Vladimir Anatolyevich Kuzichkin Владимир Анатольевич Кузичкин (born 1947)[1] is a former Soviet foreign intelligence officer who defected to Great Britain.
Upon exiting the service, Kuzichkin enrolled at the Institute of Asian and African Countries, where he studied Iranian history and Persian.
[5] He arrived in Iran near the end of 1973, and spent a year working as interpreter at an iron mine in Bafq and completing his thesis.
[10] Kuzichkin worked in the 'N Line' at the residency in Tehran, responsible for overseeing and protecting the activities of the KGB's illegal agents.
Soviet leadership and the KGB decided to assassinate and replace PDPA leader Hafizullah Amin with a more moderate option.
[12] On 1 January 1980, Kuzichkin was present when a group of civilians rushed the Soviet embassy in Tehran, apparently in response to the invasion of Afghanistan.
[3] Defectors have always been a volatile commodity, and while some, such as Oleg Lyalin, adjust to their new life, others, such as the KGB officers Vladimir Kuzichkin and Viktor Makarov, found the process challenging.
Both developed mental health issues, and Kuzichkin was once discovered stark naked in a motorway service station in Somerset, resulting in his immediate hospitalisation.