So after watching a cold-war era documentary about spies and seeing a few fairly high profile cases where a spy in the West would be passed off to Soviet Authorities after being caught and the rare person who legitimately defected to the U.S.S.R. from the west, I got to wondering: did any of these defectors live to watch communism fall? Were they given a fake name and hid out in Russia so they wouldn't be prosecuted by Western Authorities? Did any of them express disappointment or relief at the fall of the U.S.S.R.?
Some remain alive to this day, such as George Blake whose KGB pension (as well as others') continues to be paid by the Russian authorities. I think most kept their name as there was little likelihood of their being "snatched" or killed, which would have caused a diplomatic furore and exposed western agents to retaliation. Most I think viewed the collapse of the USSR with trepidation and then resignation - the Yeltsin years certainly saw a loss of some of their comforts, though they've become more fashionable since, some younger agents enjoying careers as FSB trainers.