World War II-Era Defectors, 1941–1946
The third group broke with the Soviet system during World War II and immediately thereafter. In the months after Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941, German forces penetrated deep into Soviet territory, and it is likely that thousands of Soviet intelligence and state security personnel fell into German captivity during that time. Consequently, Germany was the clear intelligence priority early in the war. Of the 32 officers in this group, 18 were captured on the battlefield between 1941 and 1943, most of which defected once they were in captivity. However, Soviet intelligence widened its targeting beyond Germany to its wartime allies even before the war ended. A few others were abroad under diplomatic cover and approached a foreign power requesting asylum. This group extends beyond the formal end of World War II into 1946, because the environment for defectors did not change immediately after the war.