All language subtitles for Secrets.and.Spies.A.Nuclear.Game.S01E03.Escape.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
Previously on Secrets & Spies.

[Ronald Reagan] People want
to raise their children

in a world without fear
and without war.

A nuclear conflict
could well be mankind's last.

[Ken Adelman] There is a
cat-and-mouse relationship

between intelligence agencies.

It was white-hot
with the emotions on both sides.

[Aldrich Ames, on recording]

He has access to some of the top
secrets of the United States.

He feels that people
don't recognize his importance.

They have underestimated
Aldrich Ames.

[Bianna Golodryga] The CIA
were itching to find out,

who is this mystery spy?

[Aldrich, on recording]

[Oleg Gordievsky]

[crowd cheering]

[narrator]
This is the unseen story

of the Cold War...

fought not by politicians...

but by secret agents.

[Jack Barsky] There was complete
misunderstanding on either side.

It's very difficult to determine

whom you can trust.

[narrator] As the Soviet Union
faces off with the West

in the early 1980s...

two spies play a dangerous game
from the shadows.

They seek to win the upper hand

while the world stands
on the brink

of nuclear war.

These are their stories

in their own words.

Testimony pieced together from
interviews over the years...

[Oleg]
After 11 years of secret work,

maybe I develop paranoia.

...and never-before-heard
recordings...

[Aldrich, on recording]

...that reveal
the deadly intrigues

at the heart of the battle
between East and West.

[Alexander Vassiliev]
Look, this is a war.

A secret war.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
1984 has been a momentous year.

Mikhail Gorbachev
visits Great Britain,

and nuclear disarmament
seems light years away.

There were way too many
nuclear weapons,

and basically
they were everywhere.

We had intermediate-range
nuclear weapons,

which would go from the
Soviet Union to Western Europe

in something
like seven minutes.

The Soviets could
press the button

and unleash a nuclear war
against the West

because they were fearing
an unprovoked nuclear attack

against themselves.

[narrator] While the political
standoff is cooling down,

the battle played out
in the shadows heats up.

KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky

is a double agent
for the British.

His role in
the successful meeting

between Prime Minister Thatcher
and Gorbachev

gets the attention
of his Russian bosses.

[Alexander]
As a matter of fact,

Mikhail Gorbachev expressed

his personal appreciation

of what Gordievsky had done
with his report.

[Sir David Omand]
Shortly thereafter,

the Moscow Center
chose Gordievsky

to be the head
of the KGB station in London.

From their point of view,
he was clearly good at his job.

MI6 is effectively running

the head of the KGB station
in London.

An extraordinary situation.

This is too good to be true.

[narrator] But this triumph
puts Gordievsky

in a dangerous spotlight.

I used to know several guys
who worked as spies in London.

I think some officers
were jealous, no doubt about it.

[narrator] Especially
Gordievsky's immediate superior

at the KGB station,
Leonid Nikitenko.

[Alexander]
Nikitenko was the head

of the counterintelligence line
in the London station.

He was number two,

and he had obviously
more experience than Gordievsky.

[typewriter clacking]

So it would have been natural
if he had got that job.

It was the job of Nikitenko
to be suspicious.

If we are talking about
that foreign office document,

they simply asked him
about his sources.

How did he collect
this information?

[narrator] As a double agent,

Gordievsky plays
a dangerous game

of extremely high stakes.

[Tim Naftali] And in a sense,
the British

were playing some KGB politics.

But it was a risk,

and Gordievsky
was prepared to take it.

And so Oleg understands

that he's facing
a death sentence

if his secret
is betrayed to the KGB.

[suspenseful music playing]

Good evening,
leaders from around the world

have gathered in Moscow to pay
their last official respects

to the Soviet leader
Konstantin Chernenko.

More importantly,
they've gone to shake hands

with the new leader,
Mikhail Gorbachev.

[reporter] Outside,
hundreds of other Soviets

who were excused from work
waited for their turn

to pay their respects
to Chernenko.

