the fate of the colonel who crossed over to the enemy |
In April 1954, a highly resonant event took place. Vladimir Petrov, a minor employee of the Soviet embassy in Australia, who is actually a colonel of the State Security Committee (KGB) from this country political he asked for asylum. The officer’s wife Yevdokia was also in Australia. When the KGB officers tried to take him out of the country, he faced resistance from the local police.
This incident led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Australia and the USSR.
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Vladimir Petrov was born in 1907 in Tobolsk province. But when he was born, his name was not like that, he was Afanasy Shorokhov. In 1929, he changed his last name to Proletarski in a revolutionary way. He changed his name to Vladimir. The sources do not write anything about the reason for this. Probably, he wanted to be named after Lenin.
While he was still Shorokhov, he joined the Komsomol and then the Communist Party. Labor He started his career as a library director in the village of Vikulovo, Tyumen region. At the same time, he was engaged in the elimination of illiteracy. In 1929, he already worked as a coder in the Baltic fleet with the surname Poletarski.
Shorokhov-Proletarsky attracted the attention of the intelligence agencies in 1933, the OGPU (State United Political Department) is involved in the Foreign Department. It was here that he met Yevdokia and soon married her. He went on his first foreign trip in 1938. He heads the crypto division in China for a year. The fact that he was awarded the Order of the Red Star after his return proves that he did his job well.
His second mission coincided with the war years. In 1942, together with his wife, he was sent to neutral Sweden, and at that time his surname changed to Petrova. At that time, like all neutral countries, Sweden was a place where the intelligence of the belligerent countries was particularly active.
Some time after the war in Moscow working Petrov military his rank rises to colonel. Allegedly, he was one of Beria’s favorite personnel, and his rapid rise is due to this. In 1951, the Petrovs were sent to Australia. Vladimir formally holds the post of third secretary and cultural attache here. His real position was the resident of Soviet intelligence. Evdokia also becomes a cipher.
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There are different versions about the motives of Vladimir Petrov moving to Australia. One of the main versions is that shortly after the death of Stalin, Lavrenty Beria imprisonment and was shot. After him, many officers who held important positions in Soviet intelligence were repressed. Fearing that Petrov would meet the same fate, he moved to the opposite side.
According to another main version, the colonel fell into a trap set by the Australian Special Service Organization (ASIO) through drinking and women’s parties and was recruited to cooperate. The developments in the USSR further influenced his decision, and he turned to Australian counter-intelligence in exchange for sharing the secrets he knew. political he asked for asylum.
Whatever the real reason, Vladimir Petrov sought and received political asylum in Australia on April 3, 1954. Interestingly, he did this without his wife. Did he avoid telling Yevdokia, or did he want to run away alone, in any case, on the day he applied for asylum, his wife was in another city. The main resonance of the event arose from this.
On April 19, 16 days after Petrova’s escape, two men posing as diplomatic couriers, who were actually employees of the Soviet special services, took Yevdokia Petrova by the arm in front of journalists and flew to Canberra. weather they forcibly boarded the plane at the port. Australian authorities did not prevent it at first. But the image of a crying woman with no shoes on her feet caused a wide response. The public condemned the government for its inaction.
Fortunately for Yevdokia, the non-stop flight distances of planes at that time were not long. Airplanes that wanted to leave the country often landed in the north and refueled. The plane carrying Petrova also landed in Darwin. At that time, the police entered and disarmed the couriers under the pretext of bringing illegal weapons onto the plane. Later, Yevdokia was asked if she wanted to stay in Australia. The woman decided to stay after a phone conversation with her husband.
Having received political asylum, the Petrovs began to live under protection near Melbourne. For security reasons, Petrov changed his last name for the fourth time, this time to Sven Ellison. In 1956, they were granted Australian citizenship.
The event that happened in Moscow sharp protest gave birth to The events even led to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries for 5 years. The Soviets even abducted Petrov and took him to the USSR and put “the world” on him. court were planning to build. But for unknown reasons it was not attempted.
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When Vladimir Petrov went to the other side, he took a lot of secret documents with him. In addition, Yevdokia had valuable information about the ciphers and codes of Soviet intelligence. Husband and wife for one year in Australia and Britain were interrogated by their intelligence officers. Based on their information, up to 600 Soviet spies operating in different countries of the world were discovered.
Vladimir Petrov clarified the fate of two people from the famous “Cambridge Five” – Guy Burgess and Donald McLain. Britain Burcess and McClain, who were employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, fled to the USSR in 1951 due to fear of exposure. It was not known for certain, although it was assumed in London. Now Petrov, both of them are safe in Moscow he said he was.
In 1956, based on the memoirs of the Petrovs, ASIO employee Michael Tveitos wrote a book called “Empire of Fear”. Having suffered several strokes in the early 1970s, Vladimir Petrov had limited mobility for the last 17 years of his life. He died in 1991, the year of the collapse of the USSR. Yevdokia Petrova lived another 11 years after her husband.
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