AGENT WITH A TEDDY BEAR W.UKRAIŃSKA

Agent with a Teddy Bear is a book that reveals the dual biography of Viktor Petrov (V. Domontovich): archaeologist, author of intellectual novels, and, at the same time, agent of the Soviet secret services. Based on declassified archival files of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service, the author traces how agent Ivanov collaborated with the authorities, what his activities were during the Great Terror and World War II, in post-war emigration, and after his return to the USSR. This is a book about broken and preserved biographies, about choice and survival, about an intellectual game with the state and one's own shadow. The author tells the story like an archaeologist excavating a site, from the latest layer to the very bottom, revealing not only Viktor Petrov's double game, but also the fates of his contemporaries: Rylsky, Bagryany, Shevelov, Krymsky, and others.