[Susan Eisenhower]
By the time Chernenko dies,

American diplomats had observed
so many funerals in Moscow

that it had become
an absolute joke.

But the successor

was a vital young man
from Stavropol.

Gorbachev was a very,
very different figure

than the Soviet leaders
who'd gone before.

If nothing else,
he was a heck of a lot younger.

[reporter] There was enormous
public interest here

in the new Soviet leader,
Mr. Gorbachev.

His picture appeared
prominently on the front page

of all Moscow papers today,

eclipsing Chernenko's
obituary photo,

which was inside on page two.

And Russians we talked to
were clearly looking forward

to General Secretary Gorbachev.

I want him to fight for peace

and for better life,

and we hope he'll do his best.

There was a great debate
over who Gorbachev was

and what Gorbachev
intended to do.

For Kremlin watchers,

there was a sense in 1984

that Gorbachev
has a great future.

[Ken] I was skeptical.

Here's an old drink
in a new bottle.

But Reagan has been
waiting around

for three and a half years,

eager to negotiate
with a Soviet leader.

When Gorbachev came
in March of '85, bingo.

Regan was poised
and ready to go.

[narrator] Mikhail Gorbachev
is the energetic

and open-minded leader

Ronald Reagan's been waiting
to do business with.

It could be a huge
turning point...

if they're willing to meet.

But no one consults
with Aldrich Ames,

the CIA's top KGB expert.

[Bianna]
Aldrich Ames may have had

a very sophisticated,
impressive title,

but it was a title
on paper only.

Whatever satisfaction
the work was providing

is no longer there.
In fact, he feels bitter.

He feels that he's been betrayed
in some ways

by his employers,

and he's not being recognized
for the sort of star spy

that he sees himself
as capable of being.

[Bianna]
He took to the bottle a lot.

He became an alcoholic.

He's having to pay off
a very expensive ex-wife

in a lengthy divorce process,

and he is quickly running out
of money and into debt.

[narrator]
Aldrich Ames is saddled

with a crushing $47,000 debt,

which he hides
from his partner, Rosario.

When all these things
come together,

you have the conditions, maybe,

for someone
to do something crazy.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Ames arranges
to meet Sergey Chuvakhin,

a Soviet diplomat,

under the pretense
of recruiting him

as a double agent.

[Jack] First of all,
if I'm the KGB guy,

I'm worried
that this is a dangle.

It could be somebody

who eventually will feed you
false information.

You know,
you got to be really careful.

Particularly because
people like Ames

are not straight shooters.

[narrator]
At four in the afternoon,

Aldrich Ames walks straight
into the Soviet embassy

and hands over his information.

Ames could expose
20 Russian agents,

including MI6's super spy
Gordievsky.

But he starts
with Motorin and Martinov,

and effectively signs
their death warrants.

[Bianna] This was a huge deal,
what Aldrich Ames did.

Not only was the United States
CIA and its intelligence sources

in the Soviet Union
completely compromised,

he also was in
a compromised position,

not knowing what tomorrow
would hold.

And the thing is, he can't
turn it around at this point.

There's no way
you can back out of it.

Once you're in, they have you.

[narrator] The very next day,
a telegram arrives in London.

The danger could come
from different directions.

The weakest link in espionage

is the meeting between
the operative and his agent.

He could have been spotted
by a Soviet fellow officer.

There could be an MI6 officer
working for the KGB

who could betray Gordievsky.

[narrator] To keep his cover,
Gordievsky has no choice.

He must return to Moscow.

If not, he'll be defying orders

and essentially
admitting his guilt.

[woman, over PA]
Passengers to Moscow,

this is the final call
of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines.

Passengers only on this flight

should go immediately
through the departure doors.

[Alexander] We were officers.

We pledged our allegiance
to motherland.

So, what do you do to officers
who betray their own motherland?

What do you do to them?

You execute them.

[narrator] Gorbachev came
to power two months ago.

