What happened to the family of Dmitry Polyakov gr. In the interest of national security. Vital Miss Macy

Dmitry Fedorovich Polyakov was born in 1921 in Ukraine. After graduation high school in 1939 he entered the artillery school. Member of the Great Patriotic War, fought on the Karelian and Western fronts. For courage and heroism he was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War and the Red Star.

IN post-war years graduated from the Frunze Academy, courses of the General Staff and was sent to the Main Intelligence Directorate. From May 1951 to July 1956, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he worked in the United States under the guise of an officer for assignments at the USSR representation in the UN Military Staff Committee. In those years, Polyakov's son was born, who three months later fell ill with an incurable disease. To save the child, a complex operation costing $400 was needed.

Polyakov did not have enough money, and he turned for material assistance to the GRU resident, Major General I. A. Sklyarov. He made a request to the Center, but the leadership of the GRU refused this request. The Americans, in turn, offered Polyakov to operate on his son in a New York clinic "in exchange for some services" from the United States. Polyakov refused, and the son soon died.

In 1959 he returned to New York with the rank of colonel under the guise of the head of the secretariat of the USSR mission to the UN Military Staff Committee (the real position was the deputy resident of the GRU for illegal work in the United States).

On November 8, 1961, on his own initiative, he offered cooperation to the FBI, naming at the first meeting six names of cryptographers who worked in Soviet foreign missions in the United States. Later, he explained his act by ideological disagreement with the political regime in the USSR. At one of the interrogations, he stated that he wanted to "help Western democracy avoid the onslaught of Khrushchev's military and foreign policy doctrine."

The FBI assigned D. F. Polyakov the operational pseudonym "Tophet" ("Cylinder"). At the second meeting with the FBI on November 26, 1961, he named 47 names Soviet intelligence officers GRU and KGB, who worked in the United States at that time. At a meeting on December 19, 1961, he reported data on illegal immigrants to the GRU and the officers who kept in touch with them. At a meeting on January 24, 1962, he betrayed American GRU agents, the rest of the Soviet illegals, whom he kept silent about at the previous meeting, the officers of the GRU New York residency who worked with them, gave tips on some officers for their possible recruitment.

At a meeting on March 29, 1962, he identified in the photographs of Soviet diplomats and employees of Soviet missions in the United States, shown by FBI agents, GRU and KGB intelligence officers known to him. On last meeting On June 7, 1962, he extradited illegal Macy (captain of the GRU Maria Dmitrievna Dobrova) and handed over to the FBI a re-filmed secret document “GRU. An Introduction to the Organization and Conduct of Secret Work, later included in tutorial FBI for the training of counterintelligence officers as a separate section. He agreed to cooperate in Moscow with the US CIA, where he was assigned the operational pseudonym "Bourbon". On June 9, 1962, Colonel D. F. Polyakov set sail from the coast of the United States on the Queen Elizabeth steamer.

Shortly after returning to Moscow, Polyakov was appointed to the post of senior officer of the 3rd Directorate of the GRU. He was instructed from the position of the Center to oversee the activities of the GRU intelligence apparatus in New York and Washington. It was planned for the third trip to the United States to the post of senior assistant to the military attaché at the USSR Embassy in Washington. Carried out several covert operations in Moscow, passing secret information to the CIA (in particular, he filmed and handed over the telephone directories of the General Staff Armed Forces USSR and GRU).

After the mention of Polyakov's name in the Los Angeles Times in a report on litigation over the illegal immigrants Sanins, the leadership of the GRU found it impossible to further use Polyakov along the American line. Polyakov was transferred to the GRU department, which was engaged in intelligence in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In 1965 he was appointed to the post of military attaché at the USSR Embassy (resident of the GRU) in Burma. In August 1969, he returned to Moscow, where in December he was appointed acting head of the direction, which was engaged in organizing intelligence work in the PRC and preparing illegal immigrants for transfer to this country. Then he became the head of this department.

In 1973 he was sent as a resident to India, in 1974 he received the rank of major general. In October 1976, he returned to Moscow, where he was appointed head of the third intelligence department of the VDA, remaining on the approved list of the appointment reserve for the positions of military attache and resident of the GRU. In mid-December 1979, he again left for India to his former position as a military attaché at the USSR Embassy (senior operational chief of the GRU intelligence apparatus of the General Staff in Bombay and Delhi, responsible for strategic military intelligence in the South-Eastern region).

In 1980 he retired for health reasons. After retiring, General Polyakov began to work as a civilian in the personnel department of the GRU, gaining access to the personal files of all employees.

He was arrested on July 7, 1986. On November 27, 1987, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on March 15, 1988. Official information about the sentence and its execution appeared in the Soviet press only in 1990. And in May 1988, US President Ronald Reagan, during negotiations with M. S. Gorbachev, voiced the proposal of the American side to pardon D. Polyakov, or to exchange him for one of the Soviet intelligence officers arrested in the United States, but the request was too late.

According to the main version, the reason for exposing Polyakov was the information of the then CIA officer Aldrich Ames or FBI officer Robert Hanssen, who collaborated with the KGB of the USSR.

According to available open sources information during the time of cooperation transmitted to the CIA information about nineteen Soviet illegal intelligence agents operating in Western countries, about one hundred and fifty foreigners who collaborated with the intelligence services of the USSR and about 1,500 active employees of the intelligence services of the USSR. In total - 25 boxes of secret documents in the period from 1961 to 1986.

Polyakov also gave out strategic secrets. Because of his information, the United States learned about the contradictions between the CPSU and the CPC. He also gave away the secrets of ATGMs, which helped the US Army during Operation Desert Storm to successfully counter the anti-tank guided missiles that were in service with the Iraqis.

The retired general was arrested by the fighters of Alpha, one of the best power units in the world. The detention took place according to all the rules of the special services. It was not enough to put handcuffs on the spy, he had to be completely immobilized. FSB officer, writer and historian of special services Oleg Khlobustov explains why.

“Tough detention, because they knew that he could be provided with, say, poison for self-destruction at the time of detention, if he chose to take such a position. He was immediately changed, things were already prepared in advance to seize everything he had: a suit, a shirt, and so on,” says Oleg Khlobustov.

But isn't there a lot of noise for the detention of a 65-year-old man? The KGB did not think so. There has never been a traitor of this magnitude in the USSR. The material damage inflicted by Polyakov over the years of espionage activities amounts to billions of dollars. None of the traitors reached such heights in the GRU, and none worked for so long. For half a century, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War waged a secret war against his own, and this war did not go without human losses.

Polyakov understood that for such crimes he was threatened with execution. However, being arrested, he did not panic and actively cooperated with the investigation. The traitor probably expected to be spared his life to play a double game with the CIA. But the scouts decided otherwise.

“We had no guarantees that when the big game started, somewhere between the lines, Polyakov would not put an extra dash. This will be a signal to the Americans: "Guys, I've been caught, I'm chasing you" disinformation ", do not believe her," says Colonel Viktor Baranets.

The court sentenced Dmitry Polyakov to capital punishment, deprived him of shoulder straps and orders. Case closed forever but remains main question: why did Polyakov trample his name into the mud and cross out his whole life?

One thing is clear: he was rather indifferent to money. The traitor received about $90,000 from the CIA. If you divide them by 25 years - it turns out not so much.

“The main and urgent question is what prompted him to do this, what inspired him? Why did such a metamorphosis occur, in a person who, in general, began his fate as a hero, and, one might say, was favored by fate, ”says Oleg Khlobustov.

Polyakov called the Americans the names of Soviet intelligence officers, trying to convince them of his sincerity, he said: "I have not been promoted for more than six years." So maybe this is the motive for revenge?

“Still, there was a terrible rot, he had envy of other people, there was, it seems to me, a misunderstanding of why he was only a general, but others were already there, or why he was only a colonel, and others were already here, and there was envy this one,” says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Polyakov returned to Moscow with spy equipment and a suitcase full of expensive gifts. Entering the offices of the chiefs, he generously distributed gold watches, cameras, and jewelry. Realizing that he was beyond suspicion, he again got in touch with the CIA. As he passed the US embassy, he sent coded information using a tiny transmitter.

In addition, Polyakov arranged hiding places in which he left microfilms with secret documents copied on them. The Gorky Park of Culture is one of the hiding places called "Art". Having supposedly sat down to rest, the spy with an imperceptible movement hid a container disguised as a brick behind the bench. A prearranged signal that the container had been taken away was supposed to be a strip of lipstick on the bulletin board near the Arbat restaurant.

Military journalist Nikolai Poroskov writes about intelligence. He met with many people who personally knew the traitor, and accidentally discovered little known fact his biography, and talks about it for the first time.

“Most likely, there is such unconfirmed information that his ancestors were prosperous, his grandfather is there, maybe his father. The revolution broke everything, he had a genetic dislike for the existing system. I think he worked on an ideological basis,” Poroskov said.

