1. Leonid Vladimirovich Shebarshin was an intelligence officer and spy for the Soviet Union.
20 Facts About Leonid Shebarshin
1. 2.
Leonid Shebarshin served in the First Chief Directorate, the foreign intelligence arm of the KGB.
3.
In 1962, Leonid Shebarshin was invited to join the First Chief Directorate, where he began a new career in the rank of second lieutenant and security officer.
4.
Leonid Shebarshin was promoted for contributing to the preparation for the negotiations.
5.
In 1968, Leonid Shebarshin returned to Moscow and took a year-long training course for managerial staff.
6.
Leonid Shebarshin eventually arrived after the fall of the monarchy in Iran, when the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled the country in January 1979.
7.
Leonid Shebarshin shared numerous Soviet secrets with the British, who would share them further with the CIA as well as the Khomeini regime.
8.
Kuzichkin and British officials claim that his defection was spontaneous, but Leonid Shebarshin believed the British recruited him for some time.
9.
Leonid Shebarshin claimed he was recalled to avoid being expelled by the Iranians, who were in the process of cracking down on Soviet agents and Iranian leftists.
10.
In 1983, Leonid Shebarshin returned to Moscow headquarters for a few months under the chief of the PGU KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov.
11.
Leonid Shebarshin was appointed deputy chief of the information-analytical department of intelligence.
12.
In 1984 Leonid Shebarshin, accompanying Kryuchkov, went on a mission in Kabul.
13.
In 1987, Leonid Shebarshin was appointed deputy chief of PGU KGB, second in command after Kryuchkov, and managed intelligence operations in the Middle East and Africa.
14.
Leonid Shebarshin followed Kryuchkov's orders to activate FCD agents and paramilitary units in Moscow, but instructed them to only take orders directly from Shebarshin himself.
15.
Leonid Shebarshin met with Gorbachev, and was appointed the new head of the KGB.
16.
Leonid Shebarshin was replaced by Vadim Bakatin, whose job was essentially to dismantle the KGB.
17.
Leonid Shebarshin returned to his post as FCD head until Bakatin announced a new FCD deputy director, Vladimir Rozhkov, without consulting him.
18.
Leonid Shebarshin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star.
19.
Leonid Shebarshin earned badges "For Service of Intelligence" and "Honorary State Security Officer".
20.
At the age of 77, Leonid Shebarshin took his own life by shooting himself at his home in Moscow.