Shaun Walker

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.

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.

And the KGB is very worried about... kind of how to do this I mean it's such a paradoxical situation that you have to shape these sort of virtuoso maverick spies who are going to go out in the field and lie to absolutely everyone about everything including their own children But at the same time, without any oversight, you have to make sure they stay slavishly loyal to you.

And the KGB is very worried about... kind of how to do this I mean it's such a paradoxical situation that you have to shape these sort of virtuoso maverick spies who are going to go out in the field and lie to absolutely everyone about everything including their own children But at the same time, without any oversight, you have to make sure they stay slavishly loyal to you.

And the KGB is very worried about... kind of how to do this I mean it's such a paradoxical situation that you have to shape these sort of virtuoso maverick spies who are going to go out in the field and lie to absolutely everyone about everything including their own children But at the same time, without any oversight, you have to make sure they stay slavishly loyal to you.

And I think in all of the stories I heard from different people about the training, I mean, it almost sounds a bit like an induction into a cult. I mean, they're really trying to break you. They're trying to show you that they're watching all the time. They will engineer different situations, fake arrests, where you'll be sort of You know, pressured.

And I think in all of the stories I heard from different people about the training, I mean, it almost sounds a bit like an induction into a cult. I mean, they're really trying to break you. They're trying to show you that they're watching all the time. They will engineer different situations, fake arrests, where you'll be sort of You know, pressured.

And I think in all of the stories I heard from different people about the training, I mean, it almost sounds a bit like an induction into a cult. I mean, they're really trying to break you. They're trying to show you that they're watching all the time. They will engineer different situations, fake arrests, where you'll be sort of You know, pressured.

And if you finally break and say, listen, there's been a terrible mistake. I work for the KGB. Please call my handlers. That's it. You'll be kicked off the program. So just endless tests to make sure that you have what it takes for this, like, really quite intense psychological recovery. endurance that it's going to be to live abroad for these years.

And if you finally break and say, listen, there's been a terrible mistake. I work for the KGB. Please call my handlers. That's it. You'll be kicked off the program. So just endless tests to make sure that you have what it takes for this, like, really quite intense psychological recovery. endurance that it's going to be to live abroad for these years.

And if you finally break and say, listen, there's been a terrible mistake. I work for the KGB. Please call my handlers. That's it. You'll be kicked off the program. So just endless tests to make sure that you have what it takes for this, like, really quite intense psychological recovery. endurance that it's going to be to live abroad for these years.

And then it's only after you've kind of passed all of those tests and learned how to look for surveillance, learned how to receive the messages in code. All of this stuff is incredibly time consuming. Finally, after four or five years, they're ready to go.

And then it's only after you've kind of passed all of those tests and learned how to look for surveillance, learned how to receive the messages in code. All of this stuff is incredibly time consuming. Finally, after four or five years, they're ready to go.

And then it's only after you've kind of passed all of those tests and learned how to look for surveillance, learned how to receive the messages in code. All of this stuff is incredibly time consuming. Finally, after four or five years, they're ready to go.

Yeah, they turn on the TV and they see the Soviet flag being lowered over the Kremlin for the final time. They see... President Bush talking about the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fact that the US has won the Cold War. And here they are sitting in this cold motel room. A few years after their deployment, they've had this intense training, they've sworn an oath to defend the motherland.

Yeah, they turn on the TV and they see the Soviet flag being lowered over the Kremlin for the final time. They see... President Bush talking about the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fact that the US has won the Cold War. And here they are sitting in this cold motel room. A few years after their deployment, they've had this intense training, they've sworn an oath to defend the motherland.

Yeah, they turn on the TV and they see the Soviet flag being lowered over the Kremlin for the final time. They see... President Bush talking about the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fact that the US has won the Cold War. And here they are sitting in this cold motel room. A few years after their deployment, they've had this intense training, they've sworn an oath to defend the motherland.

And now the motherland doesn't exist.

And now the motherland doesn't exist.

And now the motherland doesn't exist.