Tolkachev, A Worthy Successor to Penkovsky | Page 6

say that a significant role in this was played by
Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov, even though I do not know them and have
only read Solzhenitsyn's works which were published in Noviy Mir.
Some inner worm started to torment me; something has to be done. I
started to write short leaflets that I planned to mail out. But, later,
having thought it out properly, I understood that this was a useless
undertaking. To establish contact with dissident circles which have

contact with foreign journalists seemed senseless to me due to the
nature of my work. (I have a top secret clearance.) Based on the
slightest suspicion, I would be totally isolated or liquidated. Thus was
born my plan of action to which I have resorted. . . . I have chosen a
course which does not permit one to move backward, and I have no
intention of veering from this course. My actions in the future depend
on [my] health, and changes in the nature of [my] work. Concerning
remuneration, I would not begin to establish contact for any sum of
money with, for example, the Chinese Embassy. But how about
America? Maybe it has bewitched me, and I am madly in love with it? I
have not seen your country with my own eyes, and to love it unseen, I
do not have enough fantasy or romanticism. However, based on some
facts, I got the impression that I would prefer to live in America. It is
for this very reason that I decided to offer you my collaboration. But I
am not an altruist alone. Remuneration for me is not just money. It is,
even to a greater extent, the evaluation of the significance and the
importance of my work.
Tolkachev further explained that he had decided "five or six years ago"
to cooperate, but that he waited until "my son grew up." He wrote, "I
understand that in case of a flap my family would face a severe ordeal."
At first he thought about trying to establish contact at a US exhibit, but
decided this would not be secure. He then started taking long walks
around the Embassy area. Having spotted cars with diplomatic license
plates, he looked for an opportunity to approach an American getting in
or out of his car. He observed that some of these cars had Russian
drivers and realized that he would have to be careful which car he
chose. (Tolkachev clearly had no idea that he had stumbled on the local
CIA chief as the target for his initial approaches.) He noted that he had
decided that the driver of the car he chose to approach had to be an
American and not a Russian chauffeur due to "his bright and beggarly
clothing--trousers which had never seen an iron--no Russian chauffeur
of a diplomatic vehicle would ever dress like that."
The Operation Takes Off
The first meeting with Tolkachev in January 1979 was a watershed

event. The information that he passed convinced all, but the most
diehard skeptics, that the CIA was in contact with a volunteer with
immense potential. The Agency now moved into high gear to put the
operation on a sound footing.
The CIA was breaking new ground in several ways. Tolkachev
provided access to information of a sort never before seen in its Soviet
operations, in terms of both its huge value to US military planners and
its highly technical nature. In addition, Tolkachev was to be handled
extensively via face-to-face meetings in Moscow rather than by
deaddrops, which were normally used for Russian assets handled in
country.
The January meeting started a pattern of successful encounters with
Tolkachev held every two or three months over the next 18 months of
the operation. The first meetings were dedicated not only to receiving
Tolkachev's immensely valuable intelligence, but also to working out
the critically important operational details that would ensure that he
could be handled securely and productively over the long term. This
meant constructing a viable agent communication system, coming to
agreement with the agent over a compensation package and a way to
deliver it, and working out the means by which he could best take
advantage of his access to obtain Soviet secrets for delivery to the CIA
in a secure manner. Tolkachev continued to deliver large quantities of
highly valuable intelligence while the details of the arrangement were
being worked out.
Agent Communications
Considerable planning was needed to establish a contact routine for the
Tolkachev operation. In this case, the CIA did not have the luxury of
being able to provide the agent with any external training in the use of
deaddrops before the initiation of his agent role. Since painstaking
efforts had already led to a personal meeting with Tolkachev, the door
was opened to the possibility of