Yevgeni Ivanov (spy)
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Captain Yevgeny Mikhailovich Ivanov (; 11 January 1926 – 17 January 1994), also known as Eugene Ivanov, was a
naval attaché A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...
at the
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 ...
Embassy in London during the early 1960s, and was also engaged in
espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
. His affair with
Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the Cold War (1953–1962), height of the ...
resulted in another of her lovers,
John Profumo John Dennis Profumo ( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo affai ...
, resigning from the United Kingdom government, in what became known as the
Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...
.


Early life and career

Ivanov was born in
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...
in 1926, the son of an army officer. He joined the
Red Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposi ...
in 1944. Ivanov subsequently served as a gunnery specialist in the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
and
Black Sea fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...
s. He underwent training with the
GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...
(Soviet military intelligence), before being posted to London on 27 March 1960 as Soviet assistant naval attaché. Ivanov was accompanied to Britain by his wife Maya, daughter of
Alexander Gorkin Alexander Fyodorovich Gorkin (Russian: Александр Фёдорович Горкин; September 5, 1897 – June 29, 1988) was a Soviet state and party leader, Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1938–1953 ...
, chairman of the
Supreme Court of the Soviet Union The Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, officially the Supreme Court of the USSR () was the highest court of the Soviet Union during its existence. It was established on November 23, 1923 and was dissolved on January 2, 1992. The Supreme Court of ...
. Ivanov's English was described as competent and the Russian couple were reportedly popular in diplomatic social circles. However
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
documents declassified and released in October 2022 described him as a heavy drinker and reckless driver who harassed female guests at parties. A complaint to the Soviet Embassy was considered by the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
but British Intelligence had hopes of turning the attaché into a
double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
.


Targeted by MI5

Ivanov became friendly with osteopath
Stephen Ward Stephen Thomas Ward (19 October 1912 – 3 August 1963) was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Sec ...
after being introduced to him by the managing editor of the ''
Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...
'' during lunch at the
Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a private members' club in London, founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, ...
.
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
saw Ivanov as a potential defector and asked Ward to try to convince him to shift his allegiance to the United Kingdom. On the weekend of 8–9 July 1961, Ivanov was at a pool party at the
Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern Hi ...
estate when
Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the Cold War (1953–1962), height of the ...
met
John Profumo John Dennis Profumo ( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo affai ...
, the British
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
.Summers & Dorrill, chapter 8. Keeler's subsequent affair with Profumo went on at a time when she was also having sex with Ivanov. This was at a time when
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
tensions were already heightened, just 15 months before the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
. Ward and Ivanov are said to have asked Keeler to quiz Profumo as to when American
nuclear missiles Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. All nine nuclear states have developed some form of medium- to long-range delivery system for their nuc ...
would be taken to then-
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
.


Profumo affair

When the
Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...
became openly public in early June 1963, just three months after Profumo had lied in the House of Commons by denying an affair with Keeler, the ensuing scandal of Britain's war minister having an affair with the mistress of a Soviet spy resulted in several far-reaching consequences. On a personal level, Ivanov's relationship with Keeler caused Maya to leave him, while the
Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...
failed to show him much recognition. The double rejection led to Ivanov drinking heavily for some time afterwards. Ward took an overdose of barbiturates on the evening of 30 July 1963, just hours after a damning summing up by the judge at his trial on charges of living off the immoral earnings (i.e. prostitution) of Keeler and
Mandy Rice-Davies Marilyn Foreman (21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014), better known as Mandy Rice-Davies, was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservativ ...
. Ward slipped into a coma and was rushed to hospital; he was found guilty in absentia on 31 July, but died on 3 August before sentence could be passed.


Later years

Ivanov was recalled to Moscow on 22 January 1963, prior to the Profumo affair becoming public knowledge, after the Soviet government had sensed a potential scandal involving MI5. Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Ivanov seemingly "disappeared" in the eyes of the international community by keeping a very low profile for the next 29 years, while he had actually continued his naval career, being assigned to the
Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...
, before publishing his memoirs in 1992.''The Guardian'', 11 March 2006. It is not known whether Ivanov continued to work with the GRU but he was reportedly awarded the
Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...
late in his career. Keeler revealed that she met Ivanov again in Moscow in 1993. On January 17, 1994, Ivanov was found dead in his Moscow flat at the age of 68.


Memoirs

Ivanov's partially
ghost-written A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often hir ...
memoirs ''The Naked Spy'' were published in 1992. In the book Ivanov stated that he had been able to obtain significant
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
by accessing British political circles. However he claimed that his GRU seniors remained unaware of his relationship with Keeler until the story broke in the UK, since he saw no need to report upon a private relationship.


Cultural references

Ivanov is portrayed by
Jeroen Krabbé Jeroen Aart Krabbé (; born 5 December 1944) is a Dutch actor, film director and painter with a successful career in both Dutch- and English-language films. He is best known to international audiences for his leading roles in the Paul Verhoeven ...
in the 1989 film ''
Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
'', and by Ian Conningham in
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...
's stage musical ''
Stephen Ward the Musical ''Stephen Ward'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical is based on the 1963 Profumo affair involving the War Minister John Profumo and the socialite Stephen Ward ...
'', which opened at the
Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...
on 19 December 2013. Ivanov was portrayed by Visar Vishka, a Yugoslavian-born actor, in the 2019
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...
drama series, ''
The Trial of Christine Keeler ''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' is a British television series based on the chain of events surrounding the Profumo affair in the 1960s. The six-part series premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2019. The series was adapte ...
''.
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...
portrayed Ivanov in the British audio comedy ''
Fool Britannia ''Fool Britannia'' is a hidden camera sketch series which aired from 1 September 2012 to 9 November 2013 on ITV, and stars Dom Joly as he surprises members of the public with pranks. The first series aired for eight episodes. The second seri ...
'' (1963).


Bibliography

* ''Honeytrap'' (1987) by
Anthony Summers Anthony Bruce Summers (born 21 December 1942) is an Irish author. He is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist and has written ten non-fiction books. He worked for the BBC in current affairs coverage as a producer and then as an assistant editor of the long ...
&
Stephen Dorril Stephen Dorril (born 17 July 1955)Dorril, Stephen is a British academic, author, and journalist. He is a former senior lecturer in the journalism department of Huddersfield University and ex-director of the university's Oral History Unit. His ...
,
Coronet Books Coronet Books was established in 1966 as the paperback imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The imprint was closed in 2004 but then relaunched in 2010, publishing fiction and non-fiction in hardback and paperback, including works by Chris Ryan, Lorn ...
, . * ''An Affair of State: The Profumo Case and the Framing of Stephen Ward''
Phillip Knightley Phillip George Knightley (23 January 1929 – 7 December 2016) was an Australian journalist, critic, and non-fiction author. He became a visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Lincoln, England, and was a media commentator o ...
and Caroline Kennedy: Jonathan Cape, London, 1987


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanov, Yevgeny 1926 births 1994 deaths GRU officers Soviet Navy officers Soviet spies Soviet expatriates in the United Kingdom Soviet naval attachés Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Pacific Higher Naval School alumni