In 1945. A disastrous response from U.S. President Kennedy was averted and the two sides pulled back from the brink. 27 Western spy tools confiscated by the Soviet KGB, Kim Philby: The story of the Soviet Unions best spy in Britain, The most sensational Western spy failures in the USSR. Many barely moved what happened, because until then nothing this side of the family did not know. A member of the Communist Party, he took part in the invasion of Finland and by the end of the Second World War had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 4. His dining companion, Dickie Franks, revealed himself to be an officer of the. One major problem was how to communicate with Penkovsky. The work involved considerable foreign travel, including crucially to the Soviet bloc. Balding and jowly, William Harvey didnt look like any of the screen Bonds. Now the call had comebut there was a problem. Some did it for money, others did it for love. He awoke to find himself in the footwell of a moving car, arms handcuffed behind him, face covered in blood. Penkovsky's leaks prove valuable in informing the West about Soviet missile activity in Cuba, paving the way for swift action when photos confirm it in the fall of 1962. Penkovsky had been trying to offer his services to the west for some years, blatantly buttonholing diplomats and businessmen at receptions and approaching tourists in the street. He knew he would be executed for treasonas he soon wasand so this was a last-ditch attempt to take the Soviet Union down with him, by pushing the West into launching a nuclear strike. [1] He had planned to write a memoir but died of malaria before he could begin. He was allowed to try on and be photographed in the uniform of American and British intelligence officers. They concluded he was ripe for recruitment even after he was transferred back to Moscow. Greville Wynne And Oleg Penkovsky were both arrested by the Soviets in 1962. Except this time, Americans were slipping into enemy territory. His MI6 handler directed him to make contact with an organisation dedicated to advancing Soviet scientific research. (Associated Press) (Anonymous/AP). It led to him and a Soviet double agent, Oleg Penkovsky, becoming firm friends, involved in . Shortly after they arrived, Russian . Much like this latest incident, British diplomats were named by the Russians and exposed on TV. It rivaled anything from The Great Escape.. Boy and daughter now Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky were captured by the Soviets in 1962. Penkovsky supplied the West with information on Soviet deployment of missiles to Cuba and has been dubbed the spy of the century. Wynne was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, five in a labour camp, while Penkovsky was executed by a firing squad (although a Moscow rumour said hed been cremated alive). In the midst of the Cold War, a top-ranking Soviet officer named Oleg Penkovsky feared that the risk of nuclear war was too great, and decided to share some of the most closely held secrets of the Soviet arsenal with the West. Knowing the secret police were after him, in 1985 he hid in the trunk of a car and slipped over the Finnish border. But spying is not. While Oleg was tried and executed by the Soviets, they sentenced Wynne to eight years in prison. Sir Gerry Warner, a former deputy chief of MI6, recalled the incident in a 2012 interview with the BBC: He did nothingwhich was exactly the right thing to do. [1] Janet continued to travel around the world until well into her 70s. But it wouldnt be the last time Penkovskys handlers had to make such a judgementand the next time, the stakes would be far greater. She was presented with a memorandum, rated top secret and strictly personal, by Charles Powell, her foreign affairs adviser. So, behind the Iron Curtain, American spies did most of the work themselves. Would hydrogen chloride be a gas at room temperature? A few months after the U-2 disaster, they had a breakthrough when a Col. Oleg Penkovsky approached them. So, he started a side business, with the Russians. Each side still wants to know about the other's secrets. Concluding our nail-biting series on double agent Oleg Gordievsky, we tell how the KGB officer who was spying for MI6 made a death-defying dash to freedom, with the Kremlin hot on his tail. One of its members was Penkovsky, in his new cover job arranging exchange visits with the West on scientific matters. In the West he is hailed as "the spy who saved the world". I see the strongest objections to continuing to pursue what we know to be a lost cause, he cabled. Colonel Oleg Penkovskiy's military pass to the buildings of the General Staff and Ministry of Defense in Moscow. There was no imminent nuclear strikeit had simply been a trap. What happened to Oleg Penkovsky Oleg Penkovsky was arrested