Ivan Fyodorovich Kurdyukov (; 1911 – 3 October, 1977) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. A member of the

Russian Communist Party (bolshevik) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

, Kurdyukov entered the service of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union in 1936. His first diplomatic posting came in 1946 when he was posted as the

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of the Soviet Union in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, China, until 1948. From 1949 to 1952 he was Assistant Manager of the 1st Far East Department of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from 1952 to 1953 he was posted as Adviser at the Embassy of the Soviet Union to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, acting for a time as

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

. Returning to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1955, he managed the Far East Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry until 1957, when in 1958 he was posted as the Senior Political Adviser at the Permanent Mission of the Soviet Union to the United Nations until June 1959. On 23 June 1959 he was appointed as Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Australia, and presented his

Letters of Credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to another, asking them to give ...

to Governor-General of Australia

William Slim Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. Slim saw active service in both the First and ...

on 10 August 1959. While Kurdyukov was ambassador to Australia,

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...

(ASIO) and

New Zealand Security Intelligence Service The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS; ) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security (including counterterrorism and count ...

(NZSIS) exploited an opportunity to target Soviet intelligence in a "

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

". During September 1960, Kay Marshall, an Englishwoman working as a civil servant in New Zealand, had reported approaches from Soviet agents. At the request of NZSIS, Marshall allowed Soviet agents to believe that she would cooperate, and moved in December 1960 to Australia, where she liaised with ASIO. For two years, Marshall's Soviet controller, Ivan Skripov (First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra) assigned her small tasks, in order to gauge her suitability as an agent. Finally, in December 1962, Skripov instructed Marshall to take a package to a contact in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. The package, which was inspected by ASIO agents, was said to contain: a device used to compress data into short, high-speed signals, when attached to a radio transmitter and; coded transmission timetables for a Soviet radio station. While Marshall took the reassembled package to the rendezvous as requested, Skripov's contact did not attend. On 7 February 1963, while Kurdyukov was on sick leave in

, the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

released photos of meetings between Skripov and Marshall, accused Skripov of being a spy and sent the Soviet embassy a note declaring Skripov ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

'' due to "elaborate preparations for espionage"; he was given seven days to leave the country. The Australian government didn't divulge what secrets Skripov may have been seeking, but it was reported that workers at the Woomera missile range underwent interrogation. The Soviet authorities responded by stating that the material proved nothing and were produced to hinder the development of friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Australia. Kurdyukov did not return to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. On 9 July 1968, Kurdyukov was appointed as Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Uganda, and presented his credentials to

President of Uganda The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The President (government title), president leads the Executive (government), executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander- ...

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan politician who served as the second prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and the second president of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and later from 1980 to 1985. A Lango, ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

on 5 October 1968. Kurdyukov held the post until 29 March 1972, when he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdyukov, Ivan Fyodorovich 1911 births 1977 deaths People from Staroshaygovsky District Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Australia Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Uganda Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Consuls for the Soviet Union in China