VITALY YURCHENKO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000301930007-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: November 4, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301930007-7
RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 [phone]
CBS Evening News STATION WDVM-TV
CBS Network
DATE November 4, 1985 7:00 P.M. CITY Washington, D.C.
Vitaly Yurchenko
DAN RATHER: Just as U.S. officials were trying
[technical difficulties] for the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 15
days, a U.S.-Soviet spy drama show-stopper. A top-ranking Soviet
KGB man who supposedly defected to the U.S. this summer, Vitaly
Yurchenko, tonight has apparently turned again, redefected, and
is heading home to Russia. Yurchenko now says that he was
drugged and detained against his will.
Bob Schieffer has the latest from Yurchenko's bizarre
bolt-from-the-blue news conference at the Soviet Embassy in
Washington tonight.
BOB SCHIEFFER: Yurchenko's allegations came during an
extraordinary news conference at the Soviet Embassy in
Washington, where he first claimed relief at being out of the
hands of U.S. authorities.
VITALY YURCHENKO: And today, for the first time, I
didn't feel practically any headache in the working when I wake
up.
SCHIEFFER: Then he read a statement in Russian claiming
he had been kidnapped in Rome, was brought to this country
unconscious and against his will, and was kept at an estate near
Fredericksburg, Virginia. On Saturday, he said, he escaped U.S.
hands and, as he put it, was able to break to freedom and then to
the Soviet Embassy.
TRANSLATOR: At the moment, my only wish is to return as
soon as possible to my country, to my family, kin and friends.
SCHIEFFER: Yurchenko claimed that he was tortured and
Material supplied Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301930007-7 I or exhibited.
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drugged, but he said he gave no information to U.S. agents while
he was awake.
TRANSLATOR: In the period when I was conscious and
controlled my behavior, I did not pass any secret information.
SCHIEFFER: The United States had said earlier that
Yurchenko defected in August while visiting Rome. He told
friends he was going to the Vatican Museum, and never returned.
In mid-October the State Department announced he had defected,
saying he was specifically responsible for direction of Soviet
intelligence operations in the United States and Canada.
It was apparently the information from Yurchenko that
led to the pinpointing of former CIA employee Edward Howard as a
suspected Soviet spy. Howard, who was living at this home in New
Mexico, has vanished, and some officials believe he's now in the
Soviet Union. It was from Yurchenko that authorities say they
learned Howard had been selling secret to the Soviets.
David Durenberger, the Chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said tonight that despite today's bizarre
developments, he felt valuable information had been received from
Yurchenko.
SENATOR DAVID DURENBERGER: Enough information that we
were able to corroborate, in one way or another, to demonstrate
that it had value to have the number five person in the KGB.
SCHIEFFER: Durenberger added that -- and here we quote
-- everything Yurchenko said today is a lie.
One Justice Department official said tonight that
officials there were not told until today by the Central
Intelligence Agency that Yurchenko had left U.S. control. The
official said, "Apparently, we have been had. It may be all of
this was a setup to embarrass the United States on the eve of the
summit with the Soviets."
RATHER: Bob, you've been talking to sources over the
last few minutes about the story. What do they make of this?
SCHIEFFER: Dan, this town is absolutely dumbfounded.
Nobody expected anything about this. People at the Justice
Department did not even know that this man was out of United
States hands until newsmen began calling and asking about the
news conference that the Soviets had announced.
Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301930007-7