Alexander Ivanovich Alexeyev (Russian: Александр Иванович Алексеев, born Shitov (Шитов); 14 August 1913 – 19 June 2001, in Moscow)[1][2] was a Soviet intelligence agent who posed first as a journalist and later a diplomat.[3] His arrival in Havana on 1 October 1959 inaugurated a new era in Cuba–Soviet Union relations. Alexeyev was later appointed as the Soviet Ambassador to Cuba, and played a vital role in easing tensions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.