List of Soviet and Eastern Bloc defectors

It has been suggested that List of KGB defectors be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Soon after the formation of the Soviet Union, emigration restrictions were put in place to keep citizens from leaving the various countries of the Soviet Socialist Republics,^[1] though some defections still occurred. During and after World War II, similar restrictions were put in place in non-Soviet countries of the Eastern Bloc,^[2] which consisted of the communist states of eastern Europe.^[3][4]

Up until 1952, however, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places.^[5] Accordingly, before 1961, most of that east-west flow took place between East and West Germany, with over 3.5 million East Germans emigrating to West Germany before the 1961,^[6][7] On August 13, 1961, barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by East Germany.^[8]

Although international movement was, for the most part, strictly controlled, there was a steady loss through escapees who were able to use ingenious methods to evade frontier security.^[9] Numerous notable Eastern Bloc citizens defected to non-Eastern Bloc countries.^[10] Among the notable defectors from East Germany, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of Poland, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the People's Republic of Romania, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the People's Republic of Hungary and the People's Republic of Albania before those countries' conversions from Communist states in the early 1990s were the following List of Eastern Bloc defectors.

Pre-1944 Defections violating emigration restrictions of Eastern Bloc countries

Defector	Profession/Prominence	Birthplace	Defection	Notes
Victor Soultanbeieff	chess	Ukraine	1921	Escaped to Belgium
George Balanchine	choreographer	Russia	1924	Defected during tour of Germany to Weimar Republic
Boris Bazhanov	Politburo Secretary	Poland	1928	Defected on a train to Iran; assassins later sent after him
Georges Agabekov	OGPU	Armenia	1930	Defected in France; led the manhunt for Bazhanov before defecting
Grigol Robakidze	author	Georgia	1930	Defected to Germany  ; primarily known for his exotic prose and anti-Soviet émigré activities.
George Gamow	physicist	Ukraine	1933	first tried to kayak across the Black Sea; defected in Brussels, Belgium; later discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling
Ignace Poretsky	NKVD	Russia	1937	Former head of Soviet intelligence services; assassinated by NKVD
Walter Krivitsky	NKVD	Poland	1937	Defected in Paris, France after assassination of Poretsky; Apparent 1941 suicide in the U.S. may have been an NKVD assassination
Genrikh Lyushkov	NKVD	Russia	1938	Crossed the border into Manchukuo with secret documents; family arrested and sent to Gulag; several died
Alexander Orlov	NKVD	Belarus	1938	Fled while stationed in Spain to avoid execution in the Great Purge
Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov	author	Chechnya	1942	Sent to infiltrate anti-Soviet Chechens, he joined them instead

