Victor Cherkashin

Victor Ivanovich Cherkashin (Russian: Ви́ктор Ива́нович Черка́шин) (born 22 February 1932) is a former Soviet foreign counter-intelligence officer of the PGU KGB SSSR. He was the case officer for both Aldrich Ames, a CIA counter-intelligence officer, and Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent.

Victor Cherkashin
Born (1932-02-22) February 22, 1932
Krasnoe, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
NationalitySoviet
OccupationKGB foreign counter-intelligence officer

Career

Cherkashin joined the KGB in 1952 and retired in 1991. He was the case officer for both Aldrich Ames, a CIA counter-intelligence officer, and Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent, when they spied for the Soviet Union. Cherkashin served for many years in the KGB's First Chief Directorate, the department dedicated to foreign counter-intelligence. His career included tours in Lebanon, India, Australia, West Germany and Washington, DC.

Cherkashin was awarded the Order of Lenin in August 1986 for recruiting Aldrich Ames.[1][2]

In 2004 he presented the book Spy Handler at the Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Personal life

Cherkashin was the son of a NKVD officer. He received a diploma of a railway engineer from the Moscow State Institute of Railway Engineering.[3]

Cherkashin married KGB cipher clerk Elena, with whom he has two children; Alyosha and Alyona. After his retirement from the KGB he established his own private security company in Moscow, where he now lives with Elena.

Victor and his wife Elena made an appearance on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel channel.[4] He discussed a little about life as a spy and handler but also showed him helping Anthony pick wild mushrooms and then having his wife cook them and share stories while snacking. The show took place at his dacha, country house in a community with other retired KGB officers.

References
  1. Risen, James (29 December 1997). "How KGB Kept Ames' Role Secret". Los Angeles Times. In 1986--undoubtedly for handling Ames, although the reason was never given--Cherkashin received the Order of Lenin
  2. Risen, James (22 February 2001). "A SEARCH FOR ANSWERS: THE SPYMASTER; Spy Handler Bedeviled U.S. In Earlier Case". The New York Times. Mr. Cherkashin was awarded the Order of Lenin for his work in Washington, and returned to Moscow in 1987
  3. Victor Cherkashin and Gregory Feifer, (2004), Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames.
  4. Bourdain, Anthony (26 July 2008). "Politics and the Dinner Table". Travel Channel. Retrieved 5 April 2013.

Bibliography
  • Cherkashin, Victor. (2004). Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer. The True Story of The Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen & Aldrich Ames Basic. ISBN 0-465-00968-9.
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