Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Kherson, Ukraine
About Yuri Shvets
- Yuri B.
- Shvets (Russian: ???? ????????? ????, Ukrainian: ???? ????????? ?????, born 1952 in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) was a Major in the KGB (CSS USSR) during the years 1980-1990.
- From April 1985 to 1987 he worked in the D.C.
- Rezidentura of the PGU KGB SSSR.He graduated in International Law from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia when it was still named the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University.
- He also graduated from Institute of Foreign Intelligence, where he was studying with Vladimir Putin. Shvets recruited two key sources of political intelligence whom he referred to as 'Sputnitsa' and 'Socrates'.
- 'Sputnitsa' is identified as a journalist working in District of Columbia, and 'Socrates' as a former Jimmy Carter's administration aide with strong ties to Greece.
- In his 2005 book "Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer", Victor Cherkashin alleges that "Socrates" was John Helmer and Sputnitsa the late New Statesman journalist Claudia Wright.
- However, Cherkashin also claims that contrary to Shvets' assertions, Helmer was "never an agent or even a target" of the KGB. After publishing a book describing his exploits and ultimate falling out with the KGB, Shvets was banned from foreign travel.
- In 1994, he secretly made his way to America where he now resides. In 2006, Shvets emerged as a potentially key witness in the poisoning of ex-FSB RF officer Alexander Litvinenko.
- In an interview with the BBC, broadcast on 16 December 2006, Shvets said that he and Litvinenko had compiled a report investigating the activities of senior Kremlin officials on behalf of a British company looking to invest "dozens of millions of dollars" in a project in Russia.
- Shvets said the dossier was so incriminating about one senior Kremlin official, who was not named, it was likely that Litvinenko was murdered in revenge.
- He alleged that Litvinenko had shown the dossier to another business associate, Andrei Lugovoi, who had worked for the KGB SSSR and later the FSB RF.
- Shvets alleged that Lugovoi was still an FSB RF informant and he had passed the dossier to members of the spy service.
- Shvets says he was interviewed about his allegations by Scotland Yard detectives investigating Litvinenko's murder.
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