But even so, it hardly explains the betrayal. Alexander Bondarenko is a writer and historian of special services, a laureate of the Foreign Intelligence Service Prize. He studied in detail the various motives for betrayal and declares with confidence that ideology has nothing to do with it.

“Sorry, he fought against specific individuals. Enough, still prepared, educated person who understands that the system, by and large, is neither cold nor hot. He handed over specific people,” says Bondarenko.

While continuing to spy for the CIA, Polyakov tried to get himself sent abroad again. It will be easier to work there. However, someone nullified all his efforts, and this someone, apparently, was General Ivashutin, who was in charge of military intelligence in those years.

“Pyotr Ivanovich said that he immediately did not like Polyakov, he says: “He sits, looks at the floor, does not look into his eyes.” Intuitively, he felt that this person was not very good, and he transferred him from the sphere of undercover strategic intelligence, transferred him first to selection civilian personnel. That is, where there were not very many state secrets, and therefore Polyakov was cut off from them, ”says Nikolai Poroskov.

Polyakov, apparently, guesses everything, and therefore he bought the most expensive and impressive gifts for Ivashutin.

“To Pyotr Ivanovich Ivashutin, Polyakov once brought from India two colonial English soldiers carved from a rare tree. Beautiful figures,” says Poroskov.

Alas, the bribery attempt failed. The general was not there. But Polyakov instantly figured out how to turn the situation in his favor. He made sure that he was sent abroad again. Knocked out this decision, bypassing Ivashutin.

“When Pyotr Ivanovich was somewhere on a long business trip, or on vacation, there was an order to transfer him, again, back. Someone took responsibility, and in the end, Polyakov, after the United States there was a long break, then he was sent as a resident to India, ”explains Nikolai Poroskov.

In 1973, Polyakov went to India as a resident. There, he again deploys active espionage activities, convincing his colleagues that he is taking American diplomat James Flint into development, he actually transmits information through him to the CIA. At the same time, not only no one suspects him, he also receives a promotion.

"How else? He has a security certificate - 1419 days at the front. Wounds, military awards - medals, and the Order of the Red Star. Plus, by that time, he had already become a general: in 1974 he was awarded the rank of general,” says Igor Atamanenko.

In order for Polyakov to receive the rank of general, the CIA had to spend money. The criminal case includes expensive gifts made by him to the head of the personnel department, Izotov.

“It was the head of the personnel department of“ the entire GRU ”by the name of Izotov. Polyakov communicated with him, because promotions and so on depended on him. But the most famous gift that has come to light is the silver service. By Soviet times, it was God knows what. Well, he also gave him a gun, because he himself was fond of hunting, and Izotov seemed to be fond of it, ”says Nikolai Poroskov.

The rank of general provided Polyakov with access to materials that were not related to his direct duties. The traitor received information about three American officers who worked for the Soviet Union. And for one more valuable agent- Frank Bossard, an officer of the British Air Force.

“There was a certain Frank Bossard - this is an Englishman. This is not an American, this is an Englishman who was involved in the implementation and testing of guided missiles. He handed over, again, not to Polyakov, he handed over to another officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate, pictures of technological processes: how the tests are carried out - in short, he handed over a set of secret information, ”says Igor Atamanenko.

Polyakov took photographs sent by Bossard and forwarded them to the CIA. The agent was fired immediately. Bossard received 20 years in prison. But Polyakov did not stop there. He took out a list of military technologies that are being obtained through intelligence efforts in the West.

“In the late 70s and 80s, the United States imposed a ban on the sale of all kinds of military technologies to the Soviet Union, any. And even some small parts that fell under this technology were blocked by the Americans and were not sold. Polyakov said that there are five thousand directions that help the Soviet Union to buy this secret technology from countries through figureheads, through third states. Indeed, it was so, and the Americans immediately cut off the oxygen, ”says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

There is a significant question in this story: who and when first went on the trail of the “mole”? How and with what help was Polyakov exposed? There are many versions of this. Renowned historian special services - Nikolai Dolgopolov - I am sure that Leonid Shebarshin was the first to suspect Polyakov, he was the deputy resident of the KGB in India just when Dmitry Fedorovich worked there.

“Their meeting took place in India, in 1974, and if then Shebarshin’s remarks had been paid attention, perhaps the arrest would have occurred not in 1986, but much earlier,” says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Shebarshin drew attention to the fact that in India, Polyakov did much more than his position required of him.

“A person of his profession, in fact, should do this - meet with diplomats, and so on - but Colonel Polyakov had a lot of sources. There were a lot of meetings. Often these meetings went on for a very long time, and PSU foreign intelligence drew attention to this, ”explains Dolgopolov.

But not only this alarmed Shebarshin. He noticed that Polyakov did not like his colleagues from foreign intelligence, and on occasion tried to expel them from India. It seemed that they were interfering with him in some way, while in public he was very friendly with them and loudly praised them.

“Another moment that seemed rather strange to Shebarshin (I don’t say suspicious - strange) is that always and everywhere and with everyone, Polyakov, except for his subordinates, tried to be a close friend. He literally imposed his relationship, he sought to show that he was kind and good man. Shebarshin could see that this was a game,” says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Finally, Shebarshin decided to speak frankly about Polyakov with his superiors. However, his suspicions seemed to run into a cotton wall. They did not even think of arguing with him, but no one gave a move to the matter.

“Yes, there were people in the structures of the GRU, they held small positions there, majors, lieutenant colonels, who also more than once stumbled upon certain facts in Polyakov’s work that raised doubts. But then again, this damned self-confidence of the leadership of the then Main Intelligence Directorate, it often, I emphasize this word - often, forced the then leadership of the GRU to dismiss these suspicions, ”says Viktor Baranets.

Polyakov acted like a high-class professional and made almost no mistakes. Destroyed all evidence instantly. He had ready answers to all questions. And who knows, perhaps he would have come out unscathed if not for the mistakes made by his masters in the CIA. In the late 70s, a book by the head of counterintelligence James Angleton was published in America.

“He was suspicious of every person who worked in his department. He did not believe that there are people like Polyakov who do this out of absolutely some kind of their convictions, ”says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

James Angleton did not even consider it necessary to hide information about Polyakov, because he was sure that the Bourbon agent, as the agent was called in the CIA, was a setup for Soviet intelligence. Naturally, Angleton's literary opus was read to the holes in the GRU.

“He set up completely, I think by accident, Polyakov, saying that there is such an agent in the Soviet UN mission or there was such an agent, and there is another agent, that is, two agents at once. This, of course, could not but alert people who should read such things on duty, ”explains Dolgopolov.

Was Angleton's book the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience, or rather trust? Or maybe the GRU got a few more pieces of evidence against Polyakov? Be that as it may, in the 80th year his prosperity ends. The traitor is urgently summoned from Delhi to Moscow, and here he is allegedly found to have heart disease, due to which foreign trips are contraindicated.

“It was necessary to somehow pull Polyakov out of Delhi. Created a commission. This did not surprise him, because all the time those who work abroad are checked quite regularly. And he was also checked and found out that his health is not good. Polyakov immediately suspected something was wrong, and in order to return to India, he went through another commission, and this made people even more alert. He so wanted to return. And in fact, at this very moment, it was decided to part with him, ”says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Polyakov is unexpectedly transferred to the Pushkin Institute of Russian Literature. Its task is to look closely at the foreigners who study there. In fact, they simply decided to keep the spy away from state secrets.

“He is worn out, his nerves are strained to the limit. Every sneeze, whisper behind his back is already turning into the rattling of handcuffs. It already seems that they are rattling handcuffs. Well, then, when he was sent to the Institute of the Russian Language, well, everything became clear to him,” says Igor Atamanenko.

And yet, there was not a single convincing evidence against Polyakov. He continued to work in the GRU as a secretary of the party committee. Here, the retiree easily figured out illegal intelligence officers who had gone on long business trips. They were absent from party meetings and did not pay dues. Information about such people was immediately sent to the CIA. Polyakov was sure that this time, too, suspicions bypassed him. But he was wrong. The counterintelligence of the USSR State Security Committee was forced to intervene in the matter.

“In the end, it turned out that the documents ended up on the desk of the then head of the KGB, and he set the matter in motion. Surveillance was established, all counterintelligence departments of all departments worked together. Technicians worked. And "outdoor" found some things. I think that, as it seems to me, some hiding places were also discovered in Polyakov's country house, otherwise they would not have taken him so confidently, ”says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

In June 1986, Polyakov noticed a chipped tile in his kitchen. He realized that the house had been searched. After a while, the telephone rang in his apartment. Polyakov picked up the phone. The rector of the Military Diplomatic Academy personally invited him to speak to graduates - future intelligence officers. The traitor breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, they searched for hiding places in his apartment, but they did not find anything, otherwise he would not have been invited to the academy.

“Polyakov immediately began to call back and find out who else received an invitation. Because, you never know, maybe they are going to tie him up under this pretext. When he called several of his colleagues, among whom were also participants in the Great Patriotic War, and established that yes, they were all invited to the celebration at the Military Diplomatic Academy, he calmed down,” says Igor Atamanenko.

