Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency personality file on Soviet official Nikolay Sergeyevich Leonov (201-132139), with material dated 1953 to 1963, compiles cables, FBI documents, surveillance reports, press photos and passport copies. It records his Soviet Embassy service in Mexico City, the finding of his calling card in Fidel Castro's address book in 1956, and his role as Castro's interpreter in the USSR in 1963. A source identified him as a KGB officer, and a DIA item alleged he was planning Latin American insurgency.
“Headquarters”4 pages
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INFORMATION REPORT Approved for Release: 2026/02/13 SECRET/CONTROL - U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY SECURITY INFORMATION DATE OF INFO. 13 May 1953 PLACE ACQUIRED Italy, Rome ( 19 May 1953) THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE. THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE. (FOR KEY SEE REVERSE) SOURCE: An individual with good contacts in Italian Police circles. (B). Appraisal of Content: 3. The following Soviet diplomatic personnel arrived in Rome on 9 May 1953 from Moscow and took lodgings at Primrose Pensione until 13 May 1953, when they departed for Genoa to proceed by sea to Mexico: a. Nikolai Leonov, collaborator at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, who carries service Passport (10724, issued in Moscow on 29 October 1952; and b. Valeria Lecnova, wife of above, who was born in Moscow on 28 April 1928 and who carries service passport C 11507, issued in Moscow on 28 February 1953. (Diate: Washington Distribution Indicated By "X"; Field Distribution By "●"). EE SR x WR/FT/Proace 1-3 2x Rome 2x III-26719 ROME-5842 FE WE x NH/Ogden x STC/ICB x NE NH x BR/Sanford x SE STD BR/CE/Grad x
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 165 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.