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Under unknown circumstances, however, Inna and her daughter were captured. Though the daughter's fate remains unknown, Inna was kept at the [[Lubyanka prison]] and tortured for information throughout late 1938 before eventually being executed.<ref name="Kuksin" /> Other members of Lyushkov's family were arrested and imprisoned in Siberian [[gulag]]s.<ref name="Kuksin" /> While his mother and brother were both killed, his sister survived her imprisonment.<ref name="Kuksin" />
On 13 June 1938, Lyushkov defected from the [[Soviet Union]] by crossing the border into [[Manchukuo]] with valuable secret documents about the Soviet military strength in the region, which was much greater than the Japanese had realised. He was the highest-ranking secret police official to defect; he also had the greatest inside knowledge about the purges within the Soviet [[Red Army]] because of his own participation in carrying them out. [[Richard Sorge]] told the [[Kremlin]] of the defection because a Nazi intelligence officer had debriefed Lyushkov and Sorge obtained a copy of the top secret document and sent it to Moscow in June 1938.<ref>Goldman, Stuart D. [https://www.historynet.com/the-spy-who-saved-the-soviets.htm The Spy Who Saved the Soviets]. History net website. Retrieved 11 December 2020.</ref>
His defection was initially kept a state secret by [[Japan]], but the revelation of his defection was judged to have a high [[propaganda]] value,{{sfn|Coox|1968|p=411}} so the decision was made to release the news to the world. A press conference was arranged at a [[Tokyo]] hotel on 13 July,{{sfn|Coox|1968|p=411}} a month after Lyushkov had defected. He "categorically denied Moscow's allegation that he was an imposter"{{sfn|Coox|1968|p=411}} but some news agencies, such as the ''[[New York Times]]'' wondered if he was telling the truth.
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