Canada’s Supreme Court granted citizenship to the son of Russian spies who inspired the television series The Americans.
The parents, Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, arrived in Canada in the final years of the Cold War and assumed the identities of Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley — Canadians who had died as infants decades before. The couple began developing their cover stories and had two sons, in 1990 and 1994, before moving from Canada in 1995.
The family eventually settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they were busted in 2010 by the FBI as part of Operation Ghost Stories, a decade-long investigation that yielded the arrest of 10 Russian sleeper spies living in the United States.
The Russian spies pleaded guilty to failing to register as agents of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were then sent back to Russia in a swap for four Russians suspected of spying for the West.
Shortly before their parents were deported, brothers Alexander and Timothy Foley were sent to Russia, had their last names changed to Vavilov at the request of Canadian officials, and received Russian citizenship. The two had never been to Russia before and didn’t speak any Russian.
Alexander Vavilov, now 25, had his application to renew his Canadian passport denied in 2010, sparking a decade-long legal battle. Immigration authorities revoked his Canadian citizenship on the basis that his parents were spies.
A Canadian lower court upheld the decision to revoke his citizenship, but he won an appeal at a higher court in 2016. The Canadian government then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
In its ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court said it was unreasonable to revoke Vavilov’s citizenship because he “did not know that his parents were not who they claimed to be,” thus the Canadian law that grants those born in the country citizenship unless they are children born to diplomatic officers or employees of a foreign government did not apply to him.
“He believed that he was a Canadian citizen by birth, he lived and identified as a Canadian, and he held a Canadian passport,” the high court wrote.
“The relief I feel is indescribable,” Vavilov said in a statement read by his lawyer. “I can finally take a deep breath and relax, knowing that my citizenship is secure and no longer the subject of attacks and doubts. It is a recognition that not only do I feel Canadian, but I am Canadian in the eyes of the law.”
Hadayt Nazami, Vavilov’s lawyer, said Vavilov would return to Canada.
His brother Timothy was also seeking the reinstatement of his Canadian citizenship, but Alexander’s case was further along in the process. Remi Lariviere, a spokesman for Canada’s immigration and citizenship department, said the brothers are Canadian citizens, according to the Washington Post.
Nazami said the brothers felt little connection with Russia since they arrived after their parents’ arrest.
In a 2016 interview, Timothy Vavilov described their childhood as “absolutely normal.” He said he had no memory of his parents ever talking about Russia or the Soviet Union.
“I never had anything close to a suspicion regarding my parents,” Alexander Vavilov said in the same interview. “It seemed all my friends’ parents led much more exciting and successful lives.”
Elena Vavilova had been a stay-at-home mom before accepting a job as a real estate agent. Her husband had a senior position at a consultancy firm based in Boston. He used his work to infiltrate U.S. political and business circles.
Their story inspired the FX spy drama The Americans, which tells the story of Russian spies and their U.S.-born children who are unaware of their parents’ real identities.
