Dominika Egorova (1990-) was a famed Russian ballerina who served as an SVR intelligence officer before defecting to the United States in 2018. She was recruited into the "Sparrow" (sexpionage) program by her own uncle, SVR Deputy Director Ivan V. Egorov, and she was sent to seduce CIA operative Nate Nash and discover the identity of his mole in the SVR, "Marble". However, Nash convinced her to defect, and she framed her own uncle as the mole, leading to his death, and she was hailed as a hero in Russia. This gave her the opportunity to be beyond suspicion until she and her mother could move to America and live in security.
Biography[]
Egorova at a performance
Dominika Egorova was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1990, the daughter of Nina Egorova and the niece of future SVR deputy director Ivan V. Egorov. She worked as a ballerina to support her mother, who lived with her in a dilapidated Moscow apartment belonging to the Bolshoi. Egorova became quite famous, but she used most of her money to support her ailing mother.
In 2018, Dominika suffered a career-ending injury when she broke her leg during a ballet performance and required surgery. Her uncle Ivan approached her, offering her help. He gave her a taped recording of a phone call between her former partner Konstantin and another dancer, in which they talked about their "sin" in deliberately injuring Egorova so that they could get some time in the spotlight. Egorova went to the Bolshoi and brutally beat both of them with a golf club as they had sex in the back room following a recital, and she returned to meet with her uncle. Her uncle told her that he would support her mother if she would use her previous introduction to Russian Mafia boss Dmitri Ustinov as a means to seduce him and help the SVR with tracking him down. She went to the bar at the Hotel Andarja, where she allowed Ustinov to keep her company, and they later went to her room. There, Ustinov dismissed his guards and proceeded to rape Egorova, but SVR assassin Sergei Matorin garrotted Ustinov to death, splattering his blood onto Egorova. Egorova then escaped with Matorin, and she was brought to a secret location to meet with her uncle. She was angry at him for not telling her that she would be raped, but, when he made it clear to her that she would be killed if she did not continue working for the SVR, she reluctantly decided to go along with her uncle's plans.
Sparrow school[]
Egorova at the school
Egorova was sent to attend State School 4, a specialist training school for SVR "Sparrows" (operatives trained in sexpionage), where she was instructed in psychological and sexual warfare alongside several male and female cadets. In the process, she was almost raped by a male colleague in the shower, and she beat his face with a loose shower knob; her instructor, Matron, had her publicly have sex with him in front of the other cadets the next day. She stripped down and leaned back on the front desk, but the rapist was unable to be aroused, and Egorova deduced that all he wanted was power. An angered Matron then told Egorova that she would go back to Moscow, but not because she was done with her work; against her will, Matron's supervisors decided that Egorova was qualified enough to go on an assignment without graduating from the school.
Mission in Budapest[]
Egorova in Budapest
Egorova met with her uncle Ivan Egorov at a hotel restaurant, where he informed her that she would go to Budapest, Hungary to seduce CIA agent Nate Nash and find out the identity of Nash's mole in the SVR, "Marble". She was given the false name "Katarina Zubkova", a passport, and a fake life story (being a translator for the embassy), and she was expected to gain Nash's trust through sex. She met fellow Sparrow Marta Yelenova at what would be their shared apartment, and she also met the station chief, Maxim Volontov, a day later. Egorova was told about Nash's proclivities, including his hobby of swimming. She signed up for a pool club membership under her fake name, and Nash ignored her presence at the club the first time, and also ignored her on the train. However, he greeted her as she left the pool club the second time, pointing out that he recognized her from twice before, and he offered to take her out to a Turkish restaurant, which she rebuffed. Nash found out about Egorova's identity after taking her ID from the pool, and he convinced his superiors to allow for him to attempt to "flip" her.
Egorova met Nash again at an embassy event, where she also caught a glimpse of Yelenova talking with American political aide Stephanie Boucher, stoking her curiosity. When she talked with Nash, Nash revealed that he knew about her identity, and again asked her out to dinner; they agreed to meet at a Russian restaurant the next day at 8:00 PM. That evening, she went through Yelenova's room and discovered her plans to seduce Boucher, and she ran back to her room as Yelenova arrived. Yelenova then delivered her a printed-out email showing that Volontov had sent an unfavorable report back to Moscow concerning Egorova's investigation, and Egorova she tailed Volontov to a strip club instead of going on the date. There, she offered her body to him, but she then insulted his "microscopic prick", leading to him punching her in the face. Just then, two SVR officers restrained Volontov as Egorova instructed him to send a favorable report back to Moscow, as the incident had been recorded, and he would be charged with assault if he refused. She then went to Nash's apartment, provoking more suspicions on his part, as he wondered how she knew where he lived. She attempted to kiss him, but he suggested that she go home.
