| | Vasili Mitrokhin was born in central Russia in 1922. He began his career as an intelligence officer in 1948 working for the Committee of Information--the temporarily combined MGB (future KGB) and GRU (Soviet military intelligence).<ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1}}</ref> His first five years in intelligence were during the final paranoid years of Stalin's dictatorship, when intelligence agencies were enjoined to conduct investigations against usually imaginary Titoist and Zionist conspiracies. <ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1-2}}</ref> | | Vasili Mitrokhin was born in central Russia in 1922. He began his career as an intelligence officer in 1948 working for the Committee of Information--the temporarily combined MGB (future KGB) and GRU (Soviet military intelligence).<ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1}}</ref> His first five years in intelligence were during the final paranoid years of Stalin's dictatorship, when intelligence agencies were enjoined to conduct investigations against usually imaginary Titoist and Zionist conspiracies. <ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1-2}}</ref> |
| − | Mitrokhin tried twice to defect to the CIA, but was turned down each time because the CIA wanted to "maintain high moral ground" by not recruiting KGB defecterss.<ref>{{hnb|Trulock|2004}}</ref> Subsequently, he turned to the SIS, who exfiltrated Mitrokhin, his family, and 6 cases of notes on KGB files.<ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1}}, {{hnb|Trulock|2004}}</ref> | + | Mitrokhin tried twice to defect to the CIA, but was turned down each time because the CIA wanted to "maintain high moral ground" by not recruiting KGB defecterss.<ref>{{hnb|Trulock|2004}}</ref> Subsequently, he turned to the SIS, who exfiltrated Mitrokhin from [[Latvia]], including his family, and 6 cases of notes on KGB files.<ref>{{hnb|Andrew & Mitronkhin|1999|Ref=CITEREFAndrewMitrokhin1999|p=1}}, {{hnb|Trulock|2004}}, {{hnb|AP|2004}}</ref> |
| | Vasili Mitrokhin died of pneumonia on January 23, 2004, at the age of 81.<ref>{{hnb|Trulock|2004}}</ref> | | Vasili Mitrokhin died of pneumonia on January 23, 2004, at the age of 81.<ref>{{hnb|Trulock|2004}}</ref> |