Oleg Gordievsky

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Antonovich and the family name is Gordievsky.
"Gordievsky" redirects here. For the Russian chess grandmaster, see Dmitry Gordievsky.

Oleg Gordievsky
CMG
Gordievsky in 2007
Born
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky

(1938-10-10) 10 October 1938 (age 86)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality
  • British
  • Russian
OccupationSpy (retired)
AwardsCMG
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters
Espionage activity
AllegianceSoviet Union (British secret agent since 1974)
United Kingdom
Service branchKGB
SIS/MI6
RankColonel of the KGB
CodenameSUNBEAM
CodenamePIMLICO
CodenameNOCTON
CodenameOVATION
CodenameTICKLE
Oleg Gordievsky's voice
from the BBC programme MI6: A Century in the Shadows, 3 August 2009[1]

Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky CMG (Оле́г Анто́нович Гордие́вский; born 10 October 1938) is a former colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate (rezident) and bureau chief in London.

He was a double agent, providing information to the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1974 to 1985.[2] After being recalled to Moscow under suspicion, he was exfiltrated from the Soviet Union in July 1985 under a plan code-named Operation Pimlico. The Soviet Union subsequently sentenced him to death in absentia.[3]

  1. ^ "Heroes and Villains". MI6: A Century in the Shadows. Episode 2. 3 August 2009. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Macintyre was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Spy and the Traitor review – a gripping tale of escape from the USSR". The Guardian. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2020.