KGB Lennikovs to be deported back to Russia

From Burnaby News Leader:

A local Russian family has lost its bid to stay in Canada after Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan turned down its special application to remain in the country.

At issue is Mikhail’s past as a former KGB agent, recruited from university to spy on Japanese businessmen visiting the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

This article is basically just an update from an earlier write up in the Vancouver Sun, with minor edits to be more sympathetic to their situation.

Burnaby News Leader:

He says he was coerced into joining the spy agency and eventually quit.

Vancouver Sun:

Lennikov has maintained that he was virtually coerced into joining the KGB and that he was always looking for a way to quit.

Burnaby News Leader:

The family left the country after learning he was marked as a traitor and faced retribution.

Vancouver Sun:

He was dismissed from the KGB in 1988 on the grounds that he was incapable of service after submitting a report to his superiors explaining why wasn’t suitable for employment.

But after he left he received a number of warnings from KGB contacts that he was a marked man and was considered a traitor, he said.

Burnaby News Leader:

They moved to Canada in 1997, when Dmitri was only six. Mikhail was open about his past when the family applied for permanent residency status.

Vancouver Sun:

The family was denied permanent residency in Canada by an immigration officer after Lennikov’s background as a KGB officer was disclosed.

The issue received lots of press in the Fall, mostly sympathetic to the Lennikovs but some not.  Last week Ukemonde pointed out an Op-Ed in the Winnipeg Press called “KGB killers enjoy life in Canada” that highlights KGB officers – torturers and murderes who still reside in Canada and must be removed.

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