It was the stuff of espionage legends – the intricate game of cat and mouse played out between Soviet spies and Western diplomats during the Cold War. In a period marked by suspicion and covert operations, there emerged tales that could make one chuckle – evidence that even in the most tense of situations, a sense of humor could prevail.
In the 1980s, Soviet Russia was a hotbed of surveillance activities. The KGB, known for its role in intelligence and security, was relentless in its pursuit of monitoring foreign diplomats.
One such instance involved the 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, who while stationed in Moscow as head of MI6, found himself in a domestic quarrel over picnic plans with his wife. In an almost comical turn of events, the couple’s discussion was so closely monitored that a KGB surveillant slipped a note under their door confirming the previously agreed picnic location. Lord Oxford, reflecting on this, saw the humor in the situation, saying, “I thought that was a KGB surveillant who had a good sense of humor, actually…”
Soviet intelligence officers sometimes employed tactics that, while meant to intimidate, were borderline juvenile. They would break into apartments, rearrange furniture, leave drawing pins on seats, and sometimes leave a toilet used, to unsettle their targets. This tactic was not limited to the Soviet Union; similar methods were used by intelligence agencies globally.
Academic and historian Calder Walton, who wrote about intelligence warfare between East and West, suggests that these incidents reflect a time when surveillance was almost expected, and there existed a kind of camaraderie between surveillant and target. Walton remarks, “Yes, there was a tradecraft. If the Soviets caught an intelligence officer behind the Iron Curtain, they wouldn’t execute that person, they’d get expelled. And the Western services wouldn’t do the same either. In certainly the Cold War there were rules of the game and people knew what to expect.”
The anecdotes stretch from the peculiar to the endearing. Diplomats often engaged in what intelligence circles call “talking to the walls,” where they communicated directly with their invisible minders for practical purposes. It was not uncommon for them to request meetings or household items audibly, only for their surveillance team to facilitate these requests.
Surveillance was pervasive and thorough, extending to the bugging of phones and placing operatives in various disguises to follow targets. In an extreme case, a female MI6 officer returned home to find her windows boarded up, a stark reminder of the suffocating watch she was under.
Relevant articles:
– ‘The KGB solved my argument with my wife’: When spies get too close to their targets, The Telegraph
– ‘Portal’ livestream connecting New York and Dublin paused after ‘inappropriate behavior’, AOL.com
– KGB – Soviet Security, Intelligence, Espionage, britannica.com