Notable 1944–1991 Defections from the Eastern Bloc

Defector	Profession/Prominence	Birthplace	Defection	Notes
Svetlana Alliluyeva	Joseph Stalin's daughter	Russia	1967	She defected to the United States via New Delhi, India. She denounced her father Joseph Stalin's regime, though she softened her criticism of him in the 1980s.[11]
G. M. Dimitrov	politician	Bulgaria	1945	He was saved from execution by U.S. ambassador. He later founded anti-communist organizations.
Peter Fechter	bricklayer	East Germany	1962	He was shot trying to escape over the Berlin Wall and bled to death in the Wall's "death strip" over the course of an hour with no medical aid.
Igor Gouzenko	GRU	Russia	1945	He defected in Ottawa, Canada and helped uncover Communist spy rings.
Chris Gueffroy	student	East Germany	1989	He was the last person shot trying to escape over the Berlin Wall.
Vladimir Petrov	diplomat	Russia	1954	Defected on a mission in Australia. Started the Petrov Affair
Arkady Shevchenko	UN Undersecretary General	Russia	1978	Spied for the U.S. for three years before defection. His wife in Moscow died two months after his defection purportedly of "suicide".
Romuald Spasowski	ambassador	Poland	1981	Defected during the Solidarity crisis.
Valdo Randpere	Deputy minister of Justice	Estonia	1986	Defected via Kotka, Finland to Sweden. Fled a Soviet crackdown on Estonian nationalism.
Viktor Belenko	pilot	Russia	1976	Flew a MiG-25 from Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai to Hakodate Hokkaido, Japan.
Jan Šejna	General	Czechoslovakia	1968	Fled after Prague Spring to the United States.
Conrad Schumann	soldier	East Germany	1961	Photographed jumping the Berlin Wall during construction.
József Mindszenty	Cardinal	Hungary	1956	Fled to U.S. Embassy in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Later moved to Austria.
Ryszard Kuklinski	Polish colonel	Poland	1981	Spied for NATO for 10 years after 1970 massacre of Polish workers. Defected to United States. Sentenced to death in absentia. Later died of a stroke. Sentence was annulled in 1998 by the Polish Supreme Court.
Vladimir Pasechnik	bioweapons engineer	Russia	1989	Defected in Paris, France; to warn the west about USSR bioweapons.
Franciszek Jarecki	pilot	Poland	1953	Flew MiG-15 from Słupsk, Poland to Rønne Airport on Danish island of Bornholm
Jonas Pleškys	submarine tender captain	Lithuania	1961	Sailed vessel to Sweden; sentenced to death; CIA hid him from USSR
Alexander Zuyev	pilot	Russia	1989	Flew Mikoyan MiG-29 to Trabzon, Turkey
Nicholas Shadrin	naval officer	Russia	1959	Defected in Sweden; later killed by the KGB
Simonas "Simas" Kudirka	Soviet seaman	Lithuania	1970	Leaped from a Soviet ship to a United States Coast Guard ship
Józef Światło	UB	Poland	1953	Defected on a mission in Berlin; revealed that he falsified evidence that incriminated Wladyslaw Gomulka
Michael Goleniewski	Polish military intelligence	Poland	1961	Defected in West Germany; sentenced to death after defection; then worked for the CIA
Konstantin Volkov	NKVD	Russia	1945	Deputy head of the NKVD in Istanbul, Turkey ; contacted the British Istanbul consulate about defection, was arrested by the Soviets and disappeared forever (possibly executed)
Nikolai Khokhlov	KGB	Russia	1953	Refused to assassinate George Okolovich; defected in West Germany and KGB attempted to assassinate him in 1957
Ion Mihai Pacepa	Securitate	Romania	1978	He was a two-star Romanian Securitate general and personal advisor to Nicolae Ceauşescu. He defected in the American Embassy in Bonn, West Germany. He was sentenced to death twice in absentia with a $2 million bounty. Carlos the Jackal was sent to assassinate him.
Reino Häyhänen	KGB	Russia	1957	He defected in Paris after spending several years spying undercover in the west.
Christo Javacheff	environmentalist artist	Bulgaria	1957	He escaped from Czechoslovakia to Austria.
Matei Pavel Haiducu	Securitate	Romania	1978	He defected to France in 1981 on an industrial espionage mission. He was sentenced to death in absentia.
Anatoliy Golitsyn	KGB	Ukraine	1961	He defected to the United States via Helsinki, Finland and Haaparanta, Sweden with his wife and daughter when he was stationed in Helsinki. He made sensational claims after his defection.
Oleg Lyalin	KGB	Russia	1971	He defected in London, UK after arrested in London; exposed dozens of KGB agents in London
Stanislav Levchenko	KGB	Russia	1979	Defected during a mission in Tokyo, Japan  ; detailed KGB's Japanese spy network
Vladimir Kuzichkin	KGB	Russia	1982	Defected to a British intelligence Tehran station and then to the United Kingdom
Vitaly Yurchenko	KGB	Russia	1985	Defected in Rome, Italy; exposed two KGB/CIA double agents, Ronald Pelton and Edward Lee Howard; curiously ended up back with the KGB
Oleg Gordievsky	KGB	Russia	1985	Defected to UK via Finland; became MI6 double agent after the Soviet 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia; sentenced to death in absentia
Yuri Krotkov	KGB	Georgia	1963	Defected while an undercover agent in in London, UK; later became a novelist
