents from France on 5 April 1983. Arrests were also made, including Pierre
Bourdiol, whom he had himself recruited, which was considered a
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discovered, so he stabbed and killed the man. He happened to be an auxiliary policeman, likely looking for a bribe from what he thought were two people having sex in a
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who had been spying for the
Soviets for 20 years. Vetrov also provided information hinting at a Polish coup d'état (eventually found to be that by
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Authors Sergei Kostin and Eric
Raynaud have published a more complete and updated account of the Farewell dossier under the title
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370:(Laffont, Paris, 2009). This title became available in English for the first time in 2011, some thirty years after the events.
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Vladimir Vetrov was born in 1932 and grew up within the Soviet Union. After college, where he studied electronic
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802:"Book Review: Farewell — The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud"
778:"Book Review: Farewell — The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud"
751:"Book Review: Farewell — The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud"
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officer working for the KGB's 'Directorate T', which specialized in obtaining information about advanced
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particularly crucial. The U.S. created a massive operation to provide the
Soviets with faulty data and
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891:"Dossier " 30 ans de la chute de l'URSS " | Vladimir Vetrov, l'espion qui a trahi l'Union soviétique"
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in the espionage community, as it was considered a violation of protocol to burn one's own recruit.
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was released in 2009. It is based on Vetrov's life and espionage, and loosely based on the book
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and executed on 23 January 1985. News of his execution reached France in March 1985.
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and offered his services to the West. First contacts were initially made though
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scientific, industrial and technical information from the West. Members of the
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345:(1997) by Sergei Kostin. It was loosely adapted for the French film
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and technology from western countries. While there, he befriended
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294:; 10 October 1932 – 23 January 1985) was a high-ranking
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861:"A Case-Based Study of Russian Services and Missions Past"
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Bonjour, Farewell: la vérité sur la taupe française du KGB
1127:
Farewell: The
Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century
684:
Farewell: The
Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century
510:
Bonjour
Farewell: La vérité sur la taupe française du KGB
389:
for five years, beginning in 1965 when posted there as a
343:
Bonjour Farewell: La Vérité sur la Taupe Française du KGB
317:'s clandestine program aimed at stealing technology from
490:), and alleging a link between the Soviet Union and the
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parts for certain technologies, as a consequence of the
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at the end of his posting, with a subsequent posting to
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who decided to covertly release valuable information to
1120:. New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 311–327.
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authored by Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud. In 2019,
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People executed for treason against the Soviet Union
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478:. Vetrov was also responsible for exposing the spy
987:"30 Years Later, Say Hello To 'Operation Farewell'"
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51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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1261:People convicted of murder by the Soviet Union
947:"Intelligence Officer's Bookshelf, page 53-54"
708:"Intelligence Officer's Bookshelf, page 53-54"
924:, Central Intelligence Agency, archived from
8:
833:"How the Cold War was won... by the French"
592:. RLS Spy Productions LLC. 20 February 2012
1118:The Storm Birds: Soviet Post-War Defectors
918:"The Farewell Dossier: Duping the Soviets"
492:assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II
122:
1088:"Farewell, l'espion qui aimait la France"
111:Learn how and when to remove this message
422:who operated as a liaison to the French
548:
518:Farewell, l'espion qui aimait la France
1125:Kostin, Sergei; Raynaud, Eric (2011).
682:Kostin, Sergei; Raynaud, Eric (2011).
7:
49:adding citations to reliable sources
1166:Inside Soviet Military Intelligence
1086:Fines, Michèle (11 October 2020).
1039:"Spioen-Spioen 'n Ware(?) Verhaal"
324:Vetrov was assigned the code-name
14:
1256:Soviet people convicted of murder
869:Federation of American Scientists
556:Witness History (29 July 2012).
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25:
1116:Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (1989).
1018:Air & Space Forces Magazine
36:needs additional citations for
784:. 9 April 2013. Archived from
757:. 9 April 2013. Archived from
382:, he was enlisted in the KGB.
