Oleg Penkovsky

Oleg Penkovsky Олег Владимирович Пеньковский
Born	(1919-04-23)23 April 1919 Vladikavkaz, Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus
Died	16 May 1963(1963-05-16) (aged 44) Butyrka Prison, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Execution by shooting
Alma mater	Frunze Military Academy
Criminal charge	Treason
Criminal penalty	Death
Spouse	Vera Gapanovich
Espionage activity
Country	Soviet Union
Allegiance	United States and United Kingdom
Service branch	GRU
Service years	1953–1963
Rank	Colonel
Codename	YOGA, HERO

Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (Russian: Олег Владимирович Пеньковский; 23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed Hero (by the CIA) and Yoga (by MI6)^[1] was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Kennedy, during the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed, valuable information about Soviet weakness that allowed him to face down Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and resolve the crisis without a nuclear war.

Penkovsky was the highest-ranking Soviet official to provide intelligence for the West up until that time, and is one of several individuals credited with altering the course of the Cold War. He was arrested by the Soviets in October 1962, and tried and executed the following year.