Ivan Kharkov

Ivan Kharkov was one of the new rich in Russia. He was formerly a member of the KGB.

Youth
Ivan Kharkov was born the son of a high-ranking KGB official, who, by the end of his career, was the head of the KGB's foreign espionage division, the First Chief Directorate. Young Ivan spent most of his childhood abroad and later graduated from Moscow State University, being admitted into the ranks of the KGB into the Fifth Main Directorate, he was deemed not suitable for service in the First Chief Directorate, despite his fluency in English and German.

Kharkov was an arms dealer. He routinely sold arms to African groups. When he heard that one such group was planning to resell the arms to Muslim terrorists, he decided he wanted his share of the profit, including using his shipping company to transport the arms. His wife Elena accidentally overheard a conversation about the arms deal and told her friend Olga Sukhova. After the Office learned about the forthcoming sale, Gabriel Allon's Team mounted an operation to destroy Kharkov.

Kharkov abducted Grigori Bulganov and Chiara Zolli. He used Chiara as bait to get his children, Nicolai and Anna, back from his ex-wife Elena Kharkov who was in hiding in the United States. The ploy failed because the children never left the US, but Ivan had also never intended to release Chiara.