Revealing her identity[]
Egorova typing a fake report for Nash
The next day, her uncle surprised her at her apartment, and he asked for a status report, warning her that his superiors were becoming impatient. She said that her progress was going well, and she also decided to take credit for the Boucher operation in order to pretend that she was making even more progress. After Egorov left, an angry Yelenova threatened to shoot Egorova for taking credit for her plan, but Egorova shared information about the classified Ustinov hit to blackmail her into not taking action against her, as recipients of secrets could be killed. Yelenova nevertheless went to her superiors and told them that Egorova had shared a secret, but they instead had Yelenova brutally murdered by Sergei Matorin as she lay in her bathtub, and Egorova was forced to look at the body as Matorin warned her to never again share secrets. She was then forced to call the police, but she evaded any questions. She then revealed her true identity to Nash, as well as her motive to find out Marble's identity, and she spent the night with him. The next morning, Nash told her to go back to her normal routine, write a report saying that Nash was a fool who was hooked on her, and say that she had confidence in her progress. She later met with Nash's superiors Trish Forsyth and Marty Gable and underwent a polygraph test, admitting that Nash had recruited her, and that she was an SVR agent.
Swan[]
Boucher's death
Egorova was then assigned to finish Yelenova's mission of meeting with Boucher, and she met her at a bar. Boucher was hesitant to go along with the deal without Yelenova, but Egorova blackmailed Boucher into continuing the meeting, warning her that she could lose her security clearance and her job if her connections to the SVR were discovered. They headed upstairs, where she was introduced to SVR section chief Maxim Volontov, and they did the exchange, with Egorova handing Boucher the $250,000 in exchange for the disks with the plans. Egorova then went into the next room, supposedly to verify the authenticity of the information, but she covertly switched the plans out with CIA-supplied floppy disks. She and Volontov then left the room, and she told Boucher to leave an hour later, so as to not provoke suspicion. However, Boucher decided to leave with the money, and the CIA moved in for the capture. Boucher, who was drunk, was spooked when several CIA men began to approach her from all sides as she crossed the street in front of the hotel, and she clumsily backed into the street, being hit by an oncoming truck.
Torture and defection[]
Egorova being tortured
Boucher's death led to the SVR suspecting that someone in the hotel had leaked the meeting to the CIA, and they decided to order Volontov and Egorova to Heathrow Airport and, from there, to Moscow; Nash feared that the SVR would kill Egorova. She was brutally tortured, and she even denied her spying even after watching Volontov be executed. She ultimately convinced her uncle to send her back to Budapest to continue her mission, as her torture would make the Americans trust her, and prove that she was not a double agent. She returned to Budapest and met with Nash, telling him that she wanted $250,000 as payment and wanted to be able to live in America and be safe. She spent the night with Nash, and, when she woke up, Matorin had tied Nash to a chair and gagged him. Egorova took part in Nash's skinning torture before turning on Matorin and attacking him, and she cut Nash free. The two of them were wounded several times by Matorin, but Egorova ultimately succeeded in killing Matorin with a knife. Nash and Egorova would both be sent to the hospital, and Egorova met General Vladimir A. Korchnoi - a high-ranking SVR commander - when she woke up. Korchnoi knew about Matorin's death, scaring Egorova, but he revealed that he was the mole, having felt that Russia had become corrupt. He asked Egorova to reveal his identity to her uncle so that she could become a hero and take his place as the American mole; she deduced that he had sent Matorin to force her into defecting.
Turning in the mole[]
Egorova being recognized by the SVR leadership
Egorova was then arrested by the Hungarian police for Matorin's death, but she requested to see the Russian ambassador, Mikhail Sergev. She told him that she knew who the SVR mole was, and instructed him to arrange for a spy swap: she would be traded for the mole. Colonel Kiril Zakharov agreed, and they ultimately decided to trade the "mole" - Egorova's uncle Ivan Egorov - for her. Egorov had previously to Moscow from Vienna, where he had met with Colonel Zakharov. Zakharov told him that the SVR had found Nash's Metka business card in Egorov's office, as well as noticing the transfer of American funds into a private Budapest bank account in a transaction made using Egorov's name and passport number (Egorova had noticed the name and number in his coat during his surprise visit to Budapest). Therefore, Zakharov was convinced that he was the mole, and sent him to the spy swap. At the swap, Egorov kissed Egorova on the cheek after telling her that she had killed him, and, as Egorova walked towards the Russian helicopter and Egorov to the American one, a sniper shot Egorov dead. Egorova was then rushed into the Russian helicopter and whisked away, and she was celebrated as a hero by the SVR leadership. She was therefore beyond suspicion until she and her mother were signalled by Nash that they could come to the United States and live there freely.