But in the building of the Military Diplomatic Academy at the checkpoint, a capture group was waiting for him. Polyakov realized that this was the end.

“And right there he was taken to Lefortovo, and right there they put him in front of the investigator. This is what Alpha calls shock therapy. And when a person is in such shock, he begins to tell the truth,” says Atamanenko.

So what pushed Polyakov to a monstrous, in its scope, betrayal? None of the versions sounded convincing enough. The general did not seek enrichment. Khrushchev was, by and large, indifferent to him. And he hardly blamed his colleagues for the death of his son.

“You know, having been analyzing the origins of betrayal, the root causes of betrayal for a long time, these starting psychological platforms that make a person go to the betrayal of the motherland, I came to the conclusion that there is one side of betrayal, which has not yet been studied either by journalists or by the scouts themselves, neither by psychologists, nor by doctors, and so on, ”says Viktor Baranets.

Viktor Baranets carefully studied the materials of the investigation into the Polyakov case. In addition, on the basis of personal observations, he managed to make an interesting discovery.

“It is the desire to betray, to have two faces, and to enjoy even that. Today you are in the service, such a brave officer, a patriot. You walk among people, and they do not suspect that you are a traitor. And a person experiences the highest concentration of adrenaline in the mind, in general in the body. Betrayal is a whole complex of reasons, one of which serves as a small mental reactor that starts this vile complex of human deeds that makes a person betray,” Baranets believes.

Perhaps this version explains everything: the thirst for risk, and hatred of colleagues, and inflated conceit. Over the years of his espionage activities, the general was repeatedly offered to flee to America, but Polyakov invariably refused the invitation of Uncle Sam. Why? This is another unsolved mystery.

Onamid hysteria surrounding the poisoning of former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal

many managed to forget a little about the character of this story, and that
he was far from the first traitor in the ranks of the scouts.

Ideological and vindictive

In the summer of 1986, Alfa fighters in Moscow detained a retired GRU officer, Major General Dmitry Polyakov.

The general went to the Military Diplomatic Academy for the graduation of future
scouts. It turned out that the front-line soldier Polyakov had been spying on
Americans. Even after his resignation, he leaked to Washington a dossier of acting
GRU officers.

The most striking thing is that Polyakov became a traitor not for the sake of money, no one

he was not blackmailed - he himself offered his services. During the interrogation he said
that for ideological reasons: he was not satisfied with the Khrushchev thaw,
the time of which trampled "Stalinist ideals". But still in the first place
there was revenge.

Agent Cylinder

In November 1961, Polyakov worked in the New York residency of the GRU. His

the youngest son got a heart complication after a cold. save the child
could have been an expensive operation - $ 400 at that time were
crazy money. The GRU denied Polyakov financial assistance, And
the boy died. Literally the next day, the Soviet resident went
offer their services to Americans. First he did a little work for the FBI,
but already in 1962 he became a CIA agent with the pseudonym Cylinder.

Back in 1961, Polyakov handed over 47 GRU and KGB intelligence officers who were then working in

America. He did not spare the GRU illegal immigrants either. Gave tips on officers
intelligence that you can try to recruit. In -1962 he pointed to
Soviet diplomats and permanent representatives to the United States, who turned out to be intelligence officers. In summer
as if nothing had happened, he returned to Moscow and received a new appointment -
supervised the activities of the GRU intelligence apparatus in New York and Washington.
Can you imagine what kind of activity the traitor launched with such
powers?! Even photographs of the telephone directory went to America
The General Staff of the USSR and the GRU!

For more than 20 years of work for the Americans, Polyakov leaked thousands of

documents in which they specifications most
secret Soviet weapons. Since his career was connected not only
with the United States, but also with Asia, India, the CIA got the data of illegal immigrants and
agents of the USSR in this region. Polyakov's information on China helped
Americans in the early 70s to "cut a window" in the PRC. Having already retired
1981, the major general continued to benefit the CIA. flashed
several illegal immigrants who were in the United States under the guise of immigrants.
After retiring, Polyakov began to work as a civilian in the management
GRU personnel and got access to the personal files of all employees ...

Reagan did not save

The general was first suspected in the late 70s, and then after
the American media deliberately leaked allusions to his espionage activities. At
American intelligence officers and politicians had their games. The GRU refused
believe that one of the most distinguished military intelligence generals can
be a traitor. And yet, the counterintelligence of the USSR brought this matter to an end.
Information on the Cylinder was given by those who collaborated with the KGB of the USSR Aldrich Ames(CIA) and Robert Hanssen(FBI).

On November 27, 1987, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR Polyakov was
sentenced to be shot. The sentence was carried out on March 15, 1988.
Information about this was not disseminated, therefore, in May, the President of the United States Ronald Reagan during negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev offered to exchange Polyakov for any intelligence officer arrested in the United States.

The victim of the traitor general was not only people. In 1991, when

Polyakov had already been shot, the Americans during the war in Persian
Gulf successfully used the information he stole, destroying Iraqi
Soviet-made anti-tank missiles.

photo: Frame youtube.com / Dmitry Polyakov in the courtroom.

Greedy and lucky

But the doctor of science Vladimir Potashov President Reagan, on the contrary, was able to help a lot - he safely left for America in the 90s.

In the history of US intelligence there is definitely a chapter about the Potashov incident - scientist

managed to offer himself as a spy to the Minister of Defense himself Harold Brown.
In 1976, Vladimir Potashov worked as an interpreter for Brown, who then
arrived in Moscow as Commander-in-Chief of the US Air Force. Soon after the visit, Potashov
an invitation to visit the USA. In 1981 Institute of the USA and Canada of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR
sent a senior researcher of the department of military-political problems
on a long-term business trip to Washington for negotiations on limiting
strategic weapons.

Shocked the minister

Harold Brown had already become a minister by that time. He considered his mission

completed and entrusted the Russian to his adjutant. However, Potashova
this arrangement did not work. Having seized the moment, he grabbed the minister under
elbow and whispered in his ear: “Mr. Minister, I ask you to arrange for me
private meeting with a CIA officer." Stunned by such impudence, Brown
arranged a meeting. This is how the recruitment of the Medium's agent took place.

At the very first meeting with the curator, the scientist demanded to open in his name

bank account. And the CIA realized what thread you can pull this
agent. The business trip was running out, in Langley they organized for the Medium
an accelerated course in the basics: encryption and decryption, cryptography,
radio broadcast, etc. Thanks to the Medium, the Americans learned many
Moscow at the talks between the US and the USSR on medium-range nuclear weapons
range. In 1983, the Medium advised the CIA on the position Yuri Andropov on
next round of disarmament talks. Breakthrough of secret analytics
went to the ocean. From him in Washington they learned about the creation in the structure
Ministry of Defense of the USSR Command of the Military Space Forces. And at the same time he
announced the reasons for the delay in the launch of the Soviet spacecraft
reusable. Potashov's reports were not only very helpful
The United States to build relations with the USSR in the 80s, but also later to some extent
contributed to the adoption of decisions on the expansion of NATO to the east and withdrawal from
ABM treaties.

Handbook issued

The Medium got burned on his greed. Getting generously paid, traitor

went into all serious trouble: young mistresses, to whom he gave fur coats and
decorations, spree in all the cereal establishments of the capital, etc. Agent
I wanted to get more money for my services. He didn't come up with anything.
smarter, how to steal a reference book from the director's office of your institute
government communications. But it didn’t work out to hit the jackpot: he was only
only "for official use" and Washington was not interested. And here
counterintelligence officers became interested in Potashov. The scientist was arrested in 1986.

A medium who caused damage to the country in the billions

dollars, should, of course, have been shot, but he is fantastic
lucky. Ronald Reagan, who was on a visit to Moscow, during
informal dinner hinted: "Mr. Gorbachev, espionage is war
no corpses, right? The President of the USSR took the hint: the scientist received 13
years, of which he served only 6. In 1992, Potashov was released
amnesties. He immediately received a passport and departed overseas. In the USA he
were given an allowance from the government as "a person injured as a result of
collaboration with the CIA.

Dmitry Polyakov is a hero of the Great Patriotic War, a retired GRU major general who has been an American spy for more than twenty years. Why did the Soviet spy betray the USSR? What pushed Polyakov to treason, and who was the first to go on the trail of the mole? unknown facts and new versions of the loudest story of betrayal in the documentary investigation of the Moscow Trust TV channel.

traitor in general uniform

A retired general is arrested by Alpha, one of the best security forces in the world. The detention takes place according to all the rules of the special services. It is not enough to put handcuffs on a spy, he must be completely immobilized. FSB officer, writer and historian of special services Oleg Khlobustov explains why.

"Tough detention, because they knew that he could be equipped with, say, poison for self-destruction at the time of detention, if he preferred to take such a position. He was immediately changed, things had already been prepared in advance to seize everything that he had : suit, shirt, and so on," says Oleg Khlobustov.

