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'[[File:Http://www.themoscowtimes.com/upload/005/Polyakov.jpg|framed|right|dmitri polyakov]] {{about|the Soviet general|the tennis player|Dimitri Poliakov}} {{Infobox spy | name = Dmitri Polyakov<br/>({{lang-ru|Дмитрий Фёдорович Поляков}}) | image = | caption = | Graduated from Artillery School in June 1941 | allegiance = {{flagicon|United States}} [[United States]] | service = [[GRU]] | serviceyears = 1951–1980 | rank = General | operation = | award = | codename1 = Bourbon | codename2 = Roam | codename3 = Tophat (Top Hat) | codename4 = | codename5 = | codename6 = | codename7 = | codename8 = | codename9 = | other = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|7|6|df=y}} | birth_place = Ukraine | death_date = {{death date and age|1988|3|15|1921|7|6|df=y}} | death_place = | death_cause = Executed | buried = | height = | nationality = Soviet | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | alma_mater = | signature = }} '''Dmitri Fyodorovich Polyakov''' ({{lang-ru|Дмитрий Фёдорович Поляков}}) (6 July 1921 – 15 March 1988) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Major General]], a high-ranking [[GRU]] officer, and a prominent [[Cold War]] [[spy]] who revealed Soviet secrets to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. In the CIA he was known by code names BOURBON and ROAM, while the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) knew him as TOPHAT (Top Hat). ==Early life== Born in 1921, in [[Ukraine]], he graduated from Sumy Artillery School in June 1941 and served as an artillery officer in [[World War II]] and was decorated for bravery. After the war and his studies at Frunze Military Academy and GRU Training Courses, he joined Soviet Military Intelligence, the [[GRU]]. His first mission was with the Soviet delegation to the [[Military Staff Committee]] of the [[United Nations]] in New York from 1951–1956. ==Agent== On his second assignment to New York, in 1959–1961, he approached FBI counterintelligence agents to offer his services as an informant. His follow-up overseas assignments included [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]] (1965–1969) and [[New Delhi]], [[India]] (1973–1976 and 1979–1980) where he was posted as Soviet Military Attaché. Some in the CIA feel that Polyakov became a mole because he was disgusted with the corruption of the Soviet Party elite.<ref name=TimeMag>{{cite news|publisher=Time|date=2001-06-24|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,164863,00.html|title=Death of The Perfect Spy |author=Elaine Shannon|accessdate=2007-07-22}}</ref> [[Victor Cherkashin]] suggested that he was embittered because Soviet leadership denied him permission to take his seriously ill son, the eldest of three, to a hospital in New York where he could get adequate medical attention. This son died as a result of the illness and soon after, Polyakov began his [[informant]] activities.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/03/06/spooks_shadows_codes_and_moles/|publisher=Boston Globe|title=Spooks, shadows, codes, and moles — Spy wars, from inside the KGB|author=Ann Blackman|date=2005-03-06|accessdate=2007-07-22}}</ref> For 25 years, he remained a CIA informant as he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a General. CIA officers speak in superlatives about the kind of information he provided. [[Sandra Grimes|Sandy Grimes]] said of him, "Polyakov was our crown jewel,... the best source at least to my knowledge that American intelligence has ever had and I would submit, although I certainly can't be certain, but the best source that any intelligence service has ever had."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-21/grimes1.html|title=INTERVIEW WITH SANDY GRIMES|date=1998-01-30|work=The National Security Archive|publisher=CNN}}</ref> [[R. James Woolsey, Jr.|James Woolsey]] said of him, "Polyakov was the jewel in the crown."<ref name=TimeMag/> According to all accounts, he was not interested in money, but was acting purely from principle. Among the important information Polyakov provided: *Evidence of the growing rift between the [[Soviet Union]] and [[China]]. This information played a crucial role in President [[Richard Nixon]]'s decision to open diplomatic relations with China in 1972. *Technical data on Soviet-made antitank missiles. While the US never fought the Soviet Union directly, knowledge of these weapons proved invaluable when [[Iraq]] employed them in the [[Gulf War]]. *Proof of spying done by [[Frank Bossard]] for the USSR. ==Arrest and Execution== Polyakov was arrested by the [[KGB]] in 1986, six years after his retirement from the GRU. His contacts at the CIA had no information about what might have happened to him. Only later, it became clear that he was betrayed by both [[Robert Hanssen]] and [[Aldrich Ames]]. (Bagley says Ames did not betray him, because he only knew about Polyakov's activities when he was working with the FBI, when he was still acting as a Soviet plant.) <ref>Bagley, Tennent H.''Spymaster, Startling Cold War Revelations of a Soviet KGB Chief'', Skyhorse Publishing Inc, New York, Delaware, 2013.</ref> In 1988, Polyakov was sentenced to death for treason and was executed by being shot in the head and then incinerated. Much speculation surrounded the true nature of Polyakov's death however, many said that he had been thrown into an incinerator while still alive. The KGB has not publicly commented on this. ==Legacy== CIA officer [[Jeanne Vertefeuille]] said, "He didn’t do this for money. He insisted on staying in place to help us. It was a bad day for us when we lost him.<ref name=TimeMag/> ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Polyakov, Dmitri | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Soviet general | DATE OF BIRTH = 1921-07-06 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Ukraine | DATE OF DEATH = 1988-03-15 | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Polyakov, Dmitri}} [[Category:1921 births]] [[Category:1988 deaths]] [[Category:GRU officers]] [[Category:Soviet major generals]] [[Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Soviet people executed for spying for the United States]] [[Category:Executed spies]] [[Category:People executed by single firearm]] [[Category:Frunze Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:Spies]] [[Category:Ukrainian people executed by the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Ukrainian people executed by firearm]] [[Category:Executed Soviet people from Ukraine]]'