KGB BIGWIG: CIA DRUGGED, KIDNAPPED ME

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000301960002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: November 5, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/11/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000301960002-4
ARTICLE A
ON PAp(
KGB bigwig*
CIA drugged,
kidnaped
me
SOVIET defector Vitale Yurchenko the
No. S man in the KGB who came to the
West in a major me lgence coup, de.
fected a ain yesterday - in reverse -
and now claims he was drugged and -kid-
naged 0V t
The State Dept. immediately
meet with Yurchen-
ko, who is at the
Soviet Embassy in
Washington, on neu-
tral ground.
The department said
the former agent will
not be allowed to return
to Moscow until the U.S.
is satisfied that he has
not been kidnaped by
the KGB.
His astonishing move,
like a bizarre twist in a
John LeCarre novel.
jolted the Washington
intelligence communi-
ty, the Shultz delegation
in Moscow, and the
team preparing for the
upcoming summit con.
ference.-
Yurchenko was one of
tw vet detectors
who briefed CIA three-
tor William Casey in
Italy last August during
a bewildering series of
By PETER FEARON
& RACHEL FLICK
defections and cross-de-
fections in West Ger-
many and Britain.
His defection and that
of the KGB's London
station chief, Oleg Gor-
dievsky, were hailed as
two of the most serious
blows dealt Soviet intel.
ligence in recent years.
Yurchenko vanished
last Saturday, to reap.
pear yesterday in the
Soviet Embassy claim.
ing that he had never
defected, but had been
kidnaped.
He appeared nervous
and uncomfortable
speaking in English and
he quickly switched to
Russian to tell reporters
through a translator:
"On a business trip to
Italy. I was forcibly ab-
ducted in Rome.
"I was kept in Isola-
tion and forced to take
some drugs and denied
the opportunity to get in
touch with official
Soviet representatives."
He said he was
brought to the U.S.
against his will and
held in a safe house on
Route IT. 22 miles from
Fredericksburg, Va.
NEW YORK POST
5 November 1985
He was offered $1 mil-
lion tax-free, he said.
plus salary and benefits
totaling $160.000 a year
for the rest of his life.
The benefits, he said,
were to include medical
care and furniture.
During a lapse in se-
curity, he told the press,
he escaped from the
safe house and made
contact with the Soviet
Embassy.
"At the moment my
only wish is to return as
soon as possible to my
country, my family, my
kin, and my friends in
the Soviet Union," he
said.
Yurchenko appeared
drawn after what he re-
ferred to as "three hor-
rible months for me."
The spy said: "In the
period when I was con-
scious and in control of
my behavior, I did not
pass any secret infor-
mation.
"When I was drugged
I don't know what I
was doing or saying. I
was threatened."
He described the al-
leged kidnaping by the
OIA,as'tstate-sponsored
terrvriEh1,'1
But he found tirn to
joke at the CIA's ex-
pense. He lid that an
agent had _Ad him that
there had been a num-
ber of requests for inter-
views from U.S. news-
papers.
"I now keep my prom-
ise," he said, laughing.
Sen. David Durenber-
ger, chairman of the
Senate Intelligence
Committee, said Yur-
chenko went out to din-
ner Saturday night and
disappeared.
He described the kid-
nap story as "baloney."
"At no time have any
of the things he alleged
. actually happened
to him." Durenberger
told a news conference.
Yurchenko had been
"given a certain amount
of freedom" during his
three months in the U.S.
His re-defection may
force intelligence ana-
lysts to review every-
thing they have learned
from him during the
last three months and to
assess what he may
have learned from their
questions.
His re-defection may
also force the West to
reevaluate the sin-
cerity of other defec.
tors. Including Gordley-
sky. .
The re-detection
raises bewildering and
complicated questions
and possibilities.
They include:
? Yurchenko was a
deliberate plant by Mos-
cow and came to the
West to spread disinfor.
mation and learn what
he could from his inter-
rogators.
? Yurchenko gave the
U.S. genuine informa.
tion that they must now
doubt because of his re-
turn to Soviet hands.
? His defection was
genuine, but he was
pressured to return or
actually kidnaped by
the Soviets to mitigate
the damage he may
have done under inter-
rogation.
? The U.S. is dis-
patching Yurchenko
back to the USSR, either
to spread disinforma-
tion or because it does
not believe him to be a
genuine defector.
The spy world is so
complex that the return
of Yurchenko may raise
as many dangerous
complications for the
Russians as it does for
the U.S.
It is even conceivable
that Yurchenko no
longer kno' whose
side he is on.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/11/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000301960002-4