Mystery Man in Scandal

LONDON (Capt. Yevgeny (Eugene) M. Ivanov is the real mystery man in the Profumo affair.

He has been described as a Russian playboy, a diplomatic troubleshooter-and a Soviet spy. Officially he served as assistant naval attache at the Soviet embassy.

Like former British war minister John Profumo, with whom he shared Christine Keeler's favors, Ivanov was a married man. He came to London with his wife in 1960 for a three-year term. He was recalled to Moscow in December, 1962, shortly after Christine's discarded Negro lover, John Edgecombe, fired a pistol at her and shot her name into the headlines.

According to diplomatic lists, the 37year-old Ivanov was a captain (third rank) when he arrived in Britain. Before he returned to Moscow he had been promoted to captain (second rank).

Ivanov was a big spender. He liked hitting the high spots. He cultivated a wide circle of British friends-something few Soviet diplomats are allowed to do.

During parliamentary debate on the case of William John Vassall, the ho nosexual spy who passed admiralty secrets to Moscow, Laborite legislator George Wigg declared:

"Ivanov assidously cultivated certain classes of the more diseased section of our society, became a skillful bridge player ... drove expensive cars, was expensively dressed, visited what are known as the hot spots.'

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He was a rugged Russian, hairy chested, agile and strong. He was a hard drinker. He developed a taste and capacity for English bitter beer-which most Russians abhor—but his main drinks were whisky and vodka.

He liked taking Christine Keeler out to the bright spots, wining and dining the redhaired party girl. She called him "a wonderful huggy bear of a man."

'He was a ciever Communist propagandist, a fluent linguist, but one who often asked Christine to explain the colloquial terms she used.

Ivanov is believed to have been a fulltime member of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.

He was a good mixer, spoke excellent

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English and seemed to be always anxious to improve East-West relations.

His friend Stephen Ward, who has been charged with living on vice earnings, said he refused to believe Ivanov was a spy.

"In fact he was the opposite," said Ward. "During last October's Cuba crisis Ivanov was the one man who maintained contact between Fidel Castro's regime and the West.

"Ivanov, through his contacts at the foreign office, acted as linkman in every major diplomatic decision taken on Cuba at that time."

According to Ward, Ivanov relayed to President Kennedy an offer of Premier Khrushchev to order the return of Soviet vessels steaming toward the American blockade of Cuba in exchange for a summit conference.

Ward also has said that Ivanov acted as intermediary in a Soviet move for talks with American officials at the height of the Cuban crisis. The Soviets were anxious for talks with the Americans, but did not want to propose this themselves. Ward said Ivanov asked the British government to arrange the talks.