Vladimir Vetrov
| Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov Russian: Владимир Ипполитович Ветров |
|
|---|---|
| Allegiance |
 Soviet Unionlater  France
|
| Service | KGB, DST |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Operation(s) | Farewell Dossier |
| Codename(s) | Farewell |
| Other work | Double agent |
|
|
|
| Birth name | Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov |
| Born | October 10, 1932 |
| Died | 23 January 1985 Moscow |
| Cause of death |
Execution |
| Nationality | USSR |
Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov (Russian: Владимир Ипполитович Ветров; 10 October 1932 – 23 January 1985) was a high-ranking KGB spy during the Cold War who decided to covertly release valuable information to France and NATO on the Soviet Union's clandestine program aimed at stealing technology from the West.
Vetrov was assigned the code-name Farewell by the French intelligence service DST, which recruited him. He was known by that name throughout NATO's intelligence services. The code-name was chosen as an English word so that the KGB would assume he worked for the CIA if it learned his codename.
His history inspired the book Bonjour Farewell: La Vérité sur la Taupe Française du KGB (1997) by Sergei Kostin. It was loosely adapted for the French film L'affaire Farewell (2009), starring Emir Kusturica, Guillaume Canet and Alexandra Maria Lara.
Authors Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud have published a more complete and updated account of the Farewell dossier under the title Adieu Farewell (Laffont, Paris, 2009). This title became available in English for the first time in 2011, some thirty years after the events.
Vladimir Vetrov was born in 1932 and grew up within the Soviet system. After college, where he studied electronic engineering, he was enlisted in the KGB.
He lived in France for five years, beginning in 1965 when posted there as a Line X officer working for the KGB's 'Directorate T', which specialized in obtaining advanced information about science and technology from western countries. While there, he befriended Jacques Prévost, an engineer working with Thomson-CSF. Vetrov returned to Moscow at the end of his posting, with a subsequent posting to Montreal, though Vetrov was recalled prematurely for reasons that are still unclear.
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