Oleg Gordievsky

Gordievsky, Oleg. "... but I say he's the best man." Telegraph (London), 9 May 2004.

Reacting to some of the negative commentary garnered by John Scarlett's appointment to head MI6, Gordievsky states "I know John to be a man of the highest personal integrity. He was my case officer when I was [a] secret agent working for MI6 inside the KGB. He was outstandingly good at his job: careful and precise, he never jeopardised my safety -- but he always tried to ensure that I provided the information that would be of most use.... [T]he last three years he has spent as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) have given him a unique insight into the intelligence network ... now co-operating across the globe to thwart al-Qaeda."

[UK/PostCW/04]

Gordievsky, Oleg. "The KGB After the Coup." Intelligence and National Security 8, no. 3 (Jul. 1993): 68-71.

"The KGB was always significant for Gorbachev; in fact the KGB was his darling. The coup revealed that Gorbachev's best friend was a traitor."

[Russia/To89 & 90s][c]

Gordievsky, Oleg. "The KGB Archives." Intelligence and National Security 6, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 7-14.

Some odds and ends about the KGB's "extremely methodical" handling of documents and files.

[Russia/RefMats][c]

Gordievsky, Oleg. "New Memoirs from Moscow." Intelligence and National Security 11, no. 3 (Jul. 1996): 586-592.

This a review article covering eight KGB-related memoirs, seven in Russian (Bakatin, Grusjko, Kirpichenko [two books], Leonov, Lyubimov, and Shebarshio) and one in English (Kalugin), as well as Yevgenia Albats' The State within a State. Gordievsky finds Nikolai Leonov's Likholetye (The Troubled Years) the "most intriguing," and consequently the bulk of the article focuses on this work by the former "head of the information-analytic service of the FCD."

[Russia/Memoirs][c]

Gordievsky, Oleg. Next Stop Execution: The Autobiography of Oleg Gordievsky. London: Macmillan, 1995.

"Gordievsky was employed by the KGB from 1962 to 1985. After a year's training in 1962-63, he spent nine years at the Centre (1963-65 and 1970-72) and at the Copenhagen Residency (1965-70) organizing operations by KGB illegals. For the next 12 1/2 years he worked on Political Intelligence in Copenhagen (1973-78), the Centre (1976 [sic] - 82) and London (1982-85).... At the time of his escape from the Soviet Union in the summer of 1985 he held the rank of KGB Colonel and was Resident-designate in London." From "Editorial Announcement," Intelligence and National Security 5, no. 3 (Jul. 1990): 3.

For the reviewer in the Economist, 8 Apr. 1995, this autobiography "is the sort of book where you turn first to the index at the back to search out the references to your friends -- and your enemies. The heavy hand of the libel lawyers is soon apparent. In fingering British politicians, trade unionists, journalists, and others who he asserts helped the Soviet Union in one way or another, the KGB defector is outspoken about the safely dead but mealy-mouthed about the living."

Unsinger, IJI&C 9.3, finds "much new material" in Next Stop Execution. Setting this book apart from other defector literature "is Gordievsky's description of his exfiltration from the Soviet Union." His evaluation of KGB personnel is also "particularly interesting." Overall, this "is a fine addition to the literature of intelligence services in the Cold War." To Mathers, I&NS 13.2, this "is a very easy book to read.... It is written in a vivid and immediate style and contains many of the details of life inside the KGB that outsiders find so fascinating." Although there is little that is new in Gordievsky's book, its "details, anecdotes and trivia ... help to fill out our picture of the operation and attitude" of the KGB.

[Russia/DefectorLit]

Gordievsky, Oleg. "What Makes the Double Agent Tick." telegraph.co.uk, 25 Feb. 2001.

The former KGB officer suggests that the "most important component" in Hanssen's "survival as a spy ... was his decision never to meet anyone from the KGB face to face.... Hanssen's caution ensured that he never attracted any attention from the FBI's molehunters.... [H]is survival in a position where the usual life-span is measured in months rather than years is a testament to his toughness."

[FBI/00s/Hanssen]

Gordievsky, Oleg. "The Woman Who Kept My Secret." telegraph.co.uk, 5 May 2002.

The former KGB officer offers praise for Eliza Manningham-Buller's being named to head MI5 -- "the best news for the service in a decade.... [W]hat will make Eliza such a good head of MI5 isn't that she has a smooth and agreeable exterior; the secret of her success will be that she has been an exceptional operational officer."

[UK/PostCW/02]

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