Victor Cherkasion Term Paper

Victor Cherkashin was a foreign Counterintelligence Officer for the KGB assigned to the Soviet Union Embassy in Washington, DC from 1979 until 1989. Cherkashin is responsible for “the recruitment in 1985 and running of Rick Ames” (Ehrman, 2008). In addition to Ames, Cherkashin supervised the recruitment of Ronald Pelton, a former National Security Agency employee and FBI employee Robert Hanssen. The recruitment process of Ames was limited because, he had gone willingly to the Soviet Embassy and his only motivation was money. Cherkashin confesses, Ames “fell into (my) lap” and the only thing the Soviets needed to do was provide monetary compensation (Ehrman, 2008). Cherkashin recognized the sensitivity of the information Ames was providing

to him and made it a point to protect Ames at all costs. One way Cherkashin protected Ames’ identity was by reporting the information provided in person to the head of the KGB. Cherkashin would “(fly) back to Moscow himself to tell KGB foreign intelligence Chief Vladimir Kryuchkov about their new CIA agent” (Risen, 2001). Cherkashin would not be able to protect the Soviets most valuable asset forever, as eventually, the CIA would identify Ames as their number one suspect.
Investigation
Ames commits espionage for almost one year before the CIA recognizes there is a problem.

“CIA spies targeted against the Soviet Union began disappearing at an alarming rate” (People of the CIA, 2009). The initial response to the disappearance of spies in the Soviet Union was to simply review individual case files, and identify technical means by which the Soviets could have attained the information. The CIA did not want to accept the fact; someone within the own organization was leaking the compromised information. In 1986, the CIA finally decides to open an investigation into the disappearance of its human assets. Jeanne Vertefeuille, “an expert on the workings of the Soviet intelligence services” (People of the CIA, 2009) responsible for leading a special task force leading the investigation into the missing

assets.
The task force identified three possible reasons for the leaking of the CIA and FBI sources.

First, the KGB penetrated communications within the CIA and have been able to intercept transmissions. Second, the KGB has access to classified documents and has been able to identify assets; the third reason, and the one they did not want to believe, someone within the CIA is providing information to the Soviets. During this time, CIA was conducting a separate investigation into a former employee, Edward Howard, fired due to security concerns. The investigation of Howard was also for providing the names of sources operating in the Soviet Union. The task force originally believed Howard was the source of the leak, but quickly realized he did not have access to the identities of certain compromised individuals. In 1989, the task force received its first big break in their investigation. “Diana Worthen, a colleague and friend of Ames and his wife Rosario, noticed that he seemed to have more money than his salary should provide” (People of the CIA, 2009) and reported this behavior to the task force. The task force initially ignored the reported behavior because during the initial background investigation of Ames’s wife, Ames said she came from a wealthy background. With the support of the FBI, the task force would finally review Aldrich Ames financial records in 1992. During this review, they would identify a connection between his reported meetings with Soviet sources and

bank account deposits. The CIA was certain they had found their man. The CIA does not have arrest authority in the US; therefore, the case went to the FBI in 1993. The FBI conducted Procedures 5 through nine on Ames from November 1993 until his was arrest in February 1994. Ames is currently serving a life-in prison sentence for committing the act of espionage against the US.
Impact on U.S. National Defense
During the nine years Ames spent spying for the Soviet Union, he compromised the agency’s most valuable assets, people. No amount of leaked plans, schematics, or future missions can compare to the people the CIA lost. This is not just about people dying; it is also about the credibility of the CIA Human Intelligence Program. If future sources cannot trust, the CIA will protect them, and then they will not work for them, rendering the program useless.
However, in time, the agency will regain the trust of their sources; but even so, Ames compromised the agency’s TTPs, and collection requirements. With this understanding, the Soviet Union, now Russia has the ability to identify individuals who pose a liability issue. While technology can advance, there is no substitute for the human asset and a capability of the CIA and US, Ames destroyed.