RT by @mikenov: Actor Robert DeNiro stands arm in arm with former KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko, in a photograph which may well have saved Gennady’s life, years after it was taken. DeNiro met many different people from the intelligence community during the decade-long development cycle for his film ‘The Good Shepherd’, about the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency, released in 2006. DeNiro met Gennady through his good friend, CIA case officer Jack Platt. Jack and Gennady had developed a close friendship against all odds, as the two were pitted against each other during the Cold War. Jack attempted to recruit Gennady while he worked under official cover at the Soviet embassy in Washin

Actor Robert DeNiro stands arm in arm with former KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko, in a photograph which may well have saved Gennady’s life, years after it was taken.

DeNiro met many different people from the intelligence community during the decade-long development cycle for his film ‘The Good Shepherd’, about the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency, released in 2006. DeNiro met Gennady through his good friend, CIA case officer Jack Platt.

Jack and Gennady had developed a close friendship against all odds, as the two were pitted against each other during the Cold War. Jack attempted to recruit Gennady while he worked under official cover at the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC in 1977. Gennady never agreed to turn against his own country, but the men became lifelong friends, nonetheless.

Years later, Gennady opened doors for DeNiro among his former KGB contacts but remained under suspicion by the Russian security services for his close ties to so many Americans.

In 2005, Gennady was arrested for his alleged involvement in a bomb plot, after explosives were hidden on his property as an excuse to detain him. The real reason for his capture was suspicion that he’d been involved in the unmasking of FBI agent Robert Hanssen as a Russian mole. Gennady disappeared into the Russian prison system for the next two years.

Meanwhile, some of his lifelong friends from the West were trying to find ways to help him from afar. Eventually Jack Platt appealed to DeNiro, who sent a Christmas card to Gennady in prison containing this photo. The photo impressed both the prison guards and inmates, as DeNiro was just as famous in Russia as he was in the United States. Gennady’s treatment in prison immediately improved and he even came under the protection of Russian crime boss named Slava.

Gennady was abruptly released from prison in 2010 in an exchange for ten Russian spies captured in the US including Anna Chapman.

For episode 21 of the Spycraft 101 podcast I spoke with Eric Dezenhall, author of Best of Enemies, about Gennady’s unusual friendship with Jack Platt. The episode is available now.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZQiHsmk9…

— @spycraft101 Nov 1, 2026