The world waits to see
which side will blink first.

[Susan]
We had enough nuclear weapons

to blow up the world

between, you know,
11 and 15 times.

It depends on who you ask.

There was always this feeling
that the other side

was making advances,

and we had to keep up with them.

[crowd cheering]

[dramatic music playing]

[speaking Russian]

[Nina Khrushcheva]
When Gorbachev came in,

we were deciphering
every sentence he would utter.

[speaking Russian]

And he started with celebrating
or mentioning

how great Stalin was.

And I remember
my family was like,

"That's it,
that we're dead again.

Something is gonna happen."

[narrator] Margaret Thatcher
tells President Reagan

that Gorbachev is someone
she can do business with,

and Reagan is keen
to believe her.

[Ken]
Soon after March of '85,

we're asked to set up something

that might be a summit
between the two of them.

I was skeptical.

[indistinct chatter]

The main thing we needed was,
what is going to happen?

Okay? What is Gorbachev
going to do?

[narrator] Reagan hopes to build
bridges with Gorbachev,

but he pushes on
with his Star Wars program.

My fellow Americans,

thank you for sharing your time
with me tonight.

The subject I want
to discuss with you,

peace and national security,

is both timely and important.

Timely because I've reached
a decision

which offers a new hope
for our children

in the 21st century.

[narrator] It's the anti-missile
defense system

that would take
the nuclear arms race to space,

and it terrifies the Soviets.

[Peter Jennings]
Well, overseas this Monday,

the Soviet Union
continues to attack

the president's proposal

for an anti-missile
defense system in space.

This time, it was
the Communist Party newspaper

which said the administration
is threatening

strategic destabilization,

and Pravda repeated the Soviet
leader's allegation

of yesterday.

It is all part
of Pentagon's strategy

towards achieving a first strike
nuclear capability.

[Tim] The Americans have now
introduced the idea

that they might be able
to create a dome

over the United States

that would mean
that Soviet missiles

won't be able to penetrate
the United States,

which is another way of saying

the United States
may be planning

for a first strike
on the Soviet Union.

This was another signal that,
oh, my God,

this man doesn't want to engage

in some kind
of diplomatic process.

He wants to destroy us.

I hated Reagan
like everyone else did

because we thought Reagan
really would potentially

start a nuclear war.

There was a phenomenal fear
within the Soviet Union,

particularly the KGB,
of Ronald Reagan.

Because there was a war
going on.

An underground war.

[narrator]
One of the main players

in this underground war,
Oleg Gordievsky,

lands back in Moscow to answer
a summons from his bosses.

He is terrified
they have discovered

he is secretly working
for the British.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Tim]
He has three locks on his door.

He unlocks the first locks...

and then discovers
he can't open the door

because somebody has locked
the third lock,

which he never uses.

So he immediately understands

that somebody has been
in his apartment.

Gordievsky knew
that they had surreptitiously

entered his flat.

He would have assumed

he was under deep surveillance

and that his flat was bugged.

There was trouble ahead.

[narrator]
Gordievsky's MI6 colleagues

are only streets away,

but are also constantly watched
by the KGB.

[Raymond Asquith] Obviously,
we were not declared

as intelligence officers.

I had a full-time daytime job
in the embassy

as a working diplomatic officer.

There was a lot to do every day,

working out what was happening
within the Soviet Union.

Anything not
in the public record

I won't make any mention of.

[narrator] The team also have
a long-standing secret mission.

[Raymond]
Before I went to Moscow,

I was told and we were trained

that we had to be on standby.

It was almost impossible
for a Soviet citizen

to get out of the Soviet Union.

[Sir David] In circumstances
where your agent

is potentially under suspicion,

you're going to make plans
so that the agent

can warn you
if life had got too difficult.

And in the case of Gordievsky,
of course,

an elaborate plan was devised

whereby if he activated it,

he could be spirited
out of Moscow

without the Soviet
authorities knowing.

