Correspondent, Spy, Diplomat

Mikhail Sagatelyan (1927-1994) was a TASS journalist, author, KGB agent and head of TASS in the United States (1959-1965), making him an important conduit of information between the US and the Soviet Union. Born in Saratov, Russia, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of International Affairs in 1950. He began his career at Izvestia (1950-’54), then with Novoye Vremya. In 1959 he was stationed in Washington. His work as journalist provided him with a cover for his KGB activities. In 1961 he used his Armenian ethnicity to pose as a Turkish journalist in Miami, where the Soviets were looking for information from Cuban exiles following the Bay of Pigs. 

Mikhail Sagatelyan (1927-1994) was a TASS journalist, author, KGB agent and head of TASS in the United States (1959-1965), making him an important conduit of information between the US and the Soviet Union. Born in Saratov, Russia, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of International Affairs in 1950. He began his career at Izvestia (1950-’54), then with Novoye Vremya. In 1959 he was stationed in Washington. His work as journalist provided him with a cover for his KGB activities. In 1961 he used his Armenian ethnicity to pose as a Turkish journalist in Miami, where the Soviets were looking for information from Cuban exiles following the Bay of Pigs.