Shaun Walker

And, yeah, I mean, it's sort of emblematic of the way that As the decades go on, it gets harder and harder to do this job. The missions are longer and longer. The psychological strain is more and more. And the espionage results, with some exceptions, seem to get fewer and fewer.

Yeah, that's right. So by the time you get to the early 1980s, which was when they were starting their university in Tomsk, all these people that we were talking about at the beginning, the Dmitry Bistrolyotov characters who had already traveled the world and spoke many languages, they were long gone. The Soviet Union was quite a closed, quite a paranoid society.

Yeah, that's right. So by the time you get to the early 1980s, which was when they were starting their university in Tomsk, all these people that we were talking about at the beginning, the Dmitry Bistrolyotov characters who had already traveled the world and spoke many languages, they were long gone. The Soviet Union was quite a closed, quite a paranoid society.

Yeah, that's right. So by the time you get to the early 1980s, which was when they were starting their university in Tomsk, all these people that we were talking about at the beginning, the Dmitry Bistrolyotov characters who had already traveled the world and spoke many languages, they were long gone. The Soviet Union was quite a closed, quite a paranoid society.

Anyone who actually had traveled would be a magnificent suspicion. So instead, what they're doing is they're looking for very, very talented young students who come from what would be considered politically reliable families who are clearly clever. have an aptitude for languages, and they have spotters in universities all across the Soviet Union to look for these ideal candidates.

Anyone who actually had traveled would be a magnificent suspicion. So instead, what they're doing is they're looking for very, very talented young students who come from what would be considered politically reliable families who are clearly clever. have an aptitude for languages, and they have spotters in universities all across the Soviet Union to look for these ideal candidates.

Anyone who actually had traveled would be a magnificent suspicion. So instead, what they're doing is they're looking for very, very talented young students who come from what would be considered politically reliable families who are clearly clever. have an aptitude for languages, and they have spotters in universities all across the Soviet Union to look for these ideal candidates.

They get short lists. They start interviewing them. At this early stage, they won't even tell them, you know, we're considering you might become an illegal spy. They just start to have conversations once a week. And eventually they sort of whittle it down to a short list of really promising candidates, which Andrei and Yelena were both on.

They get short lists. They start interviewing them. At this early stage, they won't even tell them, you know, we're considering you might become an illegal spy. They just start to have conversations once a week. And eventually they sort of whittle it down to a short list of really promising candidates, which Andrei and Yelena were both on.

They get short lists. They start interviewing them. At this early stage, they won't even tell them, you know, we're considering you might become an illegal spy. They just start to have conversations once a week. And eventually they sort of whittle it down to a short list of really promising candidates, which Andrei and Yelena were both on.

Yeah, so the early stage training will happen when they're still at university. That will be personality tests and just sort of checking they're compatible. And then they were sent when it was decided that they really could be illegals. Then they were sent on to the full training course. And by the early 1980s, this would last four or five years.

Yeah, so the early stage training will happen when they're still at university. That will be personality tests and just sort of checking they're compatible. And then they were sent when it was decided that they really could be illegals. Then they were sent on to the full training course. And by the early 1980s, this would last four or five years.

Yeah, so the early stage training will happen when they're still at university. That will be personality tests and just sort of checking they're compatible. And then they were sent when it was decided that they really could be illegals. Then they were sent on to the full training course. And by the early 1980s, this would last four or five years.

It would be entirely one on one or in the case of couples like Andre and Yelena, one on two. They would have they would. And one of the things that runs through the program. So they would never it wouldn't be that they would go in the morning to their training room at KGB headquarters and attend classes for the day. So they would never set foot inside a KGB building.

It would be entirely one on one or in the case of couples like Andre and Yelena, one on two. They would have they would. And one of the things that runs through the program. So they would never it wouldn't be that they would go in the morning to their training room at KGB headquarters and attend classes for the day. So they would never set foot inside a KGB building.

It would be entirely one on one or in the case of couples like Andre and Yelena, one on two. They would have they would. And one of the things that runs through the program. So they would never it wouldn't be that they would go in the morning to their training room at KGB headquarters and attend classes for the day. So they would never set foot inside a KGB building.

They would never see any of their trainers in KGB uniform. They wouldn't even know the real names of most of their trainers. This was all done in safe houses, secret apartments across Moscow. So you'd go to one for your language classes. You'd go to another one for your etiquette classes. You would sit.

They would never see any of their trainers in KGB uniform. They wouldn't even know the real names of most of their trainers. This was all done in safe houses, secret apartments across Moscow. So you'd go to one for your language classes. You'd go to another one for your etiquette classes. You would sit.

They would never see any of their trainers in KGB uniform. They wouldn't even know the real names of most of their trainers. This was all done in safe houses, secret apartments across Moscow. So you'd go to one for your language classes. You'd go to another one for your etiquette classes. You would sit.

So if you have a Canadian cover, you would sit in an apartment for hours on end reading Canadian school books year by year. So you would imbibe the things you would have imbibed if you really had been to Canadian school. And then you'd have a whole set of tests for loyalty because almost nobody, the illegals, in fact, are the only Soviet citizens who are allowed to travel freely.