After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian intelligence was involved in a serious leak. Rumor has it that the KGB senior ** Vasily Mitrokhin defected to Britain with an encyclopedia-like secret Soviet intelligence. These included key espionage programs such as Soviet-planted spy lists in various countries, secret hiding places, and sabotage programs against targets in other countries. This leak is regarded as the largest case in history, which directly led to the revelation of thousands of spies planted by the Soviet Union in Britain, the United States and other countries, and the United States alone has more than 1,000 KGB spies because of Mitrokhin's files.
Mitrokhin was a senior dossier custodian at the Soviet KGB's Overseas Espionage Headquarters, and his KGB career was full of twists and turns and deadly moments. Before the end of World War II, he worked in the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, and in 1948, officially joined the KGB. Due to his foreign work experience, his ideological tendencies gradually leaned towards the West. Upon his return, he began to collect KGB materials, which eventually led to an extraordinary position. In the early 70s of the 20th century, he worked in the First Directorate General of Foreign Intelligence, which was in charge of foreign intelligence, and enjoyed a unique opportunity. He copied, printed, and sorted out a large number of classified documents and hid them under the ground of a country house for more than 10 years. It wasn't until 1984 that Mitrokhin officially retired and began secretly smuggling the files out of the country.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the border was chaotic, and Mitrokhin was finally able to escape. However, he was snubbed upon arrival at the U.S. Embassy and was eventually granted asylum at the British Embassy. The information provided by Mitrokhin is said to be of great importance to Britain and the United States, detailing the actions of the Soviet spy agencies, including the KGB lists embedded in various countries. These "lurking" Soviet spies were of all sorts of identities, some retired, some still in office, as unobtrusive as ordinary people, and some as kind old men. If it weren't for Mitrokhine's notes, the identities of these spies might not have been possible.
The information provided by Mitrokhin revealed the covert operations of the Soviet Union in the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, including insidious schemes such as the "dead letterbox". He kept a low profile after fleeing to the UK, and when he died in 2004, his life became valuable material for the spy war author's tradition.