Yuri Krotkov

Who was Yuri Krotkov?

Yuri Vasilevich Krotkov was a Russian dramatist. Working as a KGB agent, he defected to the West in 1963.

Born in Kutaisi, Georgia, Krotkov received his BA in literature from the University of Moscow. He worked for TASS and Radio Moscow. After World War II, he was an information officer in Berlin, Germany as a KGB agent. In 1956, he was selected to run the seduction operation against Maurice Dejean, the French ambassador to the USSR. He claims to have recruited Wilfred Burchett in England but there is no evidence to support this allegation. However, KGB archives indicate that in 1957 Burchett was receiving monetary compensation for his services.

On 13 September 1963, feeling guilty for the suicide of Louis Guibaud, he defected in London, England. In 1964, he vouched for Yuri Nosenko. His information led to the exposure of John Watkins. In 1969, he moved to the United States and became a novelist. He wrote I Am From Moscow, The Red Monarch: Scenes From the Life of Stalin, and The Nobel Prize.