I had always heard that the USSR would throw their spys into an oven if they caught them spying for the other sided.Is this true?
Sounds like an urban legend, or a misremembering of the (horrible) fate that awaited some Jewish prisoners in a few of the Nazi death camps.
IIRC, near the begining of Inside the Aquarium, written by Soviet intelligence officer and defector Victor Suvorov (which is a pseudonym), is an account of traitors found out by the GRU being incinerated. I don’t know how reliable a source Suvorov is, however, nor do I remember many of the details of his claim–I read this book between James Bond novels years ago when I was a kid. Anyway, there’s some corroboration for you–how good it is depends on your opinion of Suvorov, I guess.
I believe it was our spies, not theirs. 
The US, that is.
IIRC, this was alleged to have happened to one of the Russians exposed by Aldrich Ames, I think. Wasn’t he the one who supposedly ID’d dozens of Russians on the American payroll?
Thats what I’m talking about Yojimboguy, didnt the USSR throw those agents into ovens?
Apologies for posting without adding anything, but I just had to say, for the record:
Ewwww! <shudder> And may I just add, Ewwww! :eek:
Mephisto named the source of this idea. Victor Suvorov (real name Vladimir Rezun) describes the fiery end of a GRU colonel who was discovered to be a double agent (i.e., he was working for The West) as shown to him upon his induction to intelligence work.
I’ve read all of Suvorov’s books of which I’m aware, and I’ve not yet seen him contradicted, and some of that which I read was later confirmed by other sources. He doesn’t say how often this method of execution was used.
From an Interview with Vladimir Rezun:
Rule 1 - Demonize your enemy.
I would take such stories with a grain of salt unless there is strong evidence outside the books mentioned. Maybe as more Soviet era KGB files are exposed something will turn up, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Francis Gary Powers–the U2 pilot who was shot down–was not incinerated. (At the time he was shot down, I saw a picture of his shot-down plane in a newspaper with the caption, “Reds Say This Is Spy Plane Wreck.”
Gary Powers was an American citizen. The GRU colonel was, presumably, a Soviet citizen and hence a traitor to his people.
Here’s an aside on Powers, from the old Hollywood Squares:
Q. What did we receive from the Russians in exchange for convicted spy Rudolf Abel?
PAUL LYNDE: The lawnmower we loaned them during World War II.
(It was actually Powers.)