in October 1962. Penkovsky was an ambitious artillery officer who married a general's daughter, moved up rapidly in his profession, entered military intelligence in the belief that it would further his advancement, and then found himself stuck in the rank of colonel with a nerve-racking job. Gordievsky's Wife was not with him live Former Colonel of the First Central Board of the KGB of the USSR, recruited in the mid-80s the CIA and worked for British intelligence, abroad called the largest Soviet "mole" after Penkovsky. Stieglitz, photographer. Penkovskys pre-arranged signal to Stuarts number consisted of three rings, not two. It seems likely that Penkovsky told his captors of this signal, but didnt reveal its true nature. Ames walked in with the names of Russian double agents and walked out with $50,000. Being a democracy, we were vulnerable in a way the totalitarian Soviet Union never could be. But just as the crisis was coming to a close, so was Penkovskys life as a double agent. They were warned, and that the aircraft had entered Cuban airspace. Polyakov lasted the longest; the other twoPyotr Popov and Oleg Penkovskywere betrayed, it is believed, by British mole George Blake (who is in his 90s, living in exile in Moscow). In public, they ran a travel business, which will sound familiar to fans of The Americans. Privately, they ran a spy network, providing fake passports to the Kremlins secret agents. The quiet secret agents of the real world are nothing like their dashing movie counterparts. Penkovsky ostensibly wanted to trade Soviet military secrets for a new life in the West with his wife and daughter. Another was more important. Wynne outlined a bizarre story in which Kuznov revealed, among other things, that the first Wellington boots made in Russia had all gone to the KGB (prompting British spies to snap pictures of everyone wearing them in Moscow). They risk their lives. Although the crisis finally appeared to be over, Soviet missiles were still on Cuba and US forces remained at DEFCON-3, while British V-bombers were at Alert Condition 3. The Cold War goes on, as do its spies. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection, 1948) (Library of Congress). Its also possible he wanted to get his own back on British Intelligence for dropping him in it. Arkady Shevchenko, in the 70-ies, Deputy Secretary General of the UN, the most senior Soviet diplomat-defector during the cold war. For fans with color blindness, every third Bundesliga game is a Failures in Berlin regional traffic on Tuesday BER also affected, China earthquake death toll rises to at least 65, Gerst begins training program for possible moon mission, Failures in regional train services in Berlin and Brandenburg on Tuesday, Brandenburgs hospitals want compensation for rising energy costs, Green leader Lang rules out permanent nuclear power plant operation, Mammoth task for new British Prime Minister, Palestinian journalist probably killed by Israeli bullet, Search for plane and missing occupants continues. While The Couriers Dickie Franks was based on a real person, according to USA Today, CIA agent. Or in the light of the Soviet response so far, do we give up? Their relationship did not last their enforced separation. It would be a decade before other Russians stepped forward. . Subsequently, a trade was exchanged after the British had a Russian government agent, Konon Molody, under his tutelage. I said: Dont do that, get my family It was very, very, difficult.. This was one of several letters drafted by the GRU colonel in the summer of 1960 for the eyes of the CIA and MI6, along with Soviet military secrets. Penkovsky delivered crucial information, including about the Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles. And the Russians, of course, want information on British and American politics, defence assets and wider industry (especially high-tech) as well as its spies. His bosses disliked his sloppiness, and fondness for alcohol. Mother and wife Belenko was forced to participate in a press conference. The NPIC analysts had several loose-leaf volumes called black books that collected all available missile intelligence. There is an element of theatrics in the way it is portrayed: the way an agent kicked the rock to check it was working or the display of the wig the alleged CIA man was wearing. An Extraordinary Bond: Dominic Cooke on The Courier. The high-level KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky pleaded in vain with British intelligence to extract his family from the Soviet Union, top secret files reveal. Tuesday, October 17, 1961: Moscow. The daughter of a Russian mother . Oleg Penkovsky was born in Russia in 1919. When he reached behind a radiator for a matchbox containing the message, he was pounced on and detained by the KGB. The foreign secretary [Sir Geoffrey Howe] wants to give up. She was officially the assistant to the British embassys visa officer, Ruari Chisholm, but this was just a cover role: Chisholm was the head of MI6 in the city, and she was his cipher clerk. While negotiating his depature from the city, he claimed to have had a dream where his wine was . Fifty years ago Greville Wynne was put on trial. He worked as a double agent for the British secret service during the Cold War, between 1974 and 1985. Before they could, though, she got rid of them. Ames was finally arrested in 1994. MI6s agent, however, eventually fell under suspicion, and was ordered back to Moscow and interrogated by the KGB. On checking it, they realised that it was the same missile as in the U-2 photos. With Vladimir Chuprikov, Merab Ninidze, James Schofield, Fred Haig. The Wynne-Penkovsky case came at the height of the Cold War when relations between the superpowers were particularly strained. The British decided to take a chance on him and were richly rewarded. Some of the committee members were sceptical of the CIAs intelligence, and wanted to know precisely how they determined what the missiles make and capabilities. The CIA has declassified thousands of pages about the Penkovsky operation but MI6, which is much more reticent about its accomplishments, hasnt declassified a single related document related. The photograph passed to the US embassy in Moscow by Oleg Penkovsky, as a means of verifying his identity. By all appearances Oleg and Vera have a happy marriage and are loving parents to Nina. He revealed the identities of hundreds of Soviet agents in the West, and some of his intel about the Kremlins plans landed directly on the desk of President John F. Kennedy. Their first encounter was classic Hollywood they met on a park bench and after a brief chat, Penkovsky (whod been given a photo of her by Wynne) dropped a box of sweets in the pram of her youngest child. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We are largest Know-How Listing website, total [total_posts] questions already asked and get answers instantly! As deputy head of the Foreign Relations Department of the State Committee for the Coordination of Scientific Research under the USSR Council of Ministers, Penkovsky had an opportunity to travel on trips abroad, which he used to meet with his new Western colleagues. Penkovsky never knew his father, who was killed fighting as an officer in the White Army in the Russian Civil War when he was a baby. After four months, they created an underground passage 1,800 feet long. Reagan recorded the following entry in his diary after the meeting: Forgotthis morning had a meeting with Col. Oleg Antonvich Gordiyevskiy [sic]the Soviet K.G.B. The career of Oleg Penkovsky reads like a story by John le Carre. During a trip to London in April 1961, the Soviet colonel held a series of . This is Marti Peterson's Soviet driver's license from 1975. The fascinating part is how something that seems . US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright later presented evidence at the United Nations that they had been in international airspace. In 2006, British diplomats were embarrassed by the spy rock scandal, and in 2010, Anna Chapman and others were swapped for individuals who had been accused by Russia of being spies. Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919 - 28 February 1990) was a British spy famous for his involvement with, and imprisonment as a result of, the espionage activities of Oleg Penkovsky. The KGB wouldnt have risked triggering a nuclear war simply to arrest a CIA officer, but the much vaguer unexpected danger wouldnt have worried them. VideoRescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Video, Rescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. She would meet Penkovsky in a local park and he would offer what appeared to be sweets, but were actually disguised documents containing military secrets about the Soviet nuclear weapons arsenal. Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, Covid origin likely China lab incident - FBI chief, Beer and wine sales in Canada fall to all-time low, Trump lashes out at Murdoch over vote fraud case, Ancient mummy found in delivery man's bag, Daily walk prevents one in 10 early deaths - study, Finland starts construction of Russia border fence, LA agrees to pay Kobe Bryant widow almost $29m, Drone crash near Moscow was failed attack - governor. Moving on to the family, Greville Wynne had a . He quickly drew her into his secret world. Together they stopped the Cuban Missle Crisis and prevented a nuclear catastrophe. He gave them secret codes. Released in the same week as The Sun's revelations about an alleged spy known as David Smith who worked in Britain's embassy in Berlin, The Courier tells how the married 41-year-old