27/01/2025
Norwich, GB 7 C
Researching and reporting on the lives of some really interesting people (RIP)

GALINA BROK-BELTSOVA, aged 99

Recruited to the air force when the Nazis invaded the USSR, she became part of the Night Witches and had many close shaves. After the war she joined the KGB.

MARCUS KLINGBERG, aged 97

A Polish Jew who fought for the Red Army in the war, he emigrated to Israel to become their leading scientist – but all along he was a spy for the USSR.

IDA NUDEL, aged 90

Born in the USSR of Jewish extraction she was a refusenik, campaigning to leave Russia. Imprisoned for her protests she was eventually exiled.

MIKHAIL VASENKOV, aged 79

A Russian KGB officer, he was trained as a sleeper. He lived in Peru, then as a college professor in the USA before being caught by the FBI. He was then involved in the biggest spy swap ever.