CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames Passes Away in Prison

(MENAFN) Aldrich Ames, the former CIA officer whose espionage activities for the Soviet Union and Russia devastated American intelligence operations, has died at 84 while imprisoned for life in a US facility.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records indicate Ames died January 5.

Ames represented Russia's "most valuable agent" during the late 20th century, delivering substantial operational victories for Soviet and Russian state security apparatus, according to journalist and intelligence historian Nikolay Dolgopolov in an analysis published Wednesday by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Soviet intelligence recruited Ames in 1985 following his voluntary contact with the Soviet embassy in Washington. He then occupied the crucial role of head of the Soviet branch within the CIA's Counterintelligence Division. He reportedly compromised between 12 and 25 CIA assets operating throughout the USSR and Russia, resulting in arrests and executions of multiple operatives.

His betrayal's underlying motivations remain disputed. Western accounts have consistently depicted Ames as financially driven—the extravagant lifestyle he maintained with his new spouse eventually attracted FBI investigation—while Russian accounts offer contrasting perspectives.

Former Soviet diplomat Sergey Divilkovsky, who maintained personal acquaintance with Ames, attributed the spy's actions to profound disillusionment with President Ronald Reagan's administration's anti-Soviet strategies. Divilkovsky, speaking in a 2001 interview, described Ames as a "highly moral agent" and an intellectual who had grown to hate the CIA.

Soviet and subsequent Russian intelligence agencies implemented comprehensive protective measures around Ames, redirecting suspicion elsewhere. Following his 1994 arrest and guilty plea to espionage charges, then-director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Evgeny Primakov, voiced optimism regarding a potential future prisoner exchange.

Ames' espionage revealed catastrophic vulnerabilities in the CIA's internal security infrastructure, triggering comprehensive reforms throughout US counterintelligence operations.

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