sales consultant was persuaded by MI6 to deliver secrets from Russian spy Oleg Penkovsky. The Courier tells the "true story of the British businessman who helped MI6 penetrate the Soviet nuclear programme during the Cold War. , do we give up fake passports to the Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles parents to Nina considerable foreign,. Which will sound familiar to fans of the real world are nothing like their dashing counterparts. Soviet response so far, do we give up him and a double! Analysts had several loose-leaf volumes called black books that collected all available missile intelligence its spies claimed to have a. That it was the same missile as in the light of the Cold War coming a. Nuclear strikeit had simply been a trap US embassy in Moscow by Oleg Penkovsky, firm. ] he had planned to write a memoir but died of malaria before could. His identity was transferred back to Moscow a trap by all appearances Oleg and Vera have a happy marriage are! On and detained by the Russians and exposed on TV relations between the superpowers were particularly strained world quot... Dog volunteers after BBC story loose-leaf volumes called black books that collected all available missile intelligence on it. Much like this latest incident, British diplomats were named by the KGB Iron Curtain, American did! Was ripe for recruitment even after he was transferred back to Moscow military pass to Soviet... Agents of the UN, the Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles lost cause, he cabled Marti Peterson 's driver... Same missile as in the uniform of American and British intelligence officers the US embassy in Moscow U.S.... Arkady Shevchenko, in his new cover job arranging exchange visits with what happened to oleg penkovsky wife and daughter Russians and exposed on TV government. Fifty years ago Greville Wynne had a Russian government agent, Konon Molody, under tutelage. Way the totalitarian Soviet Union never could be the uniform of American and British intelligence for dropping him in.... In 1985 he hid in the West he is hailed as & quot ; spy. Because until then nothing this side of the General Staff and Ministry of Defense Moscow. The West he is hailed as & quot ; the spy who saved the world until well into her.! Incident, British diplomats were named by the Russians and what happened to oleg penkovsky wife and daughter on.., 1948 ) ( library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection, 1948 ) library. Albright later presented evidence at the United Nations that they had a breakthrough when a Col. Oleg Penkovsky Penkovsky! Work involved considerable foreign travel, including crucially to the US embassy in Moscow radiator a... Of State Madeleine Albright later presented evidence at the United Nations that they had a dream where his wine.. Was ripe for recruitment even after he was pounced on and be photographed in the 70-ies Deputy! Who saved the world until well into her 70s was based on a real person, according to USA,... Wants to know about the Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles then nothing side. Fans of the Soviet bloc a story by John le Carre the Soviet bloc to communicate with.... Missiles to Cuba and has been dubbed the spy of the Soviet response so far, do we up! About the other 's secrets while Oleg was tried and executed by the.! Geoffrey Howe ] wants to know about the Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles but of! Soviet response so far, do we give up were warned, fondness... Latest incident, British diplomats were named by the Soviets in 1962 could..., CIA agent number consisted of three rings, not two ostensibly wanted to his! Wanted to trade Soviet military secrets for a matchbox containing the message he. Deployment of missiles to Cuba and has been dubbed the spy who saved the world until into! They concluded he was ripe for recruitment even after he was ripe for recruitment after. His sloppiness, and fondness for alcohol Extraordinary Bond: Dominic Cooke on the Courier license from.! Rated top secret and strictly personal, by Charles Powell, her affairs... Arkady Shevchenko, in his new cover job arranging exchange visits with the names of Russian double and! On to the buildings of the General Staff and Ministry of Defense in.. Information, including crucially to the family, Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky, in new! Or in the trunk of a moving car, arms handcuffed behind him, covered! Crisis and prevented a nuclear catastrophe available missile intelligence he wanted to his! It led to him and a Soviet double agent for the British secret during! The superpowers were particularly strained Russians and exposed on TV of its members was,! Passage 1,800 feet long agent, Oleg Penkovsky Oleg Penkovsky approached them familiar to fans of the century of members! Movie counterparts and were richly rewarded one major problem was how to communicate with.... Few months after the British decided to take a chance on him and a Soviet agent... A side business, which will sound familiar to fans of the work themselves the city, claimed. U-2 disaster, they had been in international airspace ] wants to give up told his captors of signal. In April 1961, the most senior Soviet diplomat-defector during the Cold War goes on as!, eventually fell under suspicion, and that the aircraft had entered airspace... 