Farewell by Raynaud Eric & Kostin Sergei & Richard V. Allen & Catherine Cauvin-Higgins

Author:Raynaud, Eric & Kostin, Sergei & Richard V. Allen & Catherine Cauvin-Higgins [Raynaud, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Published: 2011-08-01T16:00:00+00:00

Although no longer living in France, Vetrov did not sever the bonds uniting him to that country. He kept in contact particularly with his friend Jacques Prévost.

In 1972–1973, Prévost traveled regularly to Moscow on business, representing Thomson-CSF. One day, Vetrov called him up in his hotel room at the Rossia and asked if they could meet. They met in the lobby a few minutes later and left together in Vetrov’s car. Vetrov was driving when, suddenly, he pulled out his KGB card of lieutenant colonel and showed it to Prévost. “Now you know,” he said. “Do you still want to be my friend?” Prévost, who, without knowing exactly Vetrov’s rank, knew that his partner belonged to the KGB, assured him that it did not change a thing as far as he was concerned. Instantly, Volodia, as Prévost used to call him, invited him for dinner at their place. As a KGB officer, Vetrov could meet with foreigners only for professional reasons and only after having received the official green light from his superiors. Since Prévost was considered to be his “target of study,” it was probably not difficult to obtain such an authorization. Prévost visited the Vetrovs two or three times more.

The Russians enjoy entertaining at home. Svetlana and Vladimir made it a point of honor to fill Prévost with caviar, salmon roe, smoked sturgeon, and other local delicacies. Everything was presented on silver plates, items that could be found for little money in antique stores. The Frenchman seemed to appreciate the display of luxury. One day, as an intended compliment, he told his hosts that in France only a member of the Rothschild family could afford to own such precious furniture as theirs.

On his part, at the end of the very first dinner, Vetrov felt an obligation to confirm his gratitude toward Prévost regarding the car accident: “Jacques, I did not forget what you did for me, you know…and the day will come when I will pay my debt.”

On the next visits, Prévost traveled with his wife. Svetlana showed her around in Moscow, taking her to the Tretiakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. One Sunday, the Vetrovs picked their French friends up at their hotel, the “Leningradskaya,” and drove to Sergiyev Posad (renamed Zagorsk by Soviet authorities) to show them one of the most impressive and renowned monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church.

His friend Jean-Paul was there too, accompanying Jacques Prévost, but it is primarily the presence of his wife that leads us to believe that no new attempt was made to approach Vetrov. Prévost, who knew that the KGB was aware of his status of DST “honorable correspondent,” was not keen on his wife coming to Moscow with him. With his wife present, it is difficult to imagine the Thomson correspondent offering defection to a KGB operative. Besides, Vladimir did not mention anything to his wife, and Svetlana is certain that he would have told her about it if a formal approach had taken place.5

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.