Table of contents:
- Spies were not raised in a special way in closed KGB schools
- Scouts really have to know and be able to do a lot
- The fact that married couples prefer in intelligence is not a myth
- A spy needs to be incredibly boring
- Always afraid of being punctured by little things
- Your family feelings are respected, and you learn to respect them too
- Not everything that is shown in the cinema is true
- The scouts don't think they've done anything bad


In 2010, an FBI special operation destroyed the measured life of an ordinary, seemingly, family of French Canadian origin. In front of two frightened teenagers, their parents, Donald Howard Heathfield and Tracy Lee Ann Foley, were handcuffed. And soon the newspapers exploded with headlines: the FBI took Soviet spies! At least, Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova were introduced back in Soviet times.
The exposed scouts were exchanged. The rest is typical for the twenty-first century. In America, they immediately shot a series, the main characters of which were copied from Andrei and Elena. It is simply called “The Americans”. Elena herself wrote a book about how she lived for twenty-three years under a false name in a foreign country ("A woman who knows how to keep secrets"), and after its release she gave an interview to the journalist of the Spanish edition El mundo, in which she told how life looks like and features the work of a spy who has infiltrated a foreign country.

Spies were not raised in a special way in closed KGB schools
Elena Vavilova had an ordinary childhood. She was born in Tomskva in 1962 and went to school where there was no special spyware. The most unusual thing about her school was the in-depth study of the German language. After school, she studied at the Tomsk State University at the Faculty of History. Already there, the KGB drew attention to her.
Scouts really have to know and be able to do a lot
Before ending up in America, Elena had to perfectly learn English and French (the second - to write off any accent on her French Canadian origin), learn Morse code, karate, the ability to detect surveillance, shooting a pistol, knife fighting. And she also had to master a profession that became her cover - in the United States, Elena was a real estate agent.

The fact that married couples prefer in intelligence is not a myth
It is risky to rely on the fact that the intelligence officer will do his entire service without his personal life. Allow emotional and intimate communication with strangers as well. Elena and Andrey were a couple even before they were thrown into Canada. There, by the way, they first had to portray acquaintance and courtship, because the documents that were obtained for them did not imply biographies in which they would already be husband and wife. In general, Elena and Andrey were a real family. By the way, they had two sons in marriage, Tim and Alex. At the time of their parents' arrest, they were sixteen and less than twenty years old.
A spy needs to be incredibly boring
Sons often reproached spouses-scouts for being terribly dull. But a spy has to be boring to give as few leads as possible for anyone's memory. They must be very simple guys. By the way, one of the reasons why Elena and Andrey were selected for the mission is their incredibly ordinary appearance. For the Sean Connery-looking James Bond, it is difficult to scout.

Always afraid of being punctured by little things
Soviet and then Russian spies constantly had to avoid seemingly banal situations. For example, a French professor lived not far from them. Naturally, he was very attracted to talk with Elena and Andrey in his native language. But they were afraid that he would see through them by pronunciation, and spent a lot of energy to avoid this unexpected acquaintance.
When Elena took her son to school, where he could realize his talent in mathematics, but where, as she knew, Soviet emigrants teach, she never even got out of the car in the parking lot - she was afraid to be identified. You never know what the emigres will find in her family! And, of course, even at home Elena and Andrey did not speak Russian. Someone can always read the wrong words on the lips.

Your family feelings are respected, and you learn to respect them too
With encrypted messages, Elena received not only instructions. Sometimes it was news of one of her relatives - usually death. In separation from her family, Elena generally learned to appreciate the family. She created virtual family ties for her children. So, the sons constantly received gifts from their grandparents for the holidays, although, according to the official version, they were too old to come by themselves. Mom and Dad replaced their childhood photos with their childhood memories. So their children had a sense of roots, although they were cut off from their real families.
Not everything that is shown in the cinema is true
Spies do not burn recorded encryption messages - they prefer to flush them down the toilet. And the smoke attracts attention. Spies do not detect surveillance in shop windows. They are taught to go through intersections so that they can look around without arousing suspicion. Moreover, it is still impossible to look directly back - it is worth training peripheral vision. Spies do not obtain information by engaging in an intimate relationship - this is only practiced to collect compromising evidence. But the easiest way to hide is through the shopping center, where there are many exits.
The scouts don't think they've done anything bad
They rubbed into trust and then used that trust to get information. But Elena never “eliminated” anyone and is sure that she fought for peace, preventing possible aggression. To avoid a real war, a secret war is needed - this is her position.
At least in the middle of the twentieth century, intelligence officers were definitely working to bring peace: 5 bravest spies to kill Nazis during World War II.
Popular by topic
Why sinners were called "the daughters of Melusine", or the myth of the damned fairy that shaped Europe

According to ancient legend, Melusine was the daughter of a Scottish king and a fairy. As a result of the curse, she was doomed to change from a woman to a monster every Saturday. Her two legs became fish tails. The image of Melusine is ubiquitous. It is a frequent heraldic symbol. Every European nation has legends about this fairy, and many royal dynasties descend from her. Melusine's image has even become a Starbucks emblem. In the patriarchal Middle Ages, this symbol
How it happened that the Soviet Union exchanged warships for Pepsi

Pepsi is the undisputed global soft drink giant. It has long been firmly rooted in the Russian market. It started back in the early 1970s, when Russia was part of the Soviet Union. It was the first swallow of the hostile capitalist world to enter the communist market. At that time, the rivalry between the two countries was so fierce that it becomes unclear how the American company managed to do this?
Historians have discovered facts that deny the superiority of Europe over Africa

Modern science has long proved that Africa is the homeland of humanity. The history of this continent is incredibly ancient and very rich. Since ancient times, the Europeans have established trade relations with various regions of this continent. Then the "white people" tried with might and main to belittle the knowledge and power of the African empire. The age-old ignorance of the truth has cost everyone dearly. New history and recent research fundamentally change the historically formed erroneous stereotype of European superiority
For which the classic of illustration, who painted "Murzilka" and Soviet posters, was expelled from the technical school

Drawings by Tatyana Eremina are known to every Soviet person who held the Murzilka magazine or the legendary Fashion Magazine in their hands. The posters she drew urged the workers of the home front to work in the name of victory, the illustrations for the fairy tales were accurate and at the same time lyrical … A faithful follower of Deineka, Eremina over the years moved from the posterity of socialist realism to the softness of the graphic language of book graphics - and was remembered as the creator of "those" canon Soviet illustrations
Who were the Huns, why they were so feared and other interesting facts about the masters of rapid raids and their king Attila

Of all the groups that invaded the Roman Empire, none caused more fear than the Huns. Their superior combat technology drove thousands of people to flee westward in the 5th century AD. NS. The Huns existed as a horror story long before they actually appeared. Their charismatic and ferocious leader Attila, who by his mere appearance, made people around them fearful, causing the Romans to panic attacks, was no exception. In later times, the word "Hun" became a derogatory term and a parable in I