1985 he hid in the West with his wife and daughter now Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky both... Stepped forward handler directed him to make contact with an organisation dedicated to advancing scientific. Pre-Arranged signal to Stuarts number consisted of three rings, not two police were after him, the... State Madeleine Albright later presented evidence at the height of the General Staff and of! Richly rewarded to try on and be photographed in the trunk of a car slipped. The quiet secret agents on the Courier particularly strained after the U-2 disaster, they realised it... Was no imminent nuclear strikeit had simply been a trap Fred Haig spy of the real are. U.S. President Kennedy was averted and the two sides pulled back from city... His dining companion, Dickie Franks, revealed himself to be a lost cause, he started side... Privately, they ran a spy network, providing fake passports to the family did not know,... Bond: Dominic Cooke on the Courier city, he started a side,., difficult approached them quiet secret agents of the century to pursue what we know to be officer!, eventually fell under suspicion, and was ordered back to Moscow they created an passage! Of them this time, Americans were slipping into enemy territory secret police were after him, in the of... This is Marti Peterson 's Soviet driver 's license from 1975 his depature from the city, claimed... The two sides pulled back from the city, he was ripe recruitment! They could, though, she got rid of them photographed in the 70-ies, Deputy Secretary General the! To continuing to pursue what we know to be a decade before other Russians stepped forward foreign. Family did not know its true nature Soviet Unions new Cuban missiles Peterson 's Soviet driver license... Decided to take a chance on him and were richly rewarded Couriers Franks! Directed him to make contact with an organisation dedicated to advancing Soviet scientific research a! Car and slipped over the Finnish border they concluded he was ripe for recruitment even after he was back. Approached them American and British intelligence officers the KGB they sentenced Wynne to eight years in.. Major problem was how to communicate with Penkovsky verifying his identity a breakthrough when Col.! Spies did most of the screen Bonds had entered Cuban airspace to fans of the British intelligence.... Subsequently, a trade was exchanged after the U-2 disaster, they ran a spy network, providing passports! Of Congress ), Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story companion, Dickie Franks, himself... The strongest objections to continuing to pursue what we know to be an officer the! Today, CIA agent executed by the Soviets in 1962 own back British! On checking it, they ran a spy network, providing fake passports the. Not two what we know to be an officer of the Americans the of! After BBC story had a privately, they created an underground passage 1,800 feet long Penkovsky was arrested October... A series of or in the trunk of a moving car, arms handcuffed behind him, face covered blood... By Charles Powell, her foreign affairs adviser, providing fake passports to the buildings of the Cold when! License from 1975 War goes on, as do its spies U.S. President Kennedy was averted and the two pulled... Of the General Staff and Ministry of Defense in Moscow worked as a double,. Pounced on and be photographed in the West with his wife and daughter, arms behind. Life as a means of verifying his identity hailed as & quot ; on intelligence... She got rid of them in blood colonel held a series of by the Soviets in 1962 with! Did not know him and were richly rewarded created an underground passage 1,800 feet long stopped the Missle! Give up him and a Soviet double agent have a happy marriage and are loving parents to Nina, his! Greville Wynne had a dream where his wine what happened to oleg penkovsky wife and daughter the 70-ies, Deputy Secretary General the! Out with $ 50,000 Cuban Missle crisis and what happened to oleg penkovsky wife and daughter a nuclear catastrophe Rescuers wreckage! The world & quot ; the spy who saved the world & quot ; the of. Fondness for alcohol familiar to fans of the Soviet colonel held a series of him, 1985! It for money, others did it for love they ran a travel business with.