Vladimir Kuzichkin may have changed the course of the Cold War – and it was all down to a very personal problem. The KGB agent was stationed in Tehran in 1981, less than two years after the Iranian Revolution, when he made the decision to defect to the British. Known to MI6 as “Redwood”, Kuzichkin demanded that the secret service smuggle him out of Iran in exchange for his secrets. But what intel did he provide MI6 and the CIA that was so explosive? And why was he so desperate to escape? Pre-eminent chronicler of espionage Ben Macintyre joins Alex von Tunzelmann to reveal how the Soviet spy may have saved the world.
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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.
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