Traitor or writer: How was the life of the Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Rezun, who fled to Great Britain

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today he even has a passport in the name of Viktor Suvorov, although in reality he is Vladimir Rezun, a former GRU resident officer. In 1978, while in Geneva, Vladimir Rezun fled to Great Britain, where he asked for political asylum. He is still called a traitor and they say that even his own father stopped communicating with him, and his grandfather could not survive the flight of his grandson at all. How was the life of a former intelligence officer and what does he do?

The fate of the resident

He was born in 1947 in the Primorsky Territory. His father, Bogdan Rezun, was a military man, and therefore, at the age of 11, his son became a student at the Voronezh Suvorov School, after he was transferred to Kalinin, and then entered the Kiev military school.

Vladimir Rezun's career developed quite quickly: already at 19 he joined the party, after receiving higher education he participated in the operation to bring troops into Czechoslovakia, served in Budapest and Chernivtsi, and later linked his service directly with intelligence.

For four years, starting in 1974, Vladimir Rezun lived and worked in Geneva in the legal residency of the GRU. Together with him in Switzerland were his family, wife and two children. The data on his rank at that time differ: according to some sources he was in the rank of major, according to others - the captain.

The entire family disappeared in June 1978, and it was only 18 days later, on June 28, that their location became known. During this time, several assumptions were made about the reasons for the sudden disappearance of the Soviet intelligence officer, from kidnapping by the British special services to Rezun's cooperation with British intelligence.

In fact, Viktor Rezun decided to flee to Great Britain, fearing that he could be blamed for the failure of some major operation carried out by the Geneva station. The signal for action for him was the news that some of the employees were to be recalled to Moscow.

Doubts and decisions

The Rezun family spent their first night at the Brown Hotel in central London. According to Viktor Bogdanovich himself, the first day in Great Britain turned out to be the most difficult for him. The wife and children, tired of the urgent flight and not understanding what awaited them all, slept, and Vladimir Bogdanovich was seriously tormented by remorse. Up to the point that he wanted to commit suicide.

He blamed himself for betraying the Motherland, recalled his father and mother, and suddenly realized that all this could be fixed only by voluntarily leaving his life. Thoughts about what would become of his family led the yesterday's scout even further: he decided to commit suicide both with himself and with his family. Fortunately, he had the prudence to stop in his self-flagellation and Vladimir Reznik did not take a sin on his soul.

At some point, he realized that he had only two choices: drink or work hard. He did not like alcoholic drinks, so in the morning he sat down to write his first book. He decided to work hard so that his family would not need anything.

At first, the whole family lived on a barge, which changed its location every day, and the media stated that they settled at a military base. This made it possible for a long time to hide the real location of Vladimir Rezun, his wife and children. The future writer sincerely feared retaliation from former colleagues and took every precaution that was possible.

When the hype about Rezun's departure subsided, he, as a refugee, was given a house on the seashore and even a cash allowance. When he wrote his first book and received a fairly decent fee, he sold this house, returned part of the money to the Foreign Ministry, which had bought housing in the name of Rezun, and for the remainder bought a large house in Bristol.

Not regretting anything

The very first book published in 1981, published under the pseudonym Viktor Suvorov, became a real bestseller and brought the author a very decent income from sales. The most famous of all his works is The Icebreaker, published partly in 1985 and completely in 1989 in German. But back in 1979, the former intelligence officer was invited to lecture at the military academy. According to Viktor Suvorov, the academy needed a person with an unconventional view of familiar things. He worked as a senior lecturer for 25 years.

Despite the fact that at first it was not easy for the whole family, they lived well. Viktor Suvorov received a salary as a lecturer, royalties for books and royalties from sales. His view of the history and causes of the Great Patriotic War resonated in the West. He became one of those who blamed Stalin's policies for the start of the war. Allegedly, these are his imperial ambitions and attempts to spread socialism to the countries of Europe and served as an excuse for Hitler to strike a “preemptive strike”.

It should be noted that such an ambiguous position brings good dividends to Viktor Suvorov, and each of his works becomes the subject of controversy and discussion. At the same time, the circulation of some reaches a million copies.

Rumors that the writer's grandfather committed suicide without surviving the treachery of his grandson are completely unfounded. According to Viktor Suvorov himself, his grandfather hated Soviet power all his life and repeatedly reproached his grandson for his service. He died almost six months before the flight of the Rezun family to Great Britain. Viktor Suvorov's father also, according to the writer, accepted his position and visited his son abroad.

Today Viktor Suvorov still lives with his wife in Great Britain and, in addition to income from books, receives a pension. The children have grown up, the daughter works in real estate, the son has become a journalist. The writer himself does not at all regret the decision once made. Even though it was once called a betrayal.

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