List of Commonwealth of Independent States defectors
| Defector | Profession/ Prominence |
Birthplace | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanatjan Alibekov | Bioweapons chief | Kazakhstan | 1992 | Former director of Biopreparat; defected to United States |
| Stanislav Lunev | GRU agent | Russia | 1992 | Defected to the United States; revealed KGB weapons caches in the west |
| Vasili Mitrokhin | KGB agent | Russia | 1992 | KGB archivist who was shocked by records of Soviet political repression; defected in Riga, Latvia to British Embassy |
| Sergei Tretyakov | SVR (foreign intelligence service) | Russia | 2000 | Defected in New York City to CIA; Deputy Resident Station Chief in New York City; revealed many political and intelligence secrets from the Russian Federation; sudden death occurred in Sarasota County, Florida, on June 13, 2010; foul play has been alleged |
| Alexander Litvinenko | FSB agent | Russia | 2000 | FSB officer exposed crimes ordered by Vladimir Putin; defected in London, United Kingdom; assassinated |
| Denis Sharonov | Former agriculture minister of the Komi Republic | Russia | 2022 | Defected to the United States via Kyrgyzstan, the UAE and Mexico to avoid conscription in the Russian army following the invasion of Ukraine, which he blamed on his falling out with officials of the regional government.[1] |
| Maksim Kuzminov | Pilot | Russia | 2023 | Attack pilot of the 319th Separate Helicopter Regiment of the Eastern Military District;[2] defected to Ukraine in Mi-8AMTSh helicopter during the Russian invasion.[3] |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Sauer, Pjotr (9 June 2023). "'One big adventure': the Russian minister who fled the draft to drive trucks in the US". The Guardian.
- ^ Kostenko, Josh Pennington,Maria (2023-09-04). "'Let's give it a try,' recalls Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine in his military helicopter". CNN. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Nikolaienko, Matthew Luxmoore and Nikita. "Russian Pilot Describes Defection to Ukraine, Urges Others to Follow". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-11-16.