Ah I see, thanks. I'm pretty open to 'defector stories might not be as straightforward as reported, never mind self-described'. I think this bit In the 1980s,

Ah I see, thanks. I'm pretty open to 'defector stories might not be as straightforward as reported, never mind self-described'. I think this bit In the 1980s, Andropov begins running around looking for a pretext to launch a nuclear war. is at odds with everything we know about Soviet doctrine and intent, both from the period itself and the voluminous info that's come out subsequently. The bar to hang a serious (or even plausibly fictional) theory on this is very, very high. I'm not suggesting you did, of course - you qualified it as 'spitballing and counterfactuals'. But it's a really long spitball, to my mind at least! Edit: if you happen to speak Russian a recent interview with Soldatov/Borogan covers some of the interesting differences between outward projection and insider culture regarding defections in the Soviet security services. https://meduza.io/episodes/2023/08/17/kak-ustroena-rossiyskaya-shpionskaya-set-na-zapade-i-kto-seychas-ee-glavnaya-mishen-rasskazyvayut-irina-borogan-i-andrey-soldatov https://meduza.io/episodes/2023/08/17/kak-ustroena-rossiyska...