Oleg Penkovsky

Oleg Penkovsky was a colonel for Soviet military intelligence (GRU) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He apparently felt that Nikita Khrushchev was a dangerous thug who would lead the world to war. In 1960 and 1961 he wrote to various western individuals offering his services as a spy. These approaches were initially ignored by the CIA who thought he was a plant. He even approached some students on the Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow in July 1960.

Related Topics:
Soviet - GRU - 1950s - 1960s - Nikita Khrushchev - 1960 - 1961 - CIA - Moscow

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eventually he persuaded Greville Wynne to arrange a meeting with British intelligence officers during a visit to London in 1961. Wynne became one of his couriers. For the following eighteen months he supplied a tremendous amount of information to his SIS handlers in Moscow, Ruari and Janet Chisholm. Most significantly, he was responsible for arming President Kennedy with the information that the Soviet nuclear arsenal was smaller than previously thought before and during the face-off with Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Related Topics:
Greville Wynne - London - 1961 - SIS - Ruari and Janet Chisholm - Kennedy - Cuban Missile Crisis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1962 he was arrested by the KGB, and was tried and convicted of treason and espionage in 1963. He was shot a few days after his conviction.

Related Topics:
1962 - KGB - 1963

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~