CDSK00001

Part 1 of 3 of CSIS ATIP 117-2020-542. This package includes transcripts of Sergei Kourdakov's preliminary interviews with Canadian immigration officials and newspaper coverage of his sensational defection. The Government of Canada accepted Kourdakov as a legitimate defector and set aside $4,000 to support him financially. This was intended to prevent dependency on organizations like the Russian Orthodox Church and to ensure a measure of control over Kourdakov's activities within Canada. Officials decided to induce Kourdakov to move to Toronto for better employment opportunities and English-language training. The package also includes correspondence from the Sheriff of San Bernardino, California, who sought RCMP assistance with an investigation into Kourdakov's 1973 death. In particular, the deceased's past claims that the RCMP had furnished him with a submachine gun for "self-protection" seemed pertinent to a homicide investigation. Kourdakov's death was eventually ruled an accident.

Click on the link to download these records in full.