Dmitry Polyakov

"He gave away 1500, mind you this figure, GRU officers, and foreign intelligence too. This figure is huge, I don't know what to compare it with," says Nikolai Dolgopolov, a historian of the special services.

Polyakov understands that for such crimes he faces execution. However, being arrested, he does not panic, and actively cooperates with the investigation. The traitor is probably counting on being spared his life to play a double game with the CIA. But the scouts decide otherwise.

“We didn’t have any guarantees that when the big game started, somewhere between the lines, Polyakov would put an extra dash. This would be a signal to the Americans: “Guys, I’m caught, I’m chasing you with misinformation, don’t believe her,” says the military Viktor Baranets.

"Rotten" initiative

The court sentences Polyakov to capital punishment, deprives him of shoulder straps and orders. On March 15, 1988, the sentence was carried out. The case is closed forever, but the main question remains: why did Polyakov trample his name into the mud and cross out his whole life?

One thing is clear: he was rather indifferent to money. The traitor received about $90,000 from the CIA. If you divide them by 25 years - it turns out not so much.

“The main and urgent question is what prompted him to do this, what inspired him? Why did such a metamorphosis occur in a person who, in general, began his fate as a hero, and, one might say, was favored by fate,” says Oleg Khlobustov.

October 30, 1961, New York. In US Colonel Fahey's office, the phone rings. The person on the other end of the line is visibly nervous. He demands a meeting with the head of the American mission at the UN military staff committee and gives his name: Colonel Dmitry Polyakov, military attaché at the Soviet embassy. That same evening, Fahey calls the FBI. Instead of the military, the feds will come to meet with Polyakov, and this will suit him perfectly.

“When, for example, someone comes to the embassy and says, “I have such intelligence capabilities, let me work for you,” what are the first thoughts of intelligence? That this is a provocation, that this is crazy, that this is a swindler, who wants to start what is called a paper mill, and this person is being checked for a long time and carefully,” explains Alexander Bondarenko, a historian of the special services.

At first, the FBI does not believe Polyakov, they suspect that he is a double agent. But an experienced scout knows how to convince them. At the first meeting, he gives out the names of cryptographers working in the Soviet embassy. These are the people through whom all secrets pass.

“They already had suspicions about a number of people who could be cryptographers. Here’s a check for you, whether he will name these names or will bluff. But he gave the true names, everything coincided, everything came together,” says Igor Atamanenko, a veteran of KGB counterintelligence .

After the issuance of the cryptographers, there are no more doubts. The FBI agents understand that they have an "initiative" in front of them. So in intelligence they call people who voluntarily cooperate. Polyakov receives the pseudonym Top Hat, that is, "Cylinder". Later, the feds will hand him over to their CIA counterparts.

“To prove that he was not a set-up, that he was a sincere “initiator”, he crossed what is called the Rubicon. The Americans understood this, because he gave out the most valuable thing that is in military intelligence and the foreign intelligence service. The Americans then understood: yes , give out cryptographers - there is no turning back," Nikolai Dolgopolov explains.

Beyond the foul

Having crossed the line, Polyakov feels a pleasant chill from the danger, from the fact that he walks on the edge of a knife. Later, after his arrest, the general confesses: “At the heart of everything was my constant desire to work on the verge of risk, and the more dangerous, the more interesting my work became.” KGB Lieutenant Colonel Igor Atamanenko wrote dozens of books about intelligence. He studied the Polyakov case thoroughly, and such a motive seems to him quite convincing.

"When he worked, his first business trip, he was a bureaucrat, he was not an intelligence officer. Most of all, he risked when he dragged chestnuts from the fire for the central intelligence agency. That's when the risk appeared, that's when adrenaline, that's when this drive, you know what is now called," says Atamanenko.

Indeed, in New York, Polyakov works under the cover of the Soviet embassy. Nothing threatens him, unlike the illegals whom he supervises, and who, if they fail, will lose everything. But is Polyakov really not enough risk, because in case of danger, he is obliged to cover his employees, if necessary - at the cost of his own life.

In the meeting room of the XX Congress of the CPSU in the Kremlin. Speaker First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev. Photo: ITAR-TASS

“This happened when agents are rescued, when illegal employees are rescued, so there is any risk in intelligence, and to consider that he had an official job when he had to work with intelligence officers, in intelligence, this no longer holds water,” says Alexander Bondarenko.

Polyakov, on the other hand, does exactly the opposite. He turns over illegal immigrants unknown to him to the FBI. For a whole hour, Polyakov names the names of Soviet intelligence officers, trying to convince of his sincerity, he drops the phrase: “I have not been promoted for more than six years.” So maybe here it is - a motive for revenge?

"Still, there was a terrible rot, there was envy of other people, there was, it seems to me, a misunderstanding of why I am only a general, but others are already there, or why I am only a colonel, and others are already here, and there was this envy ", - says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Homecoming"

Six months after recruitment, Polyakov's stay in the United States ends. American counterintelligence offers to continue his work in the USSR and he agrees. June 9, 1962, a recruited GRU colonel returns to Moscow. But at home he is seized by panic, he shudders at every sound, he thinks about confessing everything.

"There were people who, in general, with honor and dignity came out of such difficult life situations who found the courage to come and say: “Yes, I didn’t behave correctly, I got into such a compromising situation, but, nevertheless, here I declare that there was a recruiting approach, that there was an attempt to recruit me "To the extent that people were released from criminal liability," says Oleg Khlobustov.

However, the FBI seems to be reading his mind. If he hopes for forgiveness, he is informed that Agent Maisie has killed herself. This is the captain of the GRU - Maria Dobrova. Polyakov handed it over just before leaving, as a parting gift. The traitor understands: he has gone too far, and there is no turning back.

“Only after Polyakov was exposed, he said that “I, too, so I handed her over, and then the FBI told me, the Americans told me that, therefore, she preferred to commit suicide,” maybe in order to make such a hairpin, and vice versa, tie him directly with blood, the blood of a devoted intelligence officer," says Oleg Khlobustov.

Polyakov returns to Moscow with spy equipment and a suitcase full of expensive gifts. Entering the offices of the chiefs, he generously distributes gold watches, cameras, pearl jewelry. Realizing that he is beyond suspicion, he again gets in touch with the CIA. As he passes the US embassy, he sends coded information using a tiny transmitter.

In addition, Polyakov arranges hiding places in which he leaves microfilms with secret documents copied on them. Gorky Park of Culture - one of the hiding places, called "Art", was located here. Having supposedly sat down to rest, the spy with an imperceptible movement hid a container disguised as a brick behind the bench.

“Here is a park of culture and recreation, a lot of people are resting, noisy and cheerful crowds - then they came there to drink beer, relax, ride a wheel - a respectable man sits, and he falls back on the bench, puts his hand, and the Americans receive a report,” says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

A conditional signal that the container was taken should be a strip of lipstick on the notice board near the Arbat restaurant, but it is not there. Polyakov is terrified. And only a few days later, looking through the New York Times, he sees an ad in the private column.

The encrypted message says the following: "Letter received from Art." The spy breathes a sigh of relief. And yet, in the name of what all this risk, all this effort?

It's all Khrushchev's fault

"The version is that Polyakov was an ardent "Stalinist", and after the well-known persecution of Stalin began, when Khrushchev, whose hands were not only up to the elbow, but up to the shoulders in blood after the Ukrainian executions, he decided way to wash off on the image of Stalin, you know, and it supposedly became so powerful psychological shock, according to the political worldviews of Polyakov," says Viktor Baranets.

When Polyakov called the enemy headquarters, Nikita Khrushchev was in power in the USSR. His impulsive actions exacerbate relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Khrushchev intimidates the West with his catchphrase: "We make rockets like sausages on a conveyor belt."

“Under Khrushchev, the so-called “atomic diplomacy” began. This is the development of missile weapons, this is a transition, a refusal, as it were, from surface ships and a transition, reliance on submarines armed nuclear weapons. And so a certain Khrushchev's bluff began, in the sense that the Soviet Union has a very powerful nuclear potential," says Natalia Egorova.

Nikita Khrushchev on the podium, 1960 Photo: ITAR-TASS

But few people realize that this is a bluff. Oils are added to the fire by Nikita Sergeevich's insane speeches at the UN in October 1960, during which he allegedly knocks on the table with his shoe, expressing disagreement with one of the speakers.

Doctor historical sciences Natalia Egorova runs the Center for the Study cold war V Russian Academy Sciences. Having studied the facts about Khrushchev's speech, she came to the conclusion that there was no shoe on the table, but there was an international scandal, and not a small one at that.

“Then, in general, there were fists, watches, but since Gromyko, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was sitting next to him, he did not know how to behave in this situation, he supported Khrushchev, so the knock was powerful. Plus, Khrushchev shouted out all kinds of words of indignation,” says Natalia Egorova.

