ASKS about Bohdan Stashynsky & Defecting (update 4-29-20)
anonymous asked:
There's a good biography by a real life KGB defector called 'Next Stop Execution' that goes into detail about life as a KGB officer/double agent and the writer's ultimate decision to defect to the West in the 1980s and how he goes about doing it. About 10 years after publishing the book and 20 years after defecting the Russian government still tried to poison the guy. Life as a KGB defector would never bring anyone peace.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll have to take a look at the book. Sounds like defecting would make Illya’s life far more difficult! Doesn’t sound like there would ever truly be a win scenario for him… he’d always have to look over his shoulder… I wonder what would motivate him to believe defecting was his best option….
anonymous asked:
Look up Bohdan Stashynsky. He was a real life KGB agent and assassin who fell in love with an East German woman and defected to the West with her just before the Berlin Wall went up.
Thank you for this!!!!! I read so much about him because of this ask and let me tell you it’s so interesting! And now it gives possible context on Illya defecting! And now I want another movie that explores a situation similar to Bohdan Stashynsky! Thx!!!!
anonymous asked:
Okay, now I'm convinced the TMFU 2015 writers were at the very least familiar with Stashynsky and loosely based Illya on him. The KGB's boy-wonder agent/assassin at only 24, the checkered family history, the cyanide spray gun gadget, the proficiency in German, doing a moral/political 180 the second he meets the person he would marry... If the writers didn't know about him then that's just one massive coincidence.
I’m starting to think they based Illya partly on Stashynsky as well! It’s too perfect. It just seems to fit! It seems like that was part of their inspirations for 2015 Illya. I can’t believe it was a coincidence—it just fits so well! Now I’m going to muse more about Illya’s psychology with Stashynsky in mind…
anonymous asked:
There's a book about Stashinsky called "The Man with the Poison Gun". It goes into the details of his life and how so many young men were blackmailed into working for the KGB. In many cases it was spy/murder for the KGB or your entire family goes to prison. A lot of them had no choice. No wonder so many tried to defect, even if certain death was the punishment for getting caught.
Thanks, anon!!!!! That’s so intriguing! I learned about the young men being blackmailed into working for the KGB because Armie mentioned something about it in an interview; he said for the backstory of Illya, that the KGB threatened that if he didn’t work for them, they would do to him and his mother what they did to his father or worse. So at a young and vulnerable age, Illya was forced to make a profoundly difficult choice. To keep his mother safe, he would have to become the KGBs best weapon. It’s understandable that Illya reacts the way he does when Oleg threatens him. And it’s even more understandable that he would want to defect… I’m presuming he wouldn’t defect if his mother was still alive, that way they couldn’t threaten to harm her to get to him. If she was still alive, would he be able to take her with him and still keep her safe? Even with defecting, there would still be no way for Illya to escape his past, the KGB, or what he became, would there?
anonymous asked:
Illya's (successful) defecting might not have been all doom and gloom. Plenty of agents on both sides successfully defected and lived normal lives, even if they had to look over their shoulders a lot. However, this would have depended on the agent's willingness to give up any and all info to the competing agency in exchange for asylum, protection and new identity. Everything they knew about their home agency's org chart, past missions, technology, moles, etc needed to be offered up. This info was often released to the media to embarrass the defector's home country who couldn't keep their own agents in order. Illya and Uncle are fictional so maybe in that universe he could defect to Uncle and not have to sell his soul and humiliate his home country in exchange for safety and maybe so long as he kept his mouth shut and didn't make the USSR look bad or give away all her secrets in the public sphere he'd be left alone.
This is very interesting! I like the idea of Illya defecting to UNCLE and seeking refuge with them. I don’t think Illya would humiliate his home country; I think he still loves home despite the situation. I wonder where he would make his new home though? Where would be relatively safe? Thanks for this information! I’m learning so much!
I bought the e-book of man with the poison gun after your stashinsky post because I'm way bored and wow, crazy parallels. My favorite -His east berlin wife had a dad who owned a garage and was a mechanic and she really did not like russians or being in the east but fell for her spy boyfriend anyway. I'm shook. Do we think this means the writers intended for Gaby/Ilya to get married had this been a franchise??? my gallya heart can't take it!
Oh, Oh, OH, WOW! ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS!!!?? The parallels though! That’s just too similar! I’m so convinced that Guy Ritchie knew about Stashinsky’s story! Now that you tell me that then yeah I think the writers were intending Illya and Gaby to be a series relationship!!! OW! My heart. This information is soooooooo good thank you!
