Education
Born in 1921, in Ukraine, he graduated from Sumy Artillery School in June 1941 and served as an artillery officer in World World War II and was decorated for bravery.
Born in 1921, in Ukraine, he graduated from Sumy Artillery School in June 1941 and served as an artillery officer in World World War II and was decorated for bravery.
In the Central Intelligence Agency he was known by code names BOURBON and ROAM, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Federal Bureau of Investigation) knew him as TOPHAT (Top Hat). After the war and his studies at Frunze Military Academy and GRU Training Courses, he joined Soviet Military Intelligence, the GRU. His first mission was with the Soviet delegation to the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations in New York from 1951–1956. On his second assignment to New York, in 1959–1961, he approached Federal Bureau of Investigation counterintelligence agents to offer his services as an informant.
His follow-up overseas assignments included Rangoon, Burma (1965–1969) and New Delhi, India (1973–1976 and 1979–1980) where he was posted as Soviet Military Attaché.
Some in the Central Intelligence Agency feel that Polyakov became a mole because he was disgusted with the corruption of the Soviet Party elite. Victor Cherkashin suggested that he was embittered because Soviet leadership denied him permission to take his seriously ill son, the eldest of three, to a hospital in New York where he could get adequate medical attention.
This son died as a result of the illness and soon after, Polyakov began his informant activities. Foreign 25 years, he remained a Central Intelligence Agency informant as he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a General.
Central Intelligence Agency officers speak in superlatives about the kind of information he provided.
Sandy Grimes said of him, "Polyakov was our crown jewel.. the best source at least to my knowledge that American intelligence has ever had and I would submit, although I certainly can"t be certain, but the best source that any intelligence service has ever had." James Woolsey said of him, "Polyakov was the jewel in the crown." According to all accounts, he was not interested in money, but was acting purely from principle. Among the important information Polyakov provided:
Evidence of the growing rift between the Soviet Union and China. This information played a crucial role in President Richard Nixon"s decision to open diplomatic relations with China in 1972.
Technical data on Soviet-made antitank missiles.
While the United States never fought the Soviet Union directly, knowledge of these weapons proved invaluable when Iraq employed them in the Gulf War. Proof of spying done by Frank Bossard for the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.
Polyakov was arrested by the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) in 1986, six years after his retirement from the GRU. His contacts at the Central Intelligence Agency had no information about what might have happened to him.
Only later, it became clear that he was betrayed by both Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. (Bagley says Ames did not betray him, because he only knew about Polyakov"s activities when he was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when he was still acting as a Soviet plant) In 1988, Polyakov was sentenced to death for treason and was executed.
Central Intelligence Agency officer Jeanne Vertefeuille said, "He didn’t do this for money.
He insisted on staying in place to help us. lieutenant was a bad day for us when we lost him.".