Significance of Operation RYAN

Operation Ryan, which tasked KGB operatives with predicting when the U.S. would launch a nuclear strike, is symbolic of the Russian fear and skepticism during the Cold War. The relations between Russia and the U.S. were tense over the course of the Cold War, but for a period of time, Russia was afraid that the U.S. would engage in nuclear war. The U.S. did not take these fears seriously and Gordievsky saw it as his duty to inform the CIA, through M16, before it was too late.