The Cold War Spy Who Got Away | True Life Spy Stories

Listen to my spy stories on the Heroes & Traitors with Philip Thompson podcast!

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In the sun-drenched streets of the Vatican in the summer of 1985, a high-ranking KGB officer slipped away from his group touring the Vatican Museum. He disappeared without trace, only to reemerge a few weeks later in the United States.

Vitaly Yurchenko’s defection was an intelligence coup for the CIA. In a secure, dimly lit room in a safehouse in northern Virginia, Yurchenko faced his American interrogators. The air was thick with tension as he began to divulge KGB secrets. The CIA’s glee turned to dismay as Yurchenko began to speak of a mole within their ranks. He didn’t know his name, only his codename. Agent ‘Robert’ had been preparing for a posting to the CIA’s Moscow station before abruptly being taken off the assignment.

The CIA agents’ blood ran cold. Agent ROBERT could be only one man - a disgruntled former CIA employee who had been fired from the Agency 2 years prior. Ever since, the CIA had done their best to conceal the affair from the FBI.

The man’s name was Edward Lee Howard.

#philipthompson #truelifespystories #thespywhogotaway

[Jabbls]

Your narration is perfectly fine I have no idea why people would think it’s a problem. It honestly even fits the theme… great video I’m happy to be a subscriber

[timor]

Excellent video. Don't change at thing about your production values or narration. You are so close to breaking through the 100K barrier now.

[austinpierce]

This is great, thank you. Only one small issue, Americans who work for the CIA are called officers, not agents, CIA agents are exclusively reserved for foreign nationals working on behalf of the CIA. But besides that i loved this video!

[AladinSarsippiusSulemanagic]

Don't mind those clowns commenting about the narrator's accent. They're watching a vid about spies and investigation but can't figure out what country the accent comes from 😂 Great upload as always thanks, keep em coming!

[trekkiee]

Phillip you are a great narrator and I very much appreciate you taking the effort and not using the AI narrators that's have take over YouTube.

[themazeballet]

Your scripting, timing, music choices, are all so good! Great voice over as well.

[knighthawk]

I might be a dumb American but I can understand you just fine. Keep up the good work man 💪

[TaylorsVersiom]

I love spy stories, reading their books and hearing the same stories over told from different perspectives. Ive watched almost everyone of your videos now and just subbed to your podcast on Spotify! Keep the spy stories coming we love it! 🫶💙🫶💙🫶

[JuliaAlexandra]

no alarms ringing at the CIA after confessing to the theft of $40? Poor character, addiction to risks and a drinking problem made him a hire in 80s. Nobody had learned from Philby. Another wonderful piece PT

[karenshadle]

Enjoy your vids ! I subscribed after watching just one of them!

[relwalretep]

So close to the well deserved 100k subs mate, so excited for you!

[buzzlightyearpfp]

the 'obvious watch' strategy is hilarious cause i can just imagine a car following him literally everywhere or even just agents in broad daylights with large cameras following him around

[jasonmatthews]

Never considered the idea of an intended fall guy for Aimes. That really puts a spin on things. Maybe if they weren't spies in the first place, it would be easier to know who's word to really take.

[samnc]

Your videos are really inspiring Philip! I've been watching since your AI voice over ones, and had just started dating my now girlfriend who is from South Africa! I had never really heard a South African accent until I met her, so imagine my surprise when one of my favorite YouTubers started doing voice overs, and they had a South African accent as well! It makes me feel very at home and reminds me of my lovely girlfriend and her family. Keep up the amazing work!
P.S. I'm trying to learn Afrikaans to surprise her one day, you're an inspiration. :)

[aryabastani]

Love the S.African accent. Great narration and content.

[goingoutonmyshield]

Another Masterful production by PT'. The end of this and others defectors of the past reminds me of the CIA's birth movie, a line by "Mother"(Matt Damon)- The Good Shepard: "Your greatest fear has come true...Alone and friendless...without a Country of your own" Damn that was a cold line at the end.

[kenbrown]

Falls down stairs cases and out of open windows seems to be an awfully common occurrences in Russia.

[EJ-VBikes]

Thank you Philip for yet another captivating and awesome spy story! I can't even imagine the amount of research, script writing, and editing your videos require. I'm looking forward to the next video!❤

[tranquility]

Your narration is perfect and very clear, you have a very, very slight accent that's barely noticeable and so what if it is? The parochialism of people who are astounded that, yes, believe it or not the world consists of lots and lots of different people who aren't the same! Your English is excellent - also thank-you for not using background music, it's a reason I love your videos 🙏

[jaynespearin]

I thought this narrator's dry and somewhat slow delivery was well suited to the subject matter. Well done and thankyou.