341:His history inspired the book
1:
956:. 1 June 2012. Archived from
717:. 1 June 2012. Archived from
1014:"How the Secrets Moved East"
897:(in French). 27 January 2022
586:"Vladimir Vetrov (FAREWELL)"
284:Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov
145:Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov
127:Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov
401:, an engineer working with
292:Владимир Ипполитович Ветров
134:Владимир Ипполитович Ветров
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1186:The Spies Who Made History
482:, a senior officer in the
440:Soviet Academy of Sciences
1041:. Beeld. 11 November 2011
615:(in French). R. Laffont.
611:Kostine, Sergueï (1997).
291:
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194:
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1171:Library of Maxim Moshkov
922:Studies in Intelligence
1246:Executed Soviet people
1152:"The Farewell Dossier"
916:Weiss, Gus W. (1996),
558:"The Farewell dossier"
1094:(in French). France 5
983:All Things Considered
405:. Vetrov returned to
963:on 26 September 2012
724:on 26 September 2012
498:In the popular media
361:Alexandra Maria Lara
333:intelligence service
45:improve this article
841:. 16 September 2009
488:Wojciech Jaruzelski
230:Service branch
179:Cause of death
1195:Codename: Farewell
1177:L'affaire Farewell
1129:. AmazonCrossing.
985:(21 August 2011).
928:on 27 October 2019
686:. AmazonCrossing.
484:South African Navy
348:L'affaire Farewell
247:Lieutenant Colonel
196:Espionage activity
1092:La case du siècle
1061:"Farewell Review"
788:on 7 October 2013
693:978-1-61109-026-0
622:978-2-221-07908-9
563:BBC World Service
522:La case du siècle
351:(2009), starring
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34:This article
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1236:KGB officers
1231:French spies
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1098:24 September
1096:. Retrieved
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1069:. Retrieved
1067:. 1 May 2011
1065:The Guardian
1064:
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1043:. Retrieved
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1023:24 September
1021:. Retrieved
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998:24 September
996:. Retrieved
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965:. Retrieved
958:the original
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901:24 September
899:. Retrieved
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873:. Retrieved
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843:. Retrieved
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810:. Retrieved
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648:24 September
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594:. Retrieved
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568:. Retrieved
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428:Xavier Ameil
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385:He lived in
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315:Soviet Union
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273:Double agent
213:Soviet Union
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165:(1985-01-23)
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
18:
1226:1985 deaths
1221:1932 births
1045:22 December
895:Mise à jour
520:episode of
403:Thomson-CSF
380:engineering
301:during the
187:Nationality
1210:Categories
637:"Farewell"
590:spy maniac
544:References
270:Other work
260:Operations
202:Allegiance
151:1932-10-10
101:March 2013
71:newspapers
16:Soviet spy
1198:VKontakte
1189:Le Figaro
1071:2 January
967:2 January
932:12 August
792:1 January
765:1 January
728:2 January
502:The film
472:sabotaged
419:Communist
374:Biography
182:Execution
1191:(French)
782:Hacienda
755:Hacienda
538:Cold War
527:See also
514:France 5
505:Farewell
448:faux pas
411:Montreal
326:Farewell
319:the West
303:Cold War
255:Farewell
252:Codename
1169:(1984)
992:NPR.org
812:5 April
395:science
328:by the
313:on the
288:Russian
130:Russian
85:scholar
1133:
690:
619:
516:aired
438:, the
407:Moscow
391:Line X
387:France
330:French
307:France
224:France
171:Moscow
87:
80:
73:
66:
58:
1201:video
961:(PDF)
950:(PDF)
864:(PDF)
722:(PDF)
711:(PDF)
566:. BBC
92:JSTOR
78:books
1181:IMDb
1131:ISBN
1100:2022
1073:2021
1047:2011
1025:2022
1000:2022
969:2021
934:2007
903:2022
877:2022
847:2022
814:2016
794:2021
767:2021
730:2021
688:ISBN
650:2022
617:ISBN
598:2022
572:2022
359:and
311:NATO
309:and
244:Rank
190:USSR
160:Died
141:Born
64:news
1156:CIA
954:CIA
715:CIA
436:GRU
424:DST
336:DST
299:spy
296:KGB
238:DST
234:KGB
47:by
1212::
1163:,
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