Retired intelligence officer Yury Shevchenko made his first public appearance after being officially declassified by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) earlier this year and admitted that he misses his work and colleagues, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2020) Retired intelligence officer Yury Shevchenko made his first public appearance after being officially declassified by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) earlier this year and admitted that he misses his work and colleagues, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.

The Names of Shevchenko and his six colleagues who worked abroad without any legal cover of state agencies, such as embassies and consulates, were declassified in late January by SVR chief Sergey Naryshkin in an unprecedented step. All of these agents made a great contribution to protecting Russia's interests and ensuring its security. Four of them are no longer alive.

"When an agent becomes known, he dies, he no longer exists ... It may seem that there are sufficient retirement benefits, you can rest, go fishing, but I cannot live without this service because I have been working with wonderful people," Shevchenko said during the presentation of the first-ever book about the beginning of the work of the legendary Soviet intelligence agents Gevork and Gohar Vartanyan.

Shevchenko, born in 1939, regularly traveled abroad since 1969 for intelligence work, worked with important sources, recruited them and obtained valuable information on priority issues, including those that were top-secret.

In 2001, Russian intelligence decided to cease Shevchenko's activities abroad and relocate him to work in the headquarters. He then received multiple state awards for his service.

In May 2017, Col. Yury Shevchenko was awarded the highest honorary title, Hero of Russia, in a secret order signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.