shlykov was arrested in switzerland in january 1983 following his betrayal by dieter gerhardt under u.s. central intelligence agency interrogation. gerhardt was a south african national who spied for the soviet union for 20 years before his position was compromised by the farewell dossier. shlykov was arrested when he travelled to zurich under the false name nikolaev mikhail vasilyevich to meet with gerhardt's wife, ruth, who acted as a courier. despite not disclosing his real name or any other details to swiss authorities, he was jailed for three years for spying for the soviet union.