Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov was a member of the Soviet Union
's clandestine services who became famous in 1954 for his defection
to Australia
.
family in the village of Larikha, in central Siberia
.
He joined the Komsomol
in 1923, using his Communist Party
affiliation to gain an education, which would greatly benefit him. Through this education he was able to do well enough on his naval recruiting tests to become specially selected for the cipher-work training course. After the two-year technical course which qualified him as a cipher specialist, he was posted to a ship in the Baltic Sea
to encrypt and decrypt the secret signals.
Petrov also gave information about the defection of Burgess and Mclean. Their escape had been handled by Kislitsyn an M.G.B. officer who was in Australia when Petrov defected in 1954. Petrov also disclosed that Burgess and McLean were living in Kuibyshev in 1954.
(National Archives Reference:kv/2/3440)
, in May 1933. He was subsequently admitted to the Special Cipher Section, which was attached to the Foreign Department of the OGPU. It was his status in this section which allowed him to learn many Soviet secrets by reading the top secret ciphers.
Petrov miraculously survived the purges of Stalin
under Yagoda
, Yezhov
, and Beria
. Even though a great number of his friends, colleagues, and superiors were arrested and executed, Petrov escaped unscathed.
by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MVD) in 1951. His job there was to recruit spies and to keep watch on Soviet citizens, making sure that none of the Soviets abroad defected. Ironically, it was in Australia where the fateful events would occur, which led to his own defection from the USSR.
Vladimir Petrov applied for political asylum in 1954, on the grounds that he could provide information regarding a Soviet spy ring operating out of the Soviet Embassy in Australia.
Petrov states in his memoirs (ghost written by Michael Thwaites
) that his reasoning for defecting lay not in an imminent fear of being executed, but in his disillusionment with the Soviet system and his own experiences and knowledge of the terror and human suffering inflicted on the Soviet people by their government. He was there to witness the destruction of the Siberian village in which he was born, caused by forced collectivization and the famine
which resulted. He remembered the blacksmith who taught him of the virtues of Communism
and who also got him started in his education. This blacksmith was labeled a kulak
and forcibly deported with his entire family, probably to die. Petrov learned the true excesses behind the Great Purges while decrypting signals which set quotas for the murder of citizens.
's names were changed to Sven and Maria Anna Allyson. They lived a quiet suburban life in Melbourne. He died in 1991, and she died in 2002.
The whereabouts of the Petrovs were still the subject of a D-Notice in 1982.http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/apcnews/may00/dnote.html http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/publications/fact-sheets/fs49.aspx
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's clandestine services who became famous in 1954 for his defection
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Early life
He was born Afanasy Mikhaylovich Shorokhov , into a peasantPeasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
family in the village of Larikha, in central Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
He joined the Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
in 1923, using his Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
affiliation to gain an education, which would greatly benefit him. Through this education he was able to do well enough on his naval recruiting tests to become specially selected for the cipher-work training course. After the two-year technical course which qualified him as a cipher specialist, he was posted to a ship in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
to encrypt and decrypt the secret signals.
Intelligence career
According to his recently released secret British MI5 file, Petrov stated during his post-defection interviewing that his intelligence career was as follows:- 1929-1933 Cypher clerk Soviet Navy.
- 1933-1938 N.K.V.D. Moscow dealing with overseas cypher communications.
- 1939 N.K.V.D. cypher clerk attached to Soviet Army Western China.
- 1940-1942 N.K.V.D. cypher clerk Moscow dealing with Internal communications.
- 1942-1947 N.K.V.D. cypher clerk Sweden with additional Internal Security duties.
- 1947-1951 M.G.B. Moscow dealing with seamen on the Danube.
- 1951-1954 M.G.B. controller in Australia.
Petrov also gave information about the defection of Burgess and Mclean. Their escape had been handled by Kislitsyn an M.G.B. officer who was in Australia when Petrov defected in 1954. Petrov also disclosed that Burgess and McLean were living in Kuibyshev in 1954.
(National Archives Reference:kv/2/3440)
Joining OGPU
He decided to join the Soviet spy organization, the OGPUState Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1934...
, in May 1933. He was subsequently admitted to the Special Cipher Section, which was attached to the Foreign Department of the OGPU. It was his status in this section which allowed him to learn many Soviet secrets by reading the top secret ciphers.
Petrov miraculously survived the purges of Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
under Yagoda
Genrikh Yagoda
Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda , born Enokh Gershevich Ieguda , was a Soviet state security official who served as director of the NKVD, the Soviet Union's Stalin-era security and intelligence agency, from 1934 to 1936...
, Yezhov
Nikolai Yezhov
Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov or Ezhov was a senior figure in the NKVD under Joseph Stalin during the period of the Great Purge. His reign is sometimes known as the "Yezhovshchina" , "the Yezhov era", a term that began to be used during the de-Stalinization campaign of the 1950s...
, and Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
. Even though a great number of his friends, colleagues, and superiors were arrested and executed, Petrov escaped unscathed.
Australia and defection
Having graduated from cipher clerk to full-fledged agent, Petrov was sent to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del is the interior ministry of Russia. Its predecessor was founded in 1802 by Alexander I in Imperial Russia...
(MVD) in 1951. His job there was to recruit spies and to keep watch on Soviet citizens, making sure that none of the Soviets abroad defected. Ironically, it was in Australia where the fateful events would occur, which led to his own defection from the USSR.
Vladimir Petrov applied for political asylum in 1954, on the grounds that he could provide information regarding a Soviet spy ring operating out of the Soviet Embassy in Australia.
Petrov states in his memoirs (ghost written by Michael Thwaites
Michael Thwaites
Michael Rayner Thwaites, AO was an Australian academic, poet, intelligence officer, and activist for Moral Rearmament.-Early life and education:...
) that his reasoning for defecting lay not in an imminent fear of being executed, but in his disillusionment with the Soviet system and his own experiences and knowledge of the terror and human suffering inflicted on the Soviet people by their government. He was there to witness the destruction of the Siberian village in which he was born, caused by forced collectivization and the famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
which resulted. He remembered the blacksmith who taught him of the virtues of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and who also got him started in his education. This blacksmith was labeled a kulak
Kulak
Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union...
and forcibly deported with his entire family, probably to die. Petrov learned the true excesses behind the Great Purges while decrypting signals which set quotas for the murder of citizens.
Life after Defection
Petrov became an Australian citizen in 1956. His and EvdokiaEvdokia Petrova
Evdokia Alexeyevna Petrova was a Russian spy in Australia in the 1950s. She was the wife of Vladimir Petrov, and came to national prominence during the Petrov Affair....
's names were changed to Sven and Maria Anna Allyson. They lived a quiet suburban life in Melbourne. He died in 1991, and she died in 2002.
The whereabouts of the Petrovs were still the subject of a D-Notice in 1982.http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/apcnews/may00/dnote.html http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/publications/fact-sheets/fs49.aspx