Adolf Georgiyevich Tolkachev (Russian: Адольф Георгиевич Толкачёв; 6 January 1927 – 24 September 1986)[1] was a Soviet electronics engineer.
Tolkachev claimed his distrust of the Soviet government arose from the persecution of his wife's parents, who had suffered under Joseph Stalin.
[3] From January 1977 to February 1978, Tolkachev attempted to approach cars with U.S. diplomatic license plates in Moscow five times,[4] coincidentally approaching the CIA Moscow bureau chief Gardner Hathaway at a gas station, but the CIA was wary of counterintelligence operations by the KGB.
Eventually, Tolkachev established his bona fides with intelligence data that proved to be of "incalculable" value to US experts.
A KGB-linked newspaper later wrote that the CIA showed a great deal of care for Tolkachev and that the way they treated him was "touching."
He eventually requested that the interest from his accounts be paid to him in rubles so that he could attempt to bribe any coworkers who might discover his activity.
While attempting to meet with Tolkachev, a CIA officer was arrested and questioned at the Lubyanka KGB headquarters and prison, and incriminating materials, including spy equipment such as cameras, were seized from him.
The source of the exposure is believed to have been Edward Lee Howard, an ex-CIA officer who fled to Moscow to avoid treason charges.
The conversation transcript states that Tolkachev had been executed the previous day for his espionage on behalf of the U.S.[14] Historian Nicholas Dujmovic criticized Fischer's article as "speculative," saying that he makes "few factual statements".