Round Table - Neptune Affair

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

The Neptune  Affair is one of those pivotal episodes in which we firmly establish that Illya Kuryakin is, indeed, a Soviet agent whose affiliation with his country is still intact.  He hasn't defected and he is not at all adrift from his homeland.  In fact, he is seen in uniform as a member of the Soviet Navy, something that comes across as a true vocation for him when he goes toe to toe with Napoleon over the origins of the plague that is affecting crops in the Soviet Union.
So, with all of that in motion, should the series have delved more deeply into the Soviet nature of our blond?  I think there are maybe only two other instances where it is referenced that Illya is Russian; Napoleon's 'smart Russian' comment (The Never, Never Affair), and another one I can't exactly quote or place.  Maybe one of you remembers where to find it.
Did we need more Cold War interaction between our heroes?
Do you have a favorite story that does go into this element of the series?

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Kiev is actually in western Ukraine, though it was a member of the Soviet Union. Though I think the writer's goofed at the time thinking of it all as Russian. Illya could have been an ethnic Russian born in Ukraine.

I have a bunch of stories relating to Illya's background in my MFU world. A few where he returns to the Soviet Union sometimes willingly and one time not... He's not a defector in my world but because he doesn't spy on UNCLE and the US...I have the KGB after him. (Illya is part of GRU, the Soviet Military Intelligence) and in the Kremlin, historically there was an on-going shift of power between GRU and KGB....so when KGB was in favor I had them periodically going after Illya.