POLYAKOV, DMITRY FEDOROVICH (1921–1988). The highest-
ranking Soviet officer to spy for the West, Polyakov was an agent for
America from 1961 to 1986. During the period that he was promoted
in the GRUfrom captain to major general, he served first the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and then the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) by providing information about 19 GRU illegals,
more than 150 other GRU agents, and more than 1,000 military in-
telligence officers serving abroad. According to the Russian account
of the case, he also passed hundreds of top secret documents to the
West, including Ministry of Defense war plans. He was betrayed to
the KGBin 1986 by Aldrich Amesand was arrested. He was shot
two years later.
The KGB account of Polyakov paints him as someone seduced by
the American dollar, but Polyakov did not receive substantial funds
from the CIA. He spied primarily out of anger and disgust with the
Soviet system. A major motivationwas deeply personal: when his
son fell seriously ill in New York, the GRU rezidentrefused to allow
him to seek American medical help. His son died, and Polyakov
shortly thereafter sought contact with American intelligence.
The Polyakov case illustrates the rivalry that existed in Moscow
between the GRU and the KGB. There had been a spate of reports in
the American press and from American sources in the 1970s that
Polyakov was an American asset. Yet the GRU leadership defended
Polyakov and kept him from arrest. It was only when Ames presented
documentary evidence of Polyakov’s work for U.S. intelligence that
he was finally arrested.POLYAKOVA, MARIA IOSEFOVNA (c. 1910–?).As a young mem-
ber of the Communist Party, Polyakova was sent to Switzerland in
the early 1930s as an illegalto establish an intelligence network for
the GRU. This network became the basis for Sandor Rado’s intelli-
gence operation during World War II. Despite the fact that several
members of her family were purged in the late 1930s, Polyakova be-
came a Red Army intelligence officer with the rank of major and
served as chief of the Swiss desk during the war. She directed Rado’s
efforts from GRU headquarters in Moscow, and she deserves much
of the credit for his success.POLYAKOVA, MARIA IOSEFOVNA (c. 1910–?)• 20106-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 201