Forty-seven Soviet personnel were expelled from France on 5th April 1983 for what was described as “a systematic search on French territory for technological and scientific information, particularly in the military area.”. A French Interior Ministry statement noted that the number of Soviet residents in France had increased by about 1,400 over a decade to 2,406 at the beginning of 1982. Of that group, about 700 were believed to hold official passports, an increase of about 500 over the 10 years. About one-third of the 700 were considered professional intelligence agents.
Konstantin Petrovich Monakhov expelled from Argentina 7 April 1959, expelled again from Italy 6 August 1969, then exposed as Soviet spy in a U.S. Congress Sub-Committee on Trade and Commerce hearing Trade Embargo Cuba, 8 May 1975.
The zenith of complicity in Soviet espionage especially in NATO states was the April 1983 expulsion of Aleksandr Alekseyevich Avdeyev among 46 others expelled from France only to return as Ambassador in February 2002. This was repeated when Yuri Vladimirovich Dubinin Soviet Embassy France employee 1955 First Secretary then Counselor Soviet Embassy France at the time of the George Paques NATO espionage incident on 12 August 1963 became Ambassador to France in 1990.
The number of former or later Soviet or Russian Federation Ambassadors actually or previously expelled, exposed or recalled in several countries almost a badge of honor should disabuse any notion that these chief diplomats are above the fray of espionage and may in fact be leading it prior and post expulsion:
Nicolai Ivanovich Generalov recalled from Australia 4th April 1954.
Aleksandr Alekseyevich Avdeyev expelled from France 5th April 1983
Nikolai Andreyevich Belous expelled from Argentina 7th April 1959.
Mikhail Yevgennevich Timoshkin expelled from Liberia 14th April 1979.
The number of Soviet Ambassadors who died in office, are significant in number, perhaps poor planning, medical care, suspicion of defection, assassination or simply to retain secrets included Russian Federation Ambassador Jamaica, Igor Lebedev, died in Kingston in April 2006, after arriving the previous February.
Soviet Embassy Washington Counselor KGB resident, initial handler of CIA KGB double agent Aldrich Hazen Ames, Stanislav Andreevich Androsov, was declared persona non grata by the USA on 22 October 1986. Androsov’s son, Soviet Embassy France Third Secretary Andrei S. Androsov, was expelled on 5 April 1983, among 47 other Soviets.
© Peter Polack All rights reserved
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