Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik occupies a distinctive place in the history of Cold War espionage. Outwardly, he was a mid‑level Soviet diplomat with an unremarkable...

Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik occupies a distinctive place in the history of Cold War espionage. Outwardly, he was a mid‑level Soviet diplomat with an unremarkable public profile. Privately, he became one of the CIA’s most valuable human intelligence sources inside the Soviet Union. Operating under the codename TRIGON, Ogorodnik provided rare insight into Soviet foreign policy during a period when reliable intelligence from Moscow was exceptionally difficult to obtain. Although his espionage career lasted only a few years, the information he supplied, and the dramatic circumstances of his death, left a lasting imprint on the intelligence struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.Early Life and Rise as a Soviet DiplomatBorn on November 11, 1939,...