[Bianna]
The plan that they had hatched

was something
that no one thought

was ever possible,

and no one thought

that they would actually be able
to get away with.

[narrator]
It's called Operation Pimlico.

[Raymond] We would have to watch
a certain spot

outside a bakery,

not far from where we lived,

every night at a certain time.

And if we saw somebody there

holding a Safeways bag,

we were to approach him
with a Harrods shopping bag

and then pass him, eating some
kind of Western chocolate bar.

Kit Kats and Mars Bars.

And without any kind
of verbal exchange,

that would have indicated
that we'd spotted him.

And, believe me,
I have had so many Kit Kats

and other chocolate bars
in our car glove compartment,

that I absolutely hate Kit Kats
to this day.

The basic plan was to drive
to a agreed destination

near the Finnish border.

And he had to make
his own escape.

Catch a train from Moscow

and get himself up to Leningrad,

and then catch another train,
and then a bus,

and whatever it was.

Our mission was to pick him up

and his wife
and his two children there.

This was what
we were tasked with,

and therefore I suppose
it could happen,

but I never felt at any time
that it was for real.

[narrator] The plan is daring,

but it's been rehearsed nonstop
for seven years.

As the Cold War plays out
in the shadows,

official diplomacy moves
to more constructive dialogue.

[Sir Bryan Cartledge] I'd known
since the previous summer

that I would be going to Moscow

in July '85 as ambassador.

I'm there.

It was a very exciting time

because of the recent advent
of Gorbachev.

Having met Gorbachev

when Margaret Thatcher
invited him to the U.K.,

I did see enough to know

that this was a tremendous
opportunity

not only for the U.K.,

but also for the West
as a whole.

It wasn't until a few weeks
before I was due

to actually leave

that I was briefed
on the possible exfiltration

of an agent,

unidentified,

that would involve members
of the embassy staff.

I also knew that there was
a time bomb ticking

under the relationship

which would probably explode

during my early weeks
or months as ambassador.

In many ways,
this is a split-screen moment.

You have a bunch
of geopolitical changes

that are going on,

and you have the long-running

Spy vs. Spy Cold War narrative.

And they are happening
simultaneously.

[narrator]
But Operation Pimlico

isn't the only threat.

A ticking time bomb
at the heart of the CIA

could destroy everything.

[narrator]
Preparations are underway

for Reagan to make a hopeful

and historic approach
to Gorbachev.

But the head of the CIA's
Soviet desk, Aldrich Ames,

is leading a double life

and it threatens to derail
the political progress.

[narrator]
Ames finally has the cash

for exposing
Soviet double agents

Motorin and Martinov,

and he settled his debts.

It was obviously a great
achievement for the Soviets,

that they had this kind
of a volunteer.

And Aldrich Ames
probably believed

that he would be able to control
the situation around himself.

But he made a huge mistake.

A retired Navy officer is being
held without bail this morning,

charged with passing classified
national defense information

to the Soviet Union.

FBI agents arrested
John Anthony Walker

as he dropped a paper bag

containing secret
and confidential Navy documents

in a wooded area
outside Washington.

[sighs]

[narrator]
And what's more,

the CIA still have over
20 double agents

imbedded in the Soviet system,

and one of them could hear
of what Ames has done

and turn him in.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] But Gordievsky
somehow resists...

and doesn't confess.

[Sir David] Gordievsky managed
to survive this ordeal.

But in his heart,
he must have known

the chances of my being allowed
to go back to London

and resume my position
as head of station is zero.

[narrator]
The KGB let Gordievsky go.

But he's not a free man.

His flat's bugged.

He's constantly watched.

They're waiting for him
to slip up.

[Bianna]
His bosses were possibly looking

for the ultimate
piece of evidence,

and that was indeed
that Oleg Gordievsky

was a spy for the U.K.

They hadn't found it yet...

so there were gonna
wait him out.

[narrator] Gordievsky's crisis
comes at a pivotal moment

in the cause
he is dedicated to,

the opportunity to diffuse
the hostility

between East and West.

