Oleg Gordievsky

The KGB colonel who spied for Britain and exposed Soviet fears before Able Archer

Overview

Oleg Gordievsky worked secretly for British intelligence from 1974 and rose to head the KGB residency in London. His reporting exposed Operation RYAN and, during the Able Archer exercise of 1983, conveyed Moscow's genuine fear of a first strike so convincingly that Western governments softened their posture. Recalled to Moscow and drugged in 1985, he escaped through Finland in the trunk of a car in an MI6 operation. He lived in Britain under protection for the rest of his life.