Oleg Lyalin

Who was Oleg Lyalin?

Oleg Adolfovich Lyalin was a Soviet agent who defected from the KGB. His defection led to the expulsion of 105 Soviet officials suspected as being Soviet spies from Britain on 25 September 1971.

Lyalin was sent by the KGB to London in the 1960s, posing as an official with the Soviet Trade Delegation.

His defection came about after he was arrested in London by policeman Charles Shearer for drunk driving. His bail of £50 was paid by the Russian Trade Delegation but he was taken to a safe house by MI5. He offered to disclose information about KGB activities in exchange for a new life with his Russian secretary, Irina Teplyakova, with whom he had begun an affair.

The expulsion of 105 officials was the single biggest action taken against the Soviet Union by any western government. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, foreign secretary at the time, was accused by the Labour opposition of over-reaction.

Lyalin was given a new identity by MI5 and remained in hiding until his death on 12 February 1995.