[Susan]
I think Gorbachev had a sense

that he had an opportunity here

to open this dialogue

because he was of
a different generation,

and it was Gorbachev himself

who began to change
the dialogue.

Well, I think this is
an important letter,

and it's dated June 10th, 1985.

This is a letter
Gorbachev wrote to Reagan.

"It is the Soviet Union
that is surrounded

by American military bases,

stuffed also by nuclear weapons,

rather than the U.S.
by Soviet bases.

Try to look at the situation
through our eyes."

[Ken] "Try to look at
the situation through our eyes."

It's a powerful line

because when you're negotiating
with somebody,

one of your main obligations

is to see how
they see the issue,

and maybe you can find
some middle ground.

[crowd cheering]

[Andrei Grachev]
Reagan, certainly for Gorbachev,

was a mythical figure

with a rather
negative reputation.

Gorbachev felt the necessity

of putting an end

to the confrontation with
the West as soon as possible...

[speaking Russian]

...in order to relieve
the economy

from the unnecessary weight
of the arms race.

[Susan] It would have been seen
as extraordinary

to receive something like this

from anybody
who had come before him.

The idea of seeing things
through other people's eyes

is very meaningful for me

because it was the continuing
lecture I got

at the dining room table
as a kid.

[inaudible]

Just the way he talked,
you could see change in the air.

And he called for new thinking.

This was the great expression
of the time.

And I know that the Americans
took enormous interest

in what this new thinking
entailed.

It's a moving letter.
It really is.

Wow.

Do you have a copy of this?

Can I keep this?

[Ken] Ronald Reagan
writes to Gorbachev...

"History places on us
a very heavy responsibility

for maintaining
and strengthening peace,

and I am convinced
we have before us

new opportunities to do so."

So he sees this as history

kind of endowing them
with a mission,

with a real cause,
with a purpose.

And they can do that together.

It is a ways from Evil Empire.

It is that there is this problem

that we are both can address,

even though
you're an evil empire.

[laughs]
You know?

The spy game
and international politics

don't often run
along the same timetable.

Spying involves convincing other
people to betray their country.

At the same time,
you want to have diplomacy

among the great powers.

You want them to be talking
to each other.

You want there to be
a little bit of trust.

[narrator]
Aldrich Ames is on a path

that threatens to destroy
that trust.

The moment Aldrich Ames
is engaged

in his initial dance
with the Soviets,

he knows the risks
from the beginning.

[narrator]
The pressure of what he's done

drives Ames
to do something drastic.

[suspenseful music playing]

He tells his Soviet handler
he wants to meet.

[narrator] The meeting is on.

[narrator]
Ames hands the KGB the details

of 18 additional Soviet agents

secretly working
for the Americans.

He's blown almost the entire
U.S. Soviet spy network

to cover his own back.

Aldrich Ames
is not the first American

to betray his country
to the Soviet Union,

but in terms of the damage
he was doing

to the U.S. intelligence effort
against Moscow,

he was unparalleled.

[Bianna] So at the time
that Ames convinces himself

that these spies who he has
turned on to the Soviets,

likely losing their lives,
ultimately,

knew what they were
getting into,

he was also worried

that the longer that he
continued to work incrementally,

bit by bit with the Soviets,

the more danger he was in
for being discovered himself.

So in one fell swoop,

he not only would get
a huge sum of money,

he would also irreparably
harm the lives

of spies
for his own security.

[narrator] He saves his most
powerful card for last.

[Tim] The penalty for treason
in the Soviet Union is death.

He hands over
the name of someone,

it is likely they will end up

with a bullet
to the back of the head.

It's assassination.

Aldrich Ames is voluntarily
killing people.

He's cold, calculating, cynical,
and needs the money.

He sells their souls
to the Soviets.

He sells their lives.

And he's just shared yet another
secret in return for cash,

and that secret is one
of the greatest spies

Great Britain has ever had.