BIOGRAPHIC DATA ON COLONEL OLEG VLADIMIROVICH PENKOVSKY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600290083-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 83
• Content Type: BIO

Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600290083-7
Biographic Data on Colonel Ole g Vladimirovich PENKOVSKIY
Date and Place of Birth: 23 April 1919 in Ordzhonikidze,
USSR
Family:
PENKOVSKIY stems from the pre-revolutionary Russian nobility.
His father, Vladimir Florianovich PENKOVSKIY, was educated as a
mining engineer. An officer in the White Army, he was killed in
action in the Civil War. PENKOVSKIY's great uncle is a general in
the Soviet Army. PENKOVSKIY's wife is also the daughter of a
prominent Soviet general. The PENKOVSKIYS have two daughters.
History:
Attended school in Ordzhonikidze. Enrolled in the 2nd Kiev
Artillery School in 1937, from which he graduated in 1939 and was
commissioned a Junior Lieutenant in the Artillery. Participated
in the Polish campaign, then was assigned to the 91st Rifle
Division. Fought with this unit in the Soviet-Finnish War (the
Division sustained 90% casualties). Became a member of the
Communist Party in 1940. After the conclusion of the Finnish War,
PENKOVSKIY was assigned to the Political Directorate of the Moscow
Military District, where he worked with Army Komsomol organizations.
Served on the 1st Ukrainian Front under General VARENTSOV, first as
deputy commander and then as commander of the 323rd Artillery
Antitank Regiment of the 8th Artillery Antitank Brigade. Wounded in
action in June 1944. Returned to the Front in August 1944 as liaison
officer for General VARENTSOV. In late 1944 assumed command of
the 51st Artillery Antitank Regiment, and remained at this post until
the end of the war. By the end of the war he held the following
decorations: two Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star,
Order of Aleksandr Nevskiy, Order of the Patriotic War, Class I,
and six other medals. Promoted to Lt. Colonel in 1945 and to
Colonel in 1950. Attended Frunze Military Academy in 1945-1948.
After a short tour in Moscow Military District Headquarters, he
was selected for service in military intelligence (GRU) and attended
the General Staff's intelligence training school, the so-called
"Military-Diplomatic Academy", from 1949 to 1953. This academy trains
selected officers in languages and intelligence for eventual
assignment abroad as military attaches and in other espionage
assignments. Served in GRU Headquarters until 1955, when he was
assigned to Turkey as Assistant Military Attache. Served in Ankara
from 26 July 1955 to 4 November 1956 when he was recalled to Moscow
as a result of disagreements with General RUBENKO, the Soviet Military
Intelligence chief in Ankara. Served in GRU Headquarters until
Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600290083-7
 ? Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600290083-7
September 1958, when he was enrolled in the special nine-month
missile familiarization course at the Dzershinskiy Missile-Artillery
Academy. Continued to serve in GRU Headquarters until November 1960,
when he was assigned to a group of military intelligence officers working
under civilian cover in the State Scientific Coordination Committee,
the GNTK (now the GKKNR). His cover position was that of senior
expert and deputy chief of the Foreign Section of this Committee,
and in this capacity he worked with visiting delegations to the USSR
and headed several Soviet delegations on visits abroad.
Colonel Penkovskiy's reputation as a scientist stems from the
technical aspects of his military education, the numerous technical
inventions, mainly in military engineering, that he perfected and
his "cover" work with the State Scientific Coordination Committee.
Approved For Release 2000/04/14: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600290083-7