Yuri Nosenko	KGB	Ukraine	1964	Defected in Washington, D.C., United States; for years, the CIA thought he might be a double agent
Evdokia Petrova	KGB	Russia	1954	Undercover KGB agent who was the wife of Vladimir Petrov; defected in Australia
Bohdan Stashynsky	KGB	Poland	1961	Defected in West Berlin; assassin of Lev Rebet and Stepan Bandera before defection
Mikhail Baryshnikov	ballet	Latvia	1974	Defected during tour in Toronto, Canada
Wolfgang Leonhard	historian	Austria	1949	Exiled German–Austrian communist who returned to Germany after World War II; defected via Yugoslavia; traveled to West Germany
Andrzej Panufnik	composer	Poland	1954	Slipped Polish secret police in night time taxi chase in London, UK
Maxim Shostakovich	composer	Russia	1981	Defected on tour in West Germany with his son[12]
Ivan Diviš	poet	Czechoslovakia	1967	Fled after Prague Spring to West Germany and worked for Radio Free Europe
Sulamith Messerer	ballet	Russia	1980	sister purged; defected to Britain at 72 to coach ballet
Imre Lakatos	mathematician	Hungary	1956	Fled to Vienna, Austria and later to Britain after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Georgi Markov	playwright	Bulgaria	1969	Fled to Italy after ban on plays
Nora Kovach	ballet	Hungary	1953	Escaped with husband Istvan Rabovsky to West Berlin on an East Berlin tour
Istvan Rabovsky	ballet	Hungary	1953	Escaped with wife Nora Kovach to West Berlin on an East Berlin tour
Victor Kravchenko	engineer	Ukraine	1944	Witnessed horrors of Holodomor; fled Red Army to escape west, eventually to Washington, D.C. in the United States
Yuri Bregel	scholar	Russia	1981	Defected to the United States; helped invigorate Central Eurasian Studies in the west
Youri Egorov	pianist	Russia	1976	Fled during a tour in in Rome, Italy
Natalia Makarova	ballet	Russia	1970	Defected on ballet tour in London, UK; later won a Tony Award[13]
Alexander Elder	author	Russia	1974	Jumped from a Soviet ship off the Ivory Coast on which he was working as a doctor; later traveled to the United States
Alexander Godunov	ballet	Russia	1979	Defected on ballet tour in New York in JFK International Airport in New York City; later became an actor, including one of the thieves in Die Hard[14]
Cornel Chiriac	journalist	Romania	1969	Defected to Austria with fake invitation
Vakhtang Jordania	conductor	Georgia	1983	Defected in a tour with Victoria Mullova via Kuusamo, Finland and Haaparanta Sweden to the United States
Viktoria Mullova	violinist	Russia	1983	Defected in a tour with Vakhtang Jordania via Kuusamo, Finland and Haaparanta, Sweden to the United States
Jan Čep	film maker	Czechoslovakia	1948	Defected to France; Poet friend that stayed behind jailed for 13 years for "anti-socialist thinking"
Anatoly Kuznetsov	author	Ukraine	1968	Defected after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia while doing research in London to the United Kingdom
Vladimir Tismăneanu	political scientist	Romania	1981	Defected in Spain on a permitted trip with his mother to visit site of father's battles
Yuri Lyubimov	theater director	Russia	1979	Defected to Italy
Mircea Florian	musician	Romania	1986	Defected in the United States on permitted visit for a performance
Gega Kobakhidze	actor	Georgia	1983	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and were caught
Vladimir Rezun (Viktor Suvorov)	GRU / author	Russia	1978	GRU military intelligence, defecting to Britain while working under UN cover in Switzerland
Ioan P. Culianu	philosopher	Romania	1972	Defected during lectures in Italy; suspected that Securitate later assassinated him
Petr Beckmann	physicist	Czechoslovakia	1963	Defected as visiting professor to University of Colorado in the United States  ; Became a proponent of libertarianism and nuclear power
Paul Barbă Neagră	film director	Romania	1964	Defected in Tours, France
Rudolf Nureyev	ballet	Russia	1961	Fearful of KGB arrest after mingling with strangers, he defected on tour in Paris at the Le Bourget Airport[15]
Nicholas Poppe	linguist	China	1943	Fled with the retreating Germans to Germany, hid from the Soviets after World War II for four years; emigrated to the United States
Leonid Kozlov	ballet	Soviet Union	1979	Defected with wife Valentina Kozlov during their company's tour in Los Angeles, United States
Valentina Kozlov	ballet	Soviet Union	1979	Defected with husband Leonid Kozlov during their company's tour in Los Angeles, United States
Valentin Poénaru	mathematician	Romania	1961	Defected at conference in Stockholm, Sweden; known for low-dimensional topology
Vitali Vitaliev	author	Ukraine	1990	Became a regular on BBC TV in the United Kingdom
Viktor Korchnoi	chess	Russia	1976	First Soviet Grandmaster to defect; defected in a tournament in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands[16]
Romanas Arlauskas	chess	Lithuania	1944	Escaped west with others just before Red Army re-invaded; traveled to Australia
Fedor Bogatyrchuk	chess	Ukraine	1944	Escaped during World War II after participating in anti-Stalin organization; defected in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Leho Laurine	chess	Estonia	1944	Fled before Red Army re-invasion of Estonia; defected to Sweden via Germany
