: A CIA officer who served as a foil to Gordievsky. Ames was a mole for the Soviets and eventually betrayed Gordievsky's identity to the KGB.

: A group of British intelligence officers who cultivated Gordievsky and ultimately orchestrated his extraction from the USSR. Themes and Impact The Tale of 'The Spy and the Traitor' - The Moscow Times

: The protagonist, a colonel in the KGB who decided to risk his life to undermine the Soviet regime from within.