The Museum hosted an open discussion with Eduard Andriushchenko about Viktor Petrov (Domontovych) and the book “Agent with a Teddy Bear”. The speaker, a Candidate of Historical Sciences and a researcher of Soviet security service archives, spoke about his work with declassified documents, which eventually led to the writing of the book. The event was moderated by Museum guide Anton Tymkiv.
The author told those present about the reasons that had prompted him to choose this particular area of research. Initially, Eduard Andriushchenko had not planned to write a separate book, as he was working on a collection of short pieces. Everything changed when he learnt Petrov’s pseudonym and began searching for reports submitted by Agent “Ivanov”.
The book portrays the two lives of Viktor Petrov: he was an archaeologist and an author of intellectual novels, but at the same time collaborated with Soviet security services. Drawing on declassified materials from the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Andriushchenko reconstructs the history of this collaboration: from the years of the Great Terror and the Second World War to emigration and his return to the USSR. The author structures the narrative like an archaeological excavation: he begins with the most recent layers and gradually works his way down to the deepest.
Those attending the event had the opportunity to ask the author questions and discuss why Petrov attracts such widespread attention. According to Eduard Andriushchenko, this fascination stems from the unique combination of Petrov’s intellectual genius and his astonishing biography, which reads like a spy thriller.
We thank the speaker, the moderator and everyone who attended the event!
You can watch the full recording of the event via this link.
