13 Facts About Petrov Affair

Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954.

Petrov Affair made contact with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and offered to provide evidence of Soviet espionage in exchange for political asylum.

Petrov Affair did not tell his wife Evdokia of his intentions; apparently he planned to defect without her.

Affair grew more dramatic when Menzies told the House of Representatives that Petrov had brought with him documents concerning Soviet espionage in Australia.

Petrov Affair announced that a Royal Commission would investigate the matter, the Royal Commission on Espionage.

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Petrov Affair's documents were shown to the commission members, though they were never made public.

Petrov Affair's mother, the writer Katharine Susannah Prichard, was a committed Communist, and it was strongly suggested he had at least inadvertently, if not wittingly, given her classified information, as well as actively spying for the Soviet Union.

Evatt's loss of the election and his belief that Menzies had conspired with ASIO to contrive Petrov Affair's defection led to criticism within the Labor Party of his decision to appear before the Royal Commission.

Petrov Affair compounded this by writing to the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, asking if allegations of Soviet espionage in Australia were true.

Belief that there had been a "Petrov Affair conspiracy" became an article of faith in the Labor Party and on the left generally for many years, although even pro-Labor historians acknowledged that Evatt's eccentric conduct had contributed greatly to the Labor split.

Petrov Affair showed that Evatt's suspicions were unfounded, that Menzies and Spry had been telling the truth, that there had been no conspiracy, and that Evatt's own conduct had been mainly responsible for subsequent political events.

Petrov Affair managed to prove that his staff had not authored the document.

Petrov Affair has inspired a number of fictional works, many of which have won awards.