THE GROUP TO ESTABLISH TRUST--PEACENIKS INSIDE THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
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• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 1, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
September 1985
The Group to Establish Trust--Peaceniks Inside the USSR
Summary
In June 1982 a small group of Soviet
scientists, engineers and physicians launched an
unofficial "peace" movement. Membership in the
fledging organization, which called itself the Group
to Establish Trust between the US and USSR,
reportedly climbed quickly to a few thousand. As
with any independent or dissident group the regime
moved quickly to squelch it. Most of the leading
activists of the Trust Group are now abroad, in
labor camps, or prison, effectively decapitating it
at least for now. The fate of this group is a case
study of the development of dissidence and its
suppression in the USSR.
The regime's actions toward the Trust Group
reflect the intensified repression of dissidents
that began with the signing of the Helsinki Accords
in 1975, and increased in the wake of Western
condemnation of the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. The regime's attitude also is
conditioned by the fear that pacifist tendencies are
growing, particularly among young people, and
concern that the peace issue might become a new
focus of dissident attachment in the USSR.
Although the Trust Group has been battered, it
will be difficult to completely extinguish antiwar
This paper was prepared by the Office
a irec ed to the
i
ons may
of Soviet Analysis (SOYA). Comments and quest
i
i
i
on,
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v
authors or to the Chief, Domestic Policy D
SOVA M 85-10162X
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agitation inside the USSR. It will draw strength
from the widespread fear of nuclear war, growing
disenchantment with the war in Afghanistan, even the
I __1
regime's own peace propaganda.
In 1982 a fledgling unofficial Soviet peace group succeeded
in capturing the attention of some Western observers and even in
gathering some limited popular support inside the USSR. The
regime harshly repressed the internal peace group, which by mid-
active
i
l
.
n
y
1985 had become fragmented and large
The Trust Group
The Group to Establish Trust Between the USSR and the USA
(Trust Group) was founded as an independent peace group in Moscow
in June 1982 by a dozen scientists, engineers and artists. The
group had developed out of an unofficial seminar conducted by
Moscow intellectuals that focused on group behavior and
psychology. In their decision to focus their efforts on
tarotofmtheeWestfEuthe ropeanupeaceemovementeinytheflatec1970s
the growth
and early 1980s.
In its founding appeal, the Trust Group called for a "four-
sided dialogue" on peace between the peoples and governments-'of
the United States and USSR. The Group called for disarmament in
both the East and West, for a free flow of information on
questions of disarmament between the Soviet Union and the West,
and for unrestricted movement across national borders of people
involved in working for peace. The Trust Group claimed to have
advanced numerous proposals for building bridges between ordinary
people in the East and West, in order to foster a climate for
F__ I
disarmament.
The group maintained a nucleus of only about a dozen
members--referred to as the coordinating committee--but it
claimed a thousand supporters in Moscow alone. According to a
group leader, most of its supporters were between the ages of
twenty and thirty years old and many were students. Many of the
founding members of the group were "refuseniks," Jews who have
F_ I
been refused permission to emigrate.
Although the Moscow group had the most visibility, there
were others in Leningrad, Odessa, Novosibirsk and
Riga sketchy.
Information on the activites of the outlying groups
The Odessa group, for example, circulated a document proposing
that all military ships and coastal militia installations be
removed from the Black Sea, but since the reported arrest of the
document's author there has been no news of other activity from
this regional group. The apparent lack of coordination among the
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different groups probably hinders the authorities' efforts to
eliminate them, but it also severely limits the impact of their
dissident activities.
Parallel Grou s. The Trust Group worked informally with
Independent Initiative, a loose network of Soviet-style hippies
and pacifists who exhibit their rejection of official Soviet
values by holding annual commemorations of the anniversay of John
Lennon's death. The Independent Initiative Group took a more
radical stand than the Trust Group in protesting the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan, capital punishment, and compulsory
military service. Another group of pacifists, called "Good
pilpdemonstrations inSi1983 and nce 1984 the
no
participants
further reporting on the group.
Some other Soviet unofficial peace groups also evidently
cropped up