The Spy Who Knew Too Much: Vasili Mitrokhin and the KGB's Secret History, with Gordon Corera
SpyMastersShow Notes
🎧 Spymasters — The Spy Who Knew Too Much: Vasily Mitrokin and the KGB's Secret History
What happens when the keeper of secrets decides to tell the truth? This episode uncovers the extraordinary story of Vasili Mitrokhin — the KGB archivist who risked everything to smuggle out the Soviet Union’s deepest intelligence secrets. From a disillusioned believer in communism to one of the West’s most valuable defectors, Mitrokin’s journey is a Cold War thriller rooted in truth. Antonia Senior talks to journalist and author Gordon Corera
We explore:
Mitrokin’s quiet rebellion inside the KGB archive
How the Prague Spring shattered his faith in the Soviet system
The years-long process of secretly copying and hiding thousands of classified documents
His dramatic defection — and the West’s initial skepticism
The long-term impact of the Mitrokin Archive on our understanding of Cold War espionage
🔍 Based on A Spy in the Archive by Gordon Corera 📘 Get the book here
Vasily Mitrokin was a senior KGB archivist who became deeply disillusioned with Soviet ideology.
Over more than a decade, he secretly copied thousands of classified files detailing Soviet espionage around the world.
His work offers unparalleled insights into KGB operations, agent networks, and Cold War strategies.
The defection was logistically and emotionally complex, hampered by the sheer volume of documents.
Western intelligence agencies were at first hesitant to believe him.
The Mitrokin Archive has transformed the study of Cold War intelligence.
00:00 — Introduction to The Spy in the Archive 02:10 — Mitrokin's Early Life and Ideological Journey 05:04 — Inside the KGB: Belief Turns to Doubt 11:02 — Years in the Archives: The Birth of a Secret Mission 18:37 — From Archivist to Whistleblower 20:30 — The Cost of Telling the Truth 25:10 — Smuggling Out a Secret Empire 28:16 — Facing the Doubters in the West 29:40 — Missed Warnings and Intelligence Oversights 32:01 — The Persistence of the Czechists 34:23 — Opening the Vault: What the Archive Revealed 39:12 — Justice Delayed: Legal and Political Fallout 42:53 — Can We Trust the Archive? 45:40 — Legacy, Lessons, and the Future of Spycraft 48:25 — Outro
Vasily Mitrokin, KGB, Cold War, espionage, intelligence, defection, Soviet Union, Prague Spring, archives, whistleblower, Gordon Corera, MI6, CIA, Western intelligence, Mitrokin Archive, communism, secrets, spycraft
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