Yuri Shvets | |
|---|---|
Юрій Швець | |
| Born | (1953-05-16)16 May 1953 (age 72) |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Academy of Foreign Intelligence |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Agency | KGB |
| Service years | 1980–1990 |
| Rank | Major |
| Website | YouTube channel |
Yuri Borysovych Shvets[a] (born 16 May 1953) is a former Sovietintelligence officer ofUkrainian origin. He was a Major in theKGB between 1980 and 1990. From April 1985 to 1987, he was aresident spy inWashington, D.C.[2] While there, he held a cover job as a correspondent forTASS, a Soviet state-owned news agency.[3] He left the KGB in September 1990.[4]
Shvets graduated ininternational law from thePatrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University (now the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia). He also graduated from theAcademy of Foreign Intelligence,[5] where he purportedly studied alongsideVladimir Putin,[4] a claim that is disputed.[6]
In his 1995 book,Washington Station, Shvets alleges he had recruited two key sources of political intelligence — "Socrates", a former aide to PresidentJimmy Carter with strong ties toGreece, and his wife "Sputnitsa" (Russian:Спутница,lit. 'companion'), a journalist working in Washington.[7] Some of these details were called into question.[7] Later, on "60 Minutes", Shvets had identified Socrates asJohn Helmer, an Australian-born journalist, who denied being Socrates.[7]
After publishing a book describing his exploits and ultimate falling-out with the KGB, Shvets was banned from foreign travel. In 1993, he moved permanently to the United States, where he later gained citizenship.[3]
Shvets was a key source for the 2021 bookAmerican Kompromat byCraig Unger,[3][8] which details claims thatDonald Trump is a Soviet, and later Russian, asset.[9]
In 2006, Shvets emerged as a potentially key witness in the poisoning of ex-Federal Security Service officerAlexander Litvinenko. In an interview with theBBC, broadcast on 16 December 2006, Shvets said that he and Litvinenko had compiled a report investigating the activities of seniorKremlin officials on behalf of a British company looking to invest "dozens of millions of dollars" in a project in Russia. Shvets said the dossier aboutSergei Ivanov was so incriminating, it was likely that Litvinenko was murdered because of it.[10] He said that Litvinenko had shown the dossier to another business associate,Andrei Lugovoi, who had worked for the FSB and had passed the dossier to his superiors in Moscow. Shvets was interviewed about it byScotland Yard detectives investigating Litvinenko's murder.[11]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) This is a Russian translation of an article originally published in Italian. Theoriginal website is a dead link.| International | |
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