Chapter 772 - 777 Limited Effects
Aaron, code-named "Lighthouse," initiated contact with the KGB on November 5, 1981. After a cautious period of mutual testing, the first official encounter took place on January 1, 1982.
The first batch of intelligence Aaron passed on was extremely valuable; the CIA’s spy network in Eastern Europe, which had been established for many years, was directly dismantled, and Aaron did not ask for any payment.
In July 1982, Aaron voluntarily provided intelligence to the KGB for the second time, leading to the confirmation that a high-ranking Moscow government official had leaked information to the CIA multiple times. The KGB unearthed a significant mole.
After the second encounter, Aaron’s value was undoubtedly confirmed. It was also after this meeting that the KGB offered Aaron a $50,000 reward and Yarebin personally attempted to meet with Aaron in London for the first time.
The first meeting failed, Yarebin was unable to meet Aaron.
Aaron’s third provision of intelligence to the KGB came in December 1982, when his information helped the KGB dismantle another long-operated CIA intelligence network.
It was also the third time that Aaron again offered to meet with the KGB. In the same month, Yarebin met Aaron in London, confirmed his identity, and provided him with a $100,000 reward.
To call it a reward is somewhat inaccurate; it would be more precise to call it a bonus, for Aaron had defected out of a genuine affinity for the red Soviet Union.
During the meeting, Aaron told Yarebin he needed some achievements to attain a higher position.
At that time, Aaron was serving as the Deputy Chief of the CIA’s European Division’s Intelligence Section—a position not high in rank, but hefty in power.
In the CIA’s history of defectors, Aaron did not provide the greatest quantity of intelligence, but the quality of his information was exceptionally high; every intel he transmitted was sure to deal an extremely heavy blow to the CIA. And indeed, each was an extremely heavy blow.