Bela Berger	chess	Hungary	1956	Defected during Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to Austria
Jerzy Lewi	chess	Poland	1969	Defected during tournament in Athens, Greece; traveled to Sweden
Géza Füster	chess	Hungarian	1945	Defected through East Berlin with friend Pal Benko who was caught and jailed three years
Igor Vasilyevich Ivanov	chess	Russia	1980	Ran from KGB agents when his plane made an emergency stop in Gander, Canada
Sergei Fedorov	hockey	Russia	1990	Defected in Seattle, United States during Goodwill Games
Alexander Mogilny	hockey	Russia	1989	Defected during the World Championship medal ceremony in the United States
Petr Nedvěd	hockey	Czechoslovakia	1989	Defected during a midget hockey tournament in Calgary, Canada
Jörg Berger	football	East Germany	1979	Used a match in Yugoslavia to flee to West Germany
Miodrag Belodedici	football	Romania	1988	Defected in Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Martina Navratilova	tennis	Czechoslovakia	1975	Defected at the 1975 US Open in the United States
Miloš Forman	film director and actor	Czechoslovakia	1968	Defected to USA when the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to end the Prague Spring
Tamás Buday	sprint canoe	Hungary	1987	Defected to Canada
Alena Vrzáňová	figure skater	Czechoslovakia	1950	Defected during 1950 World Championships in London, UK
Mihai Apostal	sprint canoe	Romania	1989	-
Nadia Comăneci	gymnast	Romania	1989	Defected weeks before the revolution to Austria
Mihai Șubă	chess	Romania	1988	Defected to UK during the 1988 Lloyds Bank chess tournament in London.
Zoltán Czibor	football	Hungary	1956	Fled to Spain during Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Ágnes Keleti	artistic gymnast	Hungary	1956	Defected in Melbourne, Australia during 1956 Summer Olympics
Lutz Eigendorf	football	East Germany	1979	Fled during a match in West Germany. He was assassinated by Stasi as a traffic accident in 1983.
Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz	pole vault	Poland	1984	Polish sportsman famous for his offending gesture against Moscow audience, defected to West Germany
Kalinikos Kreanga	table tennis	Romania	1989	Defected in Luxembourg during youth table tennis championship
András Törő	flatwater canoe	Hungary	1964	Defected in Tokyo, Japan during the 1964 Summer Olympics
Falko Götz	football	East Germany	1983	Fled before a match in Yugoslavia; traveled to West Germany
Naim Süleymanoğlu	weightlifer	Bulgaria	1986	Defected during World Cup final in Melbourne, Australia; traveled to Turkey
Vladimir Artemov	gymnast	Russia	1990	Defected to the United States
Ferenc Puskás	football	Hungary	1956	Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain
Sándor Kocsis	football	Hungary	1956	Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain, and then to Switzerland
Jenő Kálmár	football	Hungary	1956	Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain, and then to Switzerland
Ludmila Belousova	figure skater	Russia	1979	Defected in Switzerland
Vladas Česiūnas	sprint canoe	Lithuania	1979	Defected in World Championships in the Frankfurt Airport in West Germany; recaptured by the KGB[17]
Norbert Nachtweih	football	East Germany	1976	Fled with Jürgen Pahl in an under-21 match in Turkey; traveled to West Germany
Oleg Protopopov	figure skater	Russia	1979	Defected with Ludmila Belousova on tour in Switzerland
Jürgen Pahl	football	East Germany	1976	Fled with Norbert Nachtweih in an under-21 match in Turkey; traveled to West Germany
Gorsha Sur	ice dancing	Russia	1990	Defected to the United States while on tour with a Soviet troupe
Ernst Degner	Motorcycle racer	East Germany	1961	Defected after the Berlin Wall was erected once he knew that his wife and two children had already escaped from East to West Germany in the trunk of a car . Degner defected (with knowledge of the loop scavenging technique developed for MZ) by driving his car from the Swedish GP to Denmark and West Germany [18].
Václav Nedomanský	hockey	Czechoslovakia	1974	Defected during a vacation in Switzerland
Pranas Brazinskas	skyjacking	Lithuania	1970	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 244; shootout ensued; defected to Trabzon, Turkey
Algirdas Brazinskas	skyjacking	Lithuania	1970	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 244; shootout ensued; defected to Trabzon, Turkey
Davit Mikaberidze	skyjacking	Georgia	1983	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and was caught. He was subsequently tried and executed.
Soso Tsereteli	skyjacking	Georgia	1983	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and was caught .He was subsequently tried and executed.
Kakhi Iverieli	skyjacking	Georgia	1983	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and was caught. He was subsequently tried and executed.
Paata Iverieli	skyjacking	Georgia	1983	Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and was caught. He was subsequently tried and executed.

