Oleg Gordievsky
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Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky was a colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate and bureau chief in London and a British spy.
Gordievsky in 2007
Gordievsky with U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1987
Able Archer 83
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Able Archer 83 was a military exercise conducted by NATO that took place in November 1983, as part of the annual Able Archer exercise. It simulated a period of heightened nuclear tensions between NATO
Oleg Gordievsky
…contributions were the averting of a potential nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union in 1983, when the Soviets misinterpreted the NATO exercise Able Archer 83 as preparation for a first strike; and identifying Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet heir-apparent long before he came to prominence. The information…
A KGB report from 1981 reporting that the KGB had "implemented measures to strengthen intelligence work in order to prevent a possible sudden outbreak of war by the enemy". To do this, the KGB "actively obtained information on military and strategic issues, and the aggressive military and political plans of imperialism [the United States] and its accomplices", and "enhanced the relevance and effectiveness of its active intelligence abilities".
The US Pershing II missile
A US Air Force after-action report describes three days of "low spectrum" conventional play followed by two days of "high spectrum nuclear warfare". From the National Security Archive.
A Soviet RSD-10 missile