After he was brought to the United States, Mr. Sheymov spent a year debriefing intelligence officials about the KGB’s worldwide cryptological network and other secrets. AD“The task was to find out how to get physically close to the pope,” Mr. Sheymov said in a 1990 Washington news conference. Mr. Sheymov excelled in mathematics and studied in a program specializing in missile and spacecraft design before joining the KGB in 1971. Over the years, Mr. Sheymov maintained that he had been promised $1 million for defecting and free lifetime health care. During his final days with the KGB in Moscow, Mr. Sheymov said he wasn’t sure if he was being helped by the CIA or duped by the Soviet Union.

Source: Washington Post December 05, 2019 21:11 UTC