Oleg Penkovsky was born on April 23, 1919 in the city of Vladikavkaz, Russia and joined the Red Army in 1937, a time when the Soviet army’s main concern was defeating Nazi Germany.
After being wounded in battle in 1944, Penkovsky left the army, studied at the famous Frunze Military Academy and graduated in 1948. He continued his studies at the Military Diplomatic Academy from 1949 to 1953,
Soviet intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky, who spied for both the CIA and MI6.
GRU is tasked with guarding against any external threats, with a team of employees who possess `hidden` talents and know how to take advantage of potential `pawns`.
The move from the army to the GRU shaped the rest of Penkovsky’s life.
That year, Penkovsky sent a message to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through two American tourists.
Meanwhile, the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6, now known as SIS) was attempting to infiltrate the Soviet State Committee for Science and Technology through Greville Wynne, a British businessman recruited to
Wynne founded an industrial engineering products export business many years ago.
In April 1961, Wynne went to London, bringing with him a large number of documents and videos provided by Penkovsky to transfer to MI6.
Penkovsky provided the West with top secret documents, war plans, military secrets, and even information about nuclear missiles over the next two years.
Penkovsky hid the documents in cigarette packs and candy boxes, then placed them in pre-agreed public places.
Because Penkovsky’s work required him to travel to England, the Russians initially did not suspect him of being a spy.
These documents were compiled from about 1,200 pages of content that the CIA and MI6 assigned to 30 translators and analysts to process.
The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, at the height of the Cold War, making the world worried about the risk of nuclear war.
Over the next two weeks, US President John Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev engaged in intense negotiations, with the `secret trump card` in the hands of the Americans.
According to documents provided by the intelligence colonel, in addition to the fact that the Soviet arsenal was much smaller and weaker than previous US assessments, the navigation and refueling systems were also inoperable.
Penkovsky’s information combined with photos of the U2 plane helped the US know the exact location of the Soviet missile launch sites, most importantly, that they could not reach too far.
After 14 days of brainstorming negotiations, on October 28, 1962, Khruschev agreed to withdraw Soviet weapons from Cuba, helping the world breathe a sigh of relief.
Penkovsky at trial in Moscow on May 11, 1963.
However, Penkovsky did not receive a happy ending.
Penkovsky’s public trial took place in May 1963.
In the Soviet Union, espionage was a felony.
Meanwhile, a GRU spy named Vladimir Rezun said he had seen footage of Penkovsky tied to a stretcher inside a crematorium and burned alive.
