Was she wearing a surgical glove
Since Q is posting JFK/Cuban Missile/backchannel stuff this came to mind. During the crisis Feklisov was kgb agent and was a classmate/friend of Kruschev when they were young. He also was involved in the Rosenberg shit but I haven't dug on that yet. In the movie he is portrayed as a backchannel between Kennedy and Khrushchev in hopes of avoiding a nuclear exchange. Seems relevant to Q's post
forgot to mention the movie is Thirteen Days