PETROV, VLADIMIR• 419to be a surprise inspection of Petrov’s office safe, undertaken by the
ambassador on 31 March 1954, accompanied by First Secretary Vis-
lykh and his aide Christoborodov, who found papers that should have
been kept more securely. Thus when Petrov’s replacement, Evgeni
Kovalenok, arrived by ship at Sydney early in April, Petrov accepted
ASIO’s offer to defect and took a briefcase of documents with him.
Unaware of Bialoguski’s dual role, Petrov confided in him that his
strong-willed wife had quarreled with the wife of the new ambassa-
dor and that the atmosphere in the embassy was intolerable. He ar-
ranged to buy a small farm near Sydney and Bialoguski tape-
recorded the conversation in which he declared his intention to com-
plete the sale in April 1954. As well as liking life in Australia and
having invested in the farm, Petrov was anxious about the reception
he could expect in Moscow—which in recent weeks had seen La-
vrenti Beria arrested and executed and a purge of all levels ofMos-
cow Center. The Petrovs had no children, so there was little to return
home to, or so ASIO suggested, and Petrov had no doubt that both
ambassadors had submitted adverse reports on his performance.
Petrov had not discussed defection with his wife, therezidentura’s
code clerk who was also an NKVD professional with 20 years of
experience, so when he disappeared without warning, she was held
captive in the embassy until she could be flown back to Moscow. Her
Soviet colleagues told her that Petrov was dead, but on the plane
home she was told by the crew that her husband was alive and had
applied for political asylum. When the aircraft refueled at Darwin,
her two escorts were disarmed and she spoke to her husband on the
telephone. He had no difficulty in persuading her to stay.
On the strength of documents removed by Petrov from the embas-
sy’sreferentura, the Australian government empaneled a royal com-
mission to investigate Soviet espionage. It listened to 104 hours of
testimony from the Petrovs. According to Ron Richards, ASIO’s for-
mer deputy director, their evidence resulted in the identification of
600 Soviet intelligence officers and their agents around the world.
They also disclosed, for the first time, that the missing British diplo-
matsGuy BurgessandDonald Macleanwere ideologically moti-
vated spies who had served the Soviet cause since their days at
university and that they were now living in Moscow. According to
Petrov, his friend Filip Kislitsyn had worked in the Londonreziden-