According to some reports, during this speech, Polyakov stands behind Khrushchev. At that time, he works at the UN military staff committee. The world is on the brink of a third world war, and all because of the absurd general secretary. Perhaps it was then that the future spy was filled with contempt for Khrushchev.

But Nikita Sergeevich will be dismissed in a few years, and the activities of the mole-record holder will by no means stop there. But what if Polyakov hates not so much Khrushchev as the entire Soviet ideology.

genetic dislike

Military journalist Nikolai Poroskov writes about intelligence. He met with many people who personally knew the traitor, and accidentally discovered a little-known fact of his biography, and tells about it for the first time.

“Most likely, there is such unconfirmed information that his ancestors were prosperous, his grandfather was there, maybe his father. The revolution broke everything, he had a genetic dislike for the existing system. I think he worked on an ideological basis,” Poroskov believes.

Petr Ivashutin

"Sorry, he fought against specific individuals. A sufficiently prepared, educated person, who understands that the system, by and large, is not cold, not hot. He handed over specific people," says Bondarenko.

While continuing to spy for the CIA, Polyakov tries to get himself sent abroad again. It will be easier to work there. However, someone nullifies all his efforts, and this someone, apparently, is General Ivashutin, who was in charge of military intelligence in those years.

“Pyotr Ivanovich said that he immediately did not like Polyakov, he says: “He sits, looks at the floor, does not look into his eyes.” Intuitively, he felt that the person was not very good, and he transferred him from the sphere of undercover strategic intelligence, transferred him first in the selection of civilian personnel. That is, there were not very many state secrets, and therefore Polyakov was cut off from them, "says Nikolai Poroskov.

Polyakov, apparently, guesses everything, and therefore buys the most expensive and impressive gifts for Ivashutin.

"Pyotr Ivanovich Ivashutin once Polyakov brought from India, already, two colonial English soldiers carved from a rare tree. Beautiful figures," says Poroskov.

Alas, the bribery attempt fails. The general is not there. But Polyakov instantly figured out how to turn the situation in his favor. He wants to be sent abroad again. Knocks out this solution bypassing Ivashutin.

“When Pyotr Ivanovich was somewhere on a long business trip, or on vacation, there was an order to transfer him, again, back. Someone took responsibility, and in the end, Polyakov, after the USA there was a long break, then he was sent resident in India," explains Nikolai Poroskov.

Double game

"But how? He has a letter of protection - 1419 days at the front. Wounds, military awards - medals, and the Order of the Red Star. Plus, by that time, he had already become a general: in 1974 he was awarded the rank of general," says Igor Atamanenko .

In order for Polyakov to receive the rank of general, the CIA had to spend a little money. The criminal case includes expensive gifts made by him to the head of the personnel department, Izotov.

“It was the head of the personnel department of the entire GRU, by the name of Izotov. Polyakov communicated with him, because promotions and other things depended on him. But the most famous gift that was discovered was a silver service. In Soviet times, it was God knows what. Well, a gun he gave it to him, because he himself was fond of hunting, and Izotov seemed to be fond of it," says Nikolai Poroskov.

The rank of general provides Polyakov with access to materials that are not related to his direct duties. The traitor receives information about three American officers who worked for the Soviet Union. And another valuable agent - Frank Bossard, an employee of the British Air Force.

"There was a certain Frank Bossard - this is an Englishman. This is not an American, this is an Englishman who was involved in the implementation, testing of guided missiles. He handed over, again, not to Polyakov, he handed over to another officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate, pictures of technological processes: how tests are being carried out - in short, a set of secret information was handed over," says Igor Atamanenko.

Polyakov takes pictures sent by Bossard and forwards them to the CIA. The agent is immediately calculated. Bossard gets 20 years in prison. But Polyakov does not stop there. He pulls out a list of military technologies that are being obtained through intelligence efforts in the West.

“At the end of the 70-80s, a ban was imposed on the sale to Russia, the Soviet Union, of all kinds of military technologies, of any kind. And even some small parts that fell under this technology were blocked by the Americans and were not sold. Polyakov said that there are five thousand directions that help the Soviet Union to buy this secret technology from countries through dummies, through third states. It really happened, and the Americans immediately cut off the oxygen, "says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Son's death

What is Polyakov trying to achieve? To whom and for what is revenge? His career is going great: he has a wonderful family, a beloved wife, and a couple of sons. But few people know that this family happened to experience great pain.

In the early 50s, Dmitry Fedorovich worked undercover in New York. During these years, his first child is born. But shortly after birth, the boy is near death. Only an urgent and expensive operation can save him. Polyakov turns to the leadership of the residency for help. But no money is sent, and the child dies.

“And you understand, here, it’s clear that under the influence of the waters of these negative emotions, the person himself decided:“ You are with me like that, there is no money for the operation, which means there is no one to save. What kind of native organization is this, the main intelligence department, which cannot give me any crumbs, and even more so knowing the budget of this monster. "Of course, the indignation had no limits," Igor Atamanenko believes.

It turns out that, wanting to avenge his son, Polyakov offers his services US intelligence agencies. But the child died in the early 50s, many years before the recruitment.

“Polyakov himself did not focus on this circumstance, and I think that it did not play a dominant role. Why? Because at the moment when he committed an act of betrayal at the age of 40, he already had two children, and probably he should have think about their future, about their fate, and probably, after all, this was not the dominant motive," says Oleg Khlobustov.

In addition, he cannot fail to understand the motives for the refusal of the GRU, which were far from ordinary greed. A well-known military observer, retired colonel Viktor Baranets, seriously studied the events of Polyakov's first trip to the United States and drew his own conclusions.

“It so happened that at the very time when the illness of Polyakov’s son came to a peak, Polyakov led one very important operation. And it became necessary either to send him to the Soviet Union with his wife and child, and divert this work, or to allow him to treat son in the US," explains Baranets.

While the child is in serious condition, the Soviet intelligence department faces a dilemma: to operate on the baby in Moscow or in the States. Both threaten to disrupt the intelligence operation in which Polyakov participates. Most likely, the GRU calculated and prepared safe ways for him to save the child.

“And if you get treated in New York, it means that the father and mother will go to the New York polyclinic, which means that contacts are inevitable there, there may be a fake doctor. You understand, everything needs to be calculated here, and while Moscow put up these fine chess - time passed," says Viktor Baranets.

Unfortunately, the child dies. However, Polyakov, apparently, is well aware that this death is a tribute to his dangerous profession. There is another important fact: in the 50s, having learned about the death of a boy, the FBI pursues Polyakov, trying to recruit him. He is under close surveillance. He creates unbearable working conditions. Even the police issue huge fines for no reason.

"The first trip was indicative. The Americans tried to make a recruiting approach to him. That's why - it's very difficult to say, because recruiting approaches are made only to those who gave a reason for recruiting. This is such an iron rule. probably knew about the case with his son," says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

But then, in the 50s, Polyakov resolutely brushed aside recruitment attempts. He is forced to ask to be sent to his homeland, and in 1956 he leaves New York.

“Yes, his child died. Yes, someone didn’t give money for this. This is the official version, that is, it’s enough just to disappear from the boss’s desk or from the safe with just one paper, and the boss can be very far away. Or a car accident , or anything, but everything can be thought up if you so want to take revenge. But to take revenge on those people who didn’t do anything to you - these are clearly different reasons, "says Alexander Bondarenko.

around and around

However, there is another equally significant question in this story: who and when first went on the trail of the "mole"? How and with what help was Polyakov exposed? There are many versions of this. The well-known historian of the special services, Nikolai Dolgopolov, is sure that Leonid Shebarshin was the first to suspect Polyakov, he was the deputy resident of the KGB in India just when Dmitry Fedorovich worked there.

"Their meeting took place in India, and in 1974, if then Shebarshin's remarks had been paid attention, perhaps the arrest would have occurred not in 1987, but much earlier," says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

President of the Russian National Service economic security Leonid Shebarshin. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Shebarshin draws attention to the fact that in India Polyakov does much more than the position he occupies requires of him.

"A person of his profession, in fact, should be doing this - meeting with diplomats, and so on - but Colonel Polyakov had a lot of sources. There were a lot of meetings. Often these meetings lasted a very long time, and PSU foreign intelligence drew attention to this ", explains Dolgopolov.

But not only this alarms Shebarshin. He notices that Polyakov does not like his colleagues from foreign intelligence, and on occasion tries to expel them from India. It seems that they interfere with him in some way, while in public he is very friendly with them and loudly praises them.

"Another point that Shebarshin seemed rather strange (I'm not saying suspicious - strange) is that always and everywhere and with everyone, Polyakov, except for his subordinates, tried to be a close friend. He literally imposed his relationship, he tried to show that he is a kind and good person. Shebarshin could see that this was a game, "says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Finally, Shebarshin decides to speak frankly about Polyakov with his superiors. However, his suspicions seem to stumble upon a cotton wall. They don’t even think of arguing with him, but no one gives a move to the matter.