Notable Defections after 1991 regarding Eastern Bloc intelligence

Defector	Profession/Prominence	Birthplace	Defection	Notes
Kanatjan Alibekov	bioweapons chief	Kazakhstan	1992	Former director of Biopreparat; defected to United States
Stanislav Lunev	GRU	Russia	1992	Defected to the United States; revealed KGB weapons caches in the west
Vasili Mitrokhin	KGB	Russia	1992	Defected in Riga, Latvia to British Embassy; Archivist who was shocked by records of Soviet political repression

[edit] See also

• Eastern Bloc emigration and defection
• List of Cold War pilot defections
• List of KGB defectors
• List of Western Bloc defectors

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

v • d • e Eastern Bloc Soviet Union · Communism Annexed as, or into, SSRs Eastern Finland · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania · Memel · East Prussia · West Belarus · Western Ukraine · Moldavia Satellite states People's Republic of Hungary · People's Republic of Poland · Czechoslovak Socialist Republic · Romanian People's Republic/Socialist Republic of Romania · East Germany · People's Republic of Albania (to 1961) · People's Republic of Bulgaria · Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (to 1948) Annexing SSRs Russian SFSR · Ukrainian SSR · Byelorussian SSR Related organizations Cominform · COMECON · Warsaw Pact · WFTU · WFDY Revolts and opposition Uprising of 1953 in East Germany · Poznań 1956 protests · Hungarian Revolution of 1956 · Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia · Solidarity, Soviet reaction and Martial law · Reagan Doctrine · Romanian Revolution of 1989 Cold War events Marshall Plan · Berlin Blockade · Tito–Stalin split · Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 · Berlin Wall Crisis of 1961 Conditions Eastern Bloc emigration and defection · Eastern Bloc information dissemination · Eastern Bloc politics · Eastern Bloc economies · Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc · List of Eastern Bloc defectors Decline Revolutions of 1989 · Fall of the Berlin Wall  · Singing Revolution · Collapse of the Soviet Union · Dissolution of Czechoslovakia · January 1991 events in Lithuania · January 1991 events in Latvia