A U.S. Navy intelligence specialist who defected to the Soviet Union, saying he was harassed by the FBI, was actually a Soviet spy, a newspaper said Tuesday in announcing the man's death.
It was a rare admission of KGB spying activities.The military paper Red Star did not give a cause of death for the man who had been known in the United States as Glenn Michael Souther.
It said his name was Mikhail Orlov, that he was "a staff member of the KGB" and that he died a "sudden death" on June 22.
It was not clear whether Orlov was a Soviet mole masquerading as an American.
"I think it's probably too early to tell," FBI spokesman Mike Kortan said in Washington.
He said Souther, who was 32, was born in Hammond, Ind., went to high school in Cumberland, Maine. He said the FBI believes he took the name Orlov when he defected.
Kortan said he did not know how much Souther may have damaged U.S. security.