From Russia with Love characters

Also known as Red Grant

Appears from the start

A British-born killer in Soviet service whose violent impulses are controlled and directed by his employers. He is selected as the executioner in an operation designed to destroy the reputation and life of a British agent.

First appears in chapter 4

A senior Soviet planning officer and chess master. His disciplined strategic thinking is used to design a complex intelligence trap in which every participant is assigned a narrow, controlled role.

First appears in chapter 5

The head of Soviet state security who orders an operation intended to humiliate British intelligence through the destruction of one of its most effective officers.

Also known as Colonel Klebb

First appears in chapter 7

The feared head of operations for the Soviet counterintelligence organisation SMERSH. She recruits and intimidates the personnel required for Kronsteen's plan, relying on institutional power and close knowledge of human vulnerability.

First appears in chapter 8

A young corporal in Soviet state security assigned clerical work at the Istanbul embassy. Sheltered and politically cautious, she is ordered to pretend that she has fallen in love with James Bond and wishes to defect with a valuable decoding machine.

First appears in chapter 11

A British Secret Service officer chosen as the target of a Soviet plot. He is initially told only that a Soviet clerk claims to love him from a photograph and will defect if he comes personally to Istanbul.

First appears in chapter 11

The head of the British Secret Service. He distrusts the proposed defection but judges that the offered Soviet decoding machine is important enough to justify sending Bond into a likely trap.

First appears in chapter 13

The head of the British station in Turkey. Charismatic, resourceful, and deeply connected throughout Istanbul, he becomes Bond's guide and principal ally while managing a private struggle with local Soviet agents.

First appears in chapter 15

A Bulgarian assassin working for the Soviet station in Istanbul and a longstanding enemy of Kerim. His attempts against the British network make him an immediate operational threat.

First appears in chapter 16

One of two women in a travelling community whose personal dispute is being settled in a ritual fight when Bond and Kerim visit the camp.

First appears in chapter 16

One of the two women fighting over the same man during Bond's visit to a travelling community outside Istanbul.

Also known as Captain Nash

First appears in chapter 26

A man who boards the Orient Express and presents himself as a British agent sent to reinforce Bond's journey. His credentials and manner make him appear to be welcome official support after the route has become dangerous.

First appears in chapter 28

A French intelligence officer and trusted acquaintance whom Bond contacts in Paris when the journey from Istanbul reaches its final stage.