“Yes, there were people in the structures of the GRU, they occupied small positions there, majors, lieutenant colonels, who more than once stumbled upon certain facts in Polyakov’s work that raised doubts. But again, this damned self-confidence of the leadership of the then Main Intelligence Directorate, it often , I emphasize this word - often, forced the then leadership of the GRU to dismiss these suspicions, "says Viktor Baranets.

Unexpected puncture

So far it is impossible to expose Polyakov. He acts like a high-class professional and does not make mistakes. Instantly destroys evidence. He has answers for all questions. And who knows, perhaps he would have come out unscathed if not for the mistakes made by his masters in the CIA. In the late 70s, a book by the head of counterintelligence James Angleton was published in America.

James Angleton

"He suspected every person who worked in his department. He did not believe that there are people like Polyakov who do it out of absolutely some of their convictions," says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

Angleton did not even consider it necessary to hide information about Polyakov, because he was sure that the agent "Bourbon" - that was the name of the agent in the CIA - was a setup for Soviet intelligence. Naturally, Angleton's literary opus is read to the holes in the GRU.

“He set up and, quite, I think, by accident, Polyakova, said that there is such an agent in the Soviet UN mission or there was such an agent, and there is another agent, that is, two agents at once. This, of course, could not but alert people who such things should be read on duty," explains Dolgopolov.

“It was necessary to somehow pull Polyakov out of Delhi. They created a commission. This did not surprise him, because all the time those who work abroad are checked quite regularly. And they also checked him and found out that his health was not good. Polyakov immediately suspected something was wrong, and in order to return back to India, he went through another commission, and this made people even more alert. He so wanted to return. And in fact, at this very moment, it was decided to part with him, "says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

"He is worn out, his nerves are strained to the limit. Every sneeze, whisper behind his back is already turning into the rattling of handcuffs. It already seems that they are rattling handcuffs. Well, then, when he was sent to the Russian Language Institute, well, everything became clear to him" - says Igor Atamanenko.

And yet, there is not a single convincing evidence against Polyakov. He continues to work in the GRU as the secretary of the party committee. Here, the retiree easily calculates illegal intelligence officers who have gone on long business trips. They are absent from party meetings and do not pay dues. Information about such people is immediately sent to the CIA. Polyakov is sure that this time, too, suspicions bypassed him. But he is wrong. The State Security Committee is forced to intervene in the matter.

“In the end, it turned out that the documents ended up on the desk of the head of the KGB at that time, and he set the matter in motion. Surveillance was established, all the counterintelligence departments of all departments worked together. Technicians worked. , as it seems to me, some caches were also discovered in Polyakov's country house, otherwise they would not have taken him so sure, "says Nikolai Dolgopolov.

"Spy, get out!"

In June 1986, Polyakov noticed a chipped tile in his kitchen. He understands that the house was searched. After a while, the phone rings in his apartment. Polyakov picks up the phone. The rector of the Military Diplomatic Academy personally invites him to speak to graduates - future intelligence officers. The traitor breathes a sigh of relief. Yes, they searched for hiding places in his apartment, but they did not find anything, otherwise he would not have been invited to the academy.

"Polyakov immediately began to call back and find out who else received an invitation. Because, you never know, or maybe they are going to tie him up under this pretext. When he called several of his colleagues, among whom were also participants in the Great Patriotic War , and established that yes, they were all invited to the celebration at the Military Diplomatic Academy, he calmed down," says Igor Atamanenko.

Detention of Dmitry Polyakov

But in the building of the military-diplomatic academy at the checkpoint, a capture group is waiting for him. Polyakov understands that this is the end.

“And they immediately took me to Lefortovo, and immediately put me in front of the investigator. This is what is called in Alpha - it’s called “shock therapy.” And when a person is in such shock, he begins to tell the truth,” - says Atamanenko.

"You know, having been analyzing the origins of betrayal, the root causes of betrayal for a long time, these starting psychological platforms that make a person go to the betrayal of the motherland, I came to the conclusion that there is one side of betrayal, which has not yet been studied either by journalists or by the scouts themselves, neither by psychologists, nor by doctors, and so on," says Viktor Baranets.

Viktor Baranets carefully studied the materials of the investigation into the Polyakov case. In addition, on the basis of personal observations, he managed to make an interesting discovery.

"It is the desire to betray, to have two faces, and even enjoy it. Today you are in the service of such a brave officer, a patriot. You walk among people, and they do not suspect that you are a traitor. And a person experiences the highest concentration of adrenaline in the mind, in the body in general. Betrayal is a whole complex of reasons, one of which serves as a small mental reactor that starts this vile complex of human deeds that makes a person betray, "Baranets believes.

Perhaps this version explains everything: the thirst for risk, and hatred of colleagues, and inflated conceit. However, even the most hardened Judas can be a faithful and devoted family man. Over the years of his espionage activities, the general was repeatedly offered to flee to America, but Polyakov invariably refused the invitation of Uncle Sam. Why? This is another unsolved mystery.

Dmitry Polyakov

Dmitry Fedorovich Polyakov was born in 1921 in the family of an accountant in Ukraine. In September 1939, after graduating from school, he entered the Kiev Artillery School, and as a platoon commander entered the Great Patriotic War. He fought on the Western and Karelian fronts, was a battery commander, and in 1943 was appointed an artillery intelligence officer. During the war years he was awarded with orders Patriotic War and the Red Star, as well as many medals. After the end of the war, Polyakov graduated from the intelligence faculty of the Academy. Frunze, courses of the General Staff and was sent to work in the GRU.

In the early 1950s, Polyakov was sent to New York under the guise of being an employee of the Soviet UN mission. His task was to provide undercover agents for the GRU illegals. Polyakov's work on the first trip was recognized as successful, and at the end of the 1950s he was again sent to the United States to the post of deputy resident under the guise of a Soviet employee of the UN military staff committee.

In November 1961, Polyakov, on his own initiative, came into contact with FBI counterintelligence agents, who gave him the pseudonym "Tophat". The Americans believed that the reason for his betrayal was disappointment in the Soviet regime. CIA officer Paul Dillon, who was Polyakov's cameraman in Delhi, says the following about this:

“I think that the motivation for his actions goes back to the Second World War. He compared the horrors, the bloody massacre, the cause for which he fought, with the duplicity and corruption that, in his opinion, were rampant in Moscow.

Polyakov's former colleagues do not completely deny this version either, although they insist that his "ideological and political rebirth" took place "against the background of painful pride." For example, Colonel-General A. G. Pavlov, former First Deputy Chief of the GRU, says:

“Polyakov at the trial declared his political rebirth, his hostile attitude towards our country, he did not hide his personal self-interest.”

Polyakov himself said the following during the investigation:

“At the heart of my betrayal lay both my desire to openly express my views and doubts somewhere, and the qualities of my character - the constant desire to work beyond the risk. And the greater the danger became, the more interesting my life became ... I used to walk on the edge of a knife and could not imagine another life.

However, to say that this decision was easy for him would be wrong. After his arrest, he also said the following words:

“Almost from the very beginning of cooperation with the CIA, I understood that I had made a fatal mistake, a grave crime. The endless torment of the soul, which lasted all this period, so exhausted me that I myself was more than once ready to confess. And only the thought of what would happen to my wife, children, grandchildren, and the fear of shame, stopped me, and I continued the criminal connection, or silence, in order to somehow delay the hour of reckoning.

All of his operators noted that he received little money, no more than $3,000 a year, which was given to him mainly in the form of Black and Decker electromechanical tools, a pair of overalls, fishing tackle and guns. (The fact is that in his spare time, Polyakov loved carpentry and also collected expensive guns.) In addition, unlike most other Soviet officers recruited by the FBI and CIA, Polyakov did not smoke, almost did not drink, and did not cheat on his wife. So the amount he received from the Americans for 24 years of work can be called small: according to a rough estimate of the investigation, it amounted to about 94 thousand rubles at the rate of 1985.

One way or another, but from November 1961, Polyakov began to transmit information to the Americans about the activities and agents of the GRU in the United States and other Western countries. And he began to do this already from the second meeting with the FBI agents. Here it is worth quoting again the protocol of his interrogation:

“This meeting again was mainly devoted to the question of why I nevertheless decided to cooperate with them, and also whether I was a set-up. In order to double-check me, and at the same time to consolidate my relationship with them, Michael concluded by suggesting that I name the employees of the Soviet military intelligence in New York. I did not hesitate to list all the persons known to me who worked under the guise of the USSR Representative Office.

It is believed that already at the very beginning of his work for the FBI, Polyakov betrayed D. Dunlap, a staff sergeant in the NSA, and F. Bossard, an employee of the British Air Ministry. However, this is unlikely. Dunlap, recruited in 1960, was guided by a cameraman from the Washington GRU station, and his connection to Soviet intelligence was discovered by accident when his garage was searched after he committed suicide in July 1963. As for Bossard, the FBI's intelligence department had in fact misled MI5 by attributing the information to "Tophat". This was done to protect another GRU source in New York, who went by the pseudonym "Niknek".

