A SovietLavochkin La-7 fighter aircraft, that crash-landed in Sweden after being flown there by a defecting pilot, May 1949
Inpolitics, adefector is a person who gives upallegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state.[1] More broadly,defection involves abandoning a person, cause, or doctrine to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.[2][3]
This term is also applied, often pejoratively, to anyone who switches loyalty to anotherreligion,sports team,political party, or other rival faction. In that sense, the defector is often considered atraitor by their original side.[4][5]
A memorial to those who died trying to cross theBerlin Wall stood for ten months in 2004 and 2005 nearCheckpoint Charlie.
The physical act of defection is usually in a manner which violates the laws of the nation or political entity from which the person is seeking to depart. By contrast, mere changes incitizenship, or working with allied militia, usually do not violate any law(s).
For example, in the 1950s,East Germans were increasingly prohibited from traveling to the westernFederal Republic of Germany where they were automatically regarded as citizens according toExclusive mandate. TheBerlin Wall (1961) and fortifications along theInner German border (1952 onward) were erected by the CommunistGerman Democratic Republic to enforce the policy. When people tried to "defect" from the GDR they were to be shot on sight. Several hundred peoplewere killed along that border in theirRepublikflucht attempt. Official crossings did exist, but permissions to leave temporarily or permanently were seldom granted. On the other hand, the GDR citizenship of some "inconvenient" East Germans was revoked, and they had to leave their home on short notice against their will. Others, like singerWolf Biermann, were prohibited from returning to the GDR.
East German border guardKonrad Schumann jumping the border in 1961
During theCold War, the many people illegally emigrating from theSoviet Union orEastern Bloc tothe West were called defectors. Westerners defected to the Eastern Bloc as well, often to avoid prosecution as spies. Some of the more famous cases were British spyKim Philby, who defected to the USSR to avoid exposure as aKGB mole, and22 Allied POWs (one Briton and twenty-one Americans) who declined repatriation after theKorean War, electing to remain in China.
When an individual leaves their country and provides information to a foreign intelligence service, they are considered aHUMINT source defector. In some cases, defectors remain in the country or with the political entity they were against, functioning as adefector in place. Intelligence services are always concerned when debriefing defectors with the possibility of afake defection.
Entire militaries can defect and choose not to follow orders from a state's leaders. During theArab Spring protests, militaries in Egypt and Tunisia refused orders to fire upon protesters or use other methods to disperse them.[6][7] The decision to defect can be driven by the desire to prevent insubordination: if a military leader judges that lower officers will disobey orders to fire upon protesters, they could be more likely to defect.[6]
Nadia Comăneci, Romanian Olympic gymnast, who defected to the United States in 1989.
Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovak tennis player, who defected to the United States in 1975.[10]
Alexander Mogilny, Soviet (Russian)ice hockey forward, who defected to the United States in 1988. He was the first Soviet player to defect to play in theNHL.
Larry Allen Abshier, the first of six American soldiers to defect to North Korea between the years 1962–1982. He died in 1983 from a heart attack while residing inPyongyang.
James Joseph Dresnok, aUS Army private who defected toNorth Korea by sneaking across the Demilitarized Zone in 1962. He would live the remainder of his life in the DPRK until his death in 2016.
Igor Gouzenko, a Sovietcipher clerk who defected to Canada and released information regarding Soviet espionage activities in western society. Credited as one of the triggering factors for the beginning of the Cold War.
Maxim Kuzminov [ru], former Russian military pilot-navigator of the Mi-8AMTSh military transport helicopter. During the Russian-Ukrainian War, on August 9, 2023, he flew across the front line to the Ukrainian side as part of the specialOperation Synytsia, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.[14]
Matiur Rahman, a Pakistani/Bangladeshi pilot who in 1971 attempted to defect with a T-33 along with confidential Pakistani war plans to India to join theBangladesh Liberation War. However his plan was foiled by Flt.LtRashid Minhas who crashed the plane after a brief struggle for control over the aircraft. The plane crashed some 50 Kilometres from the border.[15]
Travis King, a US Army private who defected to North Korea, possibly to avoid facing a dishonorable discharge and legal charges, in 2023. North Korea would later return him to American custody.[citation needed]
Guy Burgess, British diplomat and member of theCambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union in 1951.
Donald Maclean, British diplomat and member of the Cambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union in 1951.
Kim Philby, British intelligence officer and member of the Cambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.
Viktor Suvorov (born 1947), Russian writer and former Soviet military intelligence officer who defected to the United Kingdom in 1978.
Thae Yong-ho, a formerNorth Korean diplomat for Britain. At an unknown date Thae defected from North Korea for his family, because he "didn't want his children, who were used to life of freedom, to suffer life of oppression". Being one of North Korea's elite, for the nation he was the highest profile defection since No Kum-sok (above) in 1953. He was elected to theSouth KoreanNational Assembly in2020 for theUnited Future Party, representing the Gangnam A district ofSeoul.[citation needed]
Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess Grandmaster, defected in Amsterdam in 1976.
Walter Polovchak, minor, defected to the United States in 1980 at 12. He and his parents moved to the United States fromSoviet Ukraine in 1980 but later that year his parents decided to move back to Ukraine. He did not wish to return with them and was the subject of a five-year struggle to stay permanently. He won the right to permanent sanctuary in 1985 upon turning 18.
The crew ofoil tanker Tuapse, held hostage in 1954 by the government ofTaiwan during theWhite Terror. An unusual case of forced defection, where the crew were forced to defect to the United States to secure their release. Those who refused were subjected to various forms of torture, while those who subsequently retracted their defection and returned to the Soviet Union were sentenced for treason but later pardoned. All surviving crew were released in 1988.
^"Defection | Define Defection at Dictionary.com".Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. Retrieved2011-03-22. "de·fec·tion [dih-fek-shuhn]noun (1.) desertion from allegiance, loyalty, duty, or the like; apostasy: His defection to East Germany was regarded as treasonable. (2.) failure; lack; loss: He was overcome by a sudden defection of courage." Retrieved 22MARCH2011.
^"Defector | Define Defector at Dictionary.com".Archived from the original on 2011-04-05. Retrieved2011-03-22. "de·fec·tor [dih-fek-ter]–noun a person who defects from a cause, country, alliance, etc. Origin: 1655–65; < Latin dēfector renegade, rebel, equivalent to dēfec- (variant stem of dēficere to become disaffected, revolt, literally, to fail; see defect) + -tor -tor" Retrieved 22MARCH2011.
^"defector",The Free Dictionary,archived from the original on 2019-08-27, retrieved2023-01-18
^Professor Ben Kiernan (2008).The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia Under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79. Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-14434-5.
Brook-Shepherd, Gordon.The storm petrels: the first Soviet defectors, 1928-1938. HarperCollins, 1977).
Hänni, Adrian, and Miguel Grossmann. "Death to traitors? The pursuit of intelligence defectors from the Soviet Union to the Putin era."Intelligence and National Security (2020): 1-21.
Krasnov, Vladislav.Soviet defectors: The KGB wanted list (Hoover Press, 2018).
Riehle, Kevin P. "The Defector Balance Sheet: Westbound Versus Eastbound Intelligence Defectors from 1945 to 1965."International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 33.1 (2020): 68-96.
Scott, Erik R. (2023).Defectors: How the Illicit Flight of Soviet Citizens Built the Borders of the Cold War World. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-754687-1.
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