But it was Polyakov who betrayed Captain Maria Dobrova, an illegal GRU in the United States. Dobrova, who fought in Spain as a translator, after returning to Moscow, began working in the GRU, and after appropriate training was sent to the United States. In America, she acted under the cover of the owner of a beauty salon, which was visited by representatives of high-ranking military, political and business circles. After Polyakov betrayed Dobrova, the FBI tried to recruit her, but she chose to commit suicide.

In total, during his work for the Americans, Polyakov gave them 19 Soviet illegal intelligence officers, more than 150 agents from among foreign citizens, disclosed the affiliation to the GRU and the KGB of about 1,500 active intelligence officers.

In the summer of 1962, Polyakov returned to Moscow, provided with instructions, communication conditions, and a schedule of hiding operations (one per quarter). Places for caches were selected mainly along the route of his journey to work and back: in the areas of Bolshaya Ordynka and Bolshaya Polyanka, near the Dobryninskaya metro station and at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya trolleybus stop. Most likely, it was this circumstance, as well as the lack of personal contacts with CIA representatives in Moscow, that helped Polyakov avoid failure after another CIA agent, Colonel O. Penkovsky, was arrested in October 1962.

In 1966, Polyakov was sent to Burma as head of the radio interception center in Rangoon. Upon his return to the USSR, he was appointed head of the Chinese department, and in 1970 he was sent to India as a military attaché and resident of the GRU. At this time, the volume of information transmitted by Polyakov to the CIA increased dramatically. He gave out the names of four American officers recruited by the GRU, handed over photographic films of documents testifying to the deep divergence of the positions of China and the USSR. Thanks to these documents, CIA analysts concluded that the Sino-Soviet differences were of a long-term nature. These findings were used by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to help him and Nixon mend relations with China in 1972.

In light of this, it seems at least naive that L. V. Shebarshin, then the deputy resident of the KGB in Delhi, claims that the KGB had certain suspicions about him while Polyakov was working in India. “Polyakov demonstrated his complete disposition towards the Chekists,” writes Shebarshin. - but it was known from military friends that he did not miss the slightest opportunity to turn them against the KGB and surreptitiously persecuted those who were friends with our comrades. No spy can avoid miscalculations. But, as often happens in our case, it took another year for the suspicions to be confirmed.” Most likely, behind this statement there is a desire to show off one's own foresight and unwillingness to admit the unsatisfactory work of the KGB military counterintelligence in this case.

It should be said that Polyakov was very serious about the fact that the leadership of the GRU formed an opinion about him as a thoughtful, promising worker. To do this, the CIA regularly provided him with some classified material, and also framed two Americans whom he presented as recruited by him. With the same goal, Polyakov sought to ensure that his two sons received higher education and had a prestigious profession. He gave many trinkets, such as lighters and ballpoint pens, to his employees in the GRU, giving the impression of himself as a pleasant person and a good comrade. One of Polyakov's patrons was Lieutenant-General Sergei Izotov, head of the GRU personnel department, who had worked for 15 years in the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee before this appointment. In the Polyakov case, expensive gifts made by him to Izotov appear. And for the rank of general, Polyakov presented Izotov with a silver service, bought specifically for this purpose by the CIA.

The rank of Major General Polyakov received in 1974. This provided him with access to materials that were outside the scope of his direct duties. For example, to the list of military technologies that were purchased or obtained by intelligence in the West. Reagan Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle said he was breathless when he learned about the existence of 5,000 Soviet programs that used Western technology to build military capabilities. The list provided by Polyakov helped Perl persuade President Reagan to secure tighter controls on the sale of military technology.

Polyakov's work as a CIA agent was distinguished by audacity and fantastic luck. In Moscow, he stole a special self-illuminating film Mikrat 93 Shield from the GRU warehouse, which he used to photograph secret documents. To pass on information, he stole fake hollow stones, which he left in certain places where they were picked up by CIA operatives. To give a signal about the laying of the hiding place, Polyakov, driving on public transport past the US embassy in Moscow, actuated a miniature transmitter hidden in his pocket. While abroad, Polyakov preferred to pass information from hand to hand. After 1970, the CIA, in an effort to ensure Polyakov's security as fully as possible, provided him with a specially designed portable pulse transmitter, with which information could be printed, then encrypted and transmitted to a receiving device in the American embassy in 2.6 seconds. Polyakov conducted such programs from various places in Moscow: from the Enguri cafe, the Vanda store, the Krasnopresnensky baths, the Central Tourist House, from Tchaikovsky Street, etc.

By the end of the 1970s, the CIA, they said, already treated Polyakov more as a teacher than as an agent and informer. They left it up to him to choose the place and time of meetings and to lay hiding places. However, they had no other choice, since Polyakov did not forgive them for their mistakes. So, in 1972, without the consent of Polyakov, the Americans invited him to an official reception at the US Embassy in Moscow, which actually put him in danger of failure. The GRU leadership gave permission, and Polyakov had to go there. During the reception, he was secretly given a note, which he destroyed without reading. Moreover, he cut off all contacts with the CIA for a long time, until he was convinced that he did not fall under the suspicion of the KGB counterintelligence.

In the late 1970s, Polyakov was again sent to India as a resident of the GRU. He stayed there until June 1980, when he was recalled to Moscow. However, this early return was not associated with possible suspicions against him. Just another medical commission forbade him to work in countries with a hot climate. However, the Americans got worried and offered Polyakov to go to the USA. But he refused. According to a CIA officer in Delhi, in response to a wish to come to America in case of danger, where he is welcomed with open arms, Polyakov replied: “Don't wait for me. I will never come to the USA. I'm not doing this for you. I do this for my country. I was born Russian and I will die Russian.” And to the question of what awaits him in case of exposure, he replied: "Common grave."

Polyakov looked into the water. His fantastic luck and career as a CIA agent came to an end in 1985, when Aldrich Ames, a CIA career officer, came to the KGB residency in Washington and offered his services. Among the KGB and GRU officers named by Ames who worked for the CIA was Polyakov.

Polyakov was arrested at the end of 1986. During a search carried out at his apartment, at his dacha and at his mother's house, material evidence of his espionage activities was found. Among them: sheets of cryptographic carbon paper made by typography and embedded in envelopes for phonograph records, cipher pads camouflaged in the cover of a travel bag, two attachments for a small-sized Tessina camera for vertical and horizontal shooting, several rolls of Kodak film, designed for special development , a ballpoint pen, the clip head of which was intended for writing cryptographic text, as well as negatives with the conditions of communication with CIA officers in Moscow and instructions for contacts with them abroad.

The investigation into Polyakov's case was led by KGB investigator Colonel A.S. Dukhanin, who later became famous for the so-called "Kremlin case" of Gdlyan and Ivanov. Polyakov's wife and adult sons were witnesses, since they did not know and did not suspect about his espionage activities. After the end of the investigation, many generals and officers of the GRU, whose negligence and talkativeness Polyakov often took advantage of, were brought to administrative responsibility by the command and dismissed or retired. In early 1988, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced Polyakov D.F. for treason and espionage to death with confiscation of property. The sentence was carried out on March 15, 1988. And officially, the execution of D. F. Polyakov was reported in Pravda only in 1990.

In 1994, after the arrest and exposure of Ames, the CIA admitted that Polyakov was collaborating with him. It has been stated that he was the most important of Ames's victims, far surpassing all others in importance. The information he gave and photocopies of classified documents make up 25 boxes in the CIA file. Many experts familiar with the Polyakov case say that he made a much more important contribution than the more famous GRU defector, Colonel O. Penkovsky. This point of view is shared by another traitor from the GRU, Nikolai Chernov, who said: “Polyakov is a star. And Penkovsky is so-so ... ". According to CIA Director James Woolsey, of all the Soviet agents recruited during the Cold War, Polyakov "was a real diamond."

Indeed, in addition to the list of interests of scientific and technical intelligence, data on China, Polyakov reported information about new weapons Soviet army, in particular about anti-tank missiles, which helped the Americans destroy these weapons when they were used by Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991. He also handed over to the West more than 100 issues of the secret periodical "Military Thought", published by General Staff. According to Robert Gates, director of the CIA under President Bush, the documents stolen by Polyakov made it possible to study the use of the armed forces in the event of war, and helped to draw a firm conclusion that Soviet military leaders did not consider it possible to win in nuclear war and tried to avoid it. According to Gates, familiarization with these documents prevented the US leadership from erroneous conclusions, which may have helped to avoid a "hot" war.

Of course, Gates knows better what helped to avoid a "hot" war and what Polyakov's merit is in this. But even if it is as great as the Americans are trying to assure everyone, this does not in the least justify his betrayal.

From the book The Jews Who Were Not. Book 1 [with illustrations] author

Chapter 4 The myth about the Poles-criminals We are everywhere in a foreign land, and when Whatever bad weather happens, The Jewish misfortune is doubled by the misfortune of the one who sheltered

From the book Holocaust. Were and Were Not author Burovsky Andrey Mikhailovich

Chapter 6 The myth about the Poles-criminals - The Poles are terrible anti-Semites! They will never give a place in their culture to a non-Polish! - And what about Mickiewicz? - And what about Mitskevich?! - Mickiewicz is the son of a Belarusian and a Jewess. And monuments are erected to him in Poland. - Exactly! They stole our Mickiewicz

From the book Grunwald. July 15, 1410 author Taras Anatoly Efimovich

Actions of the Poles On the left flank of the allied army, separated from the right by a hill, there was a battle. After the Tatars and Litvins staged a feigned retreat, the Liechtenstein crusaders went on the Poles. The Poles moved towards them. An interesting circumstance is

From the book History of the Russian Army. Volume two author Zayonchkovsky Andrey Medardovich

Offensive actions of the Poles Expedition Dvernitsky? The offensive of Skrzyniecki The Poles took advantage of the suspension of the Russian main army for private enterprises. Since the Lublin Voivodeship was weakly occupied by the Russians, and kr. Zamostye could serve

From the book Napoleon. How to become great author Shcherbakov Alexey Yurievich

From the book 1991: Treason to the Motherland. Kremlin vs USSR author Sirin Lev

Yuri Polyakov Polyakov Yuri Mikhailovich – Chief Editor"Literary Gazette". Born November 12, 1954 in Moscow. He worked in the Bauman district committee of the Komsomol. Soviet, Russian writer. Author of "Emergency on a regional scale" and the scenario of "Voroshilovsky Strelka". Award Winner

From book Time of Troubles author Valishevsky Kazimir

IV. Rule of the Poles Sigismund employed the most disgusting form of government imaginable. The head of the archers, the boyar Gonsevsky, offered him a method that promised to give excellent results and was tested by him without any difficulty. King

From the book Time of Troubles author Valishevsky Kazimir

III. Last days Poles in the Kremlin The Poles stubbornly waited for the king and, judging by their behavior, despite the most terrible trials, they did not lose their spiritual hardness. They responded to the proposals of opponents with abuse and ridicule. Is it ever seen that the nobles surrendered to the crowd

From the book The Conquest of America by Ermak-Cortes and the rebellion of the Reformation through the eyes of the "ancient" Greeks author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

1. Herodotus returns to the story of the murdered Russian - Horde prince Dmitry "Antique" False Smerdis - this is Dmitry, the son of Elena Voloshanka, or Dmitry the Pretender Herodotus still cannot get away from the events of the late 16th - early 17th centuries. As we said, now it has become

From the book Napoleon. Winners are not judged author Shcherbakov Alexey Yurievich

3. The Poles are always deceived Let me remind you that at that time Poland did not exist as an independent state. It was divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia. Warsaw was on the Prussian "segment". This is where Napoleon went. The Russians were moving towards him. After

From the book Personalities in History. Russia [Collection of articles] author Biographies and memoirs Team of authors --

Dmitry Venevitinov Dmitry Zubov At the age of fourteen he translated Virgil and Horace. At sixteen he wrote the first of the poems that have come down to us. At seventeen he was fond of painting and composing music. At eighteen, after a year of study, he successfully passed the final exams in

From the book Ataman's Memo author Krasnov Petr Nikolaevich

CHAPTER XVI. On the rebellious Poles How the Poles rebelled. - The area in which it was necessary to operate. - The feat of the cornet Kuznetsov at Garbolino. - Cases at Kuflevo and Sarochino. - A captive outpost of the 3rd hundred. - Cases at Maciorzhitsy and near Warsaw. And the years did not stand

author

Causes of the Poles' muzzle All or almost all authors talk about the policy of Nazi Germany, which boiled down to "dividing this empire" - divide and rule, as almost the main reason for such a "conflict." Some people are completely lost, looking for an answer to the question : Why is everything

From the book Bitter Truth. Crime OUN-UPA (Confession of a Ukrainian) author Polishchuk Victor Varfolomeevich

Actions of retribution by the Poles Even to this day, the world is surprised that the Jews went to the execution without any resistance. The exception is the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. The Poles did not passively succumb to death. At first, they at least ran away. Subsequently organized in

From the book Holy Defenders of Rus'. Alexander Nevsky, Dovmont Pskovskiy, Dmitry Donskoy, Vladimir Serpukhovskoy author Kopylov N. A.

Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich in the struggle for the Grand Duke's label The successes of their predecessors and the weakening of the Golden Horde opened up prospects for a new military-political course for the young Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich. He is the first of

From the book Conversations author Ageev Alexander Ivanovich

Polyakov Dmitry Fedorovich - legendary scout GRU Soviet Union. He went from an artilleryman to an experienced staff officer. At the age of 65, being retired, he was arrested and sentenced to death for twenty-five years of cooperation with the American government.

Carier start

Little is known about this man's childhood. He is a native of Ukraine. His father was an accountant. After graduating from school, Dmitry Polyakov entered the First Artillery School. In 1941 he went to the front. He served as a platoon commander in the Western and for two years of the war he became a battery commander. In 1943 he received the rank of officer. For successful military operations and excellent service he was awarded big amount medals and orders. In 1945, he decided to enter the intelligence faculty of the Frunze Academy. Then he graduated from the General Staff Courses and was enrolled in the GRU staff.

Work in the USA

Almost immediately after completing his studies and compiling the necessary legend, Dmitry Polyakov was sent to New York as an employee of the Soviet UN mission. His true occupation was the cover and placement of illegal immigrants (agents) of the GRU in the United States. The first mission of the resident was successful, and already in 1959 he was again sent to the United States as an employee of the UN military headquarters. In the second mission, military intelligence assigned Polyakov the duties of a deputy resident. The Soviet agent did his job perfectly, clearly followed the instructions, obtained the required data, and coordinated his intelligence agent.

In November 1961, Dmitry Polyakov continued to work in the New York GRU agency. At this time, the flu was raging in the States. His youngest son caught the virus, the disease gave a heart complication. An expensive operation was required to save the child. An experienced staff officer asked the leadership for financial assistance, he was denied money, and the child died.

Cooperation with the FBI and CIA

After interrogation of witnesses, American colleagues of the spy and his inner circle, it became clear that Polyakov came to the betrayal deliberately. After the debunking of the cult of Stalin and the beginning of the "Khrushchev" thaw, the intelligence officer became disillusioned with the new leadership, believed that Stalin's ideals, those for which he fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, were completely lost. The Moscow elite is mired in corruption and political games. Polyakov Dmitry felt that he had lost faith in the political orientation of his country and its leaders. The death of his son was the catalyst that accelerated events. An embittered and defeated Soviet agent contacted a high-ranking American officer and offered his services.

The leadership of the FBI perceived the betrayal of such an experienced intelligence officer from the USSR as a gift of fate, and did not lose. Polyakov Dmitry has established contact with an FBI recruiter who establishes contacts with traitors from the GRU and the KGB. The Soviet agent received the pseudonym Topkhet.

In 1962, the head of the CIA turned to President Kennedy with a request to transfer his most valuable "mole" to the disposal of his department. Polyakov began working for the CIA and received the call sign Bourbon. The central administration considered him their "brilliant".

Almost 25 years of cooperation with foreign intelligence services Soviet traitor managed to send 25 boxes of documents and photo reports to the USA. This number was counted by the American "colleagues" of the spy after his exposure. Dmitry Polyakov caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to his country. He passed on information regarding the development of secret weapons in the Union, thanks to him Reagan began to more closely control the sale of his military technologies, which the USSR bought and improved. On his tip, 19 Soviet residents, 7 contractors and more than 1,500 ordinary GRU staff officers who worked abroad were destroyed.

During the years of service, Polyakov managed to work in the USA, Burma, India and Moscow. Since 1961, he has been constantly collaborating with the CIA and the FBI. Having retired, the traitor did not stop his activities: he worked as a secretary of the party committee, had access to the personal files of illegal immigrants in the United States and willingly "shared" this information.

exposure

In 1974 Soviet officer intelligence got a boost. Since that time, General Polyakov Dmitry Fedorovich had full access to secret materials, diplomatic relations, developments and plans of his government.

Surprisingly, the first suspicions fell on Polyakov back in 1978, but his crystal clear reputation, excellent track record and patron in the person of General Izotov played a role - they did not conduct investigations. The experienced Bourbon sank for a long time, but, finally settling in Moscow, he again declared to his Western colleagues that he was ready to cooperate.

In 1985, Polyakov Dmitry was discovered by the American "mole" Aldridge Ames. The entire military intelligence of the Union was in a state of shock: such a high-ranking spy had not yet been exposed. In 1986, a talented resident was arrested and sentenced to deprivation of rank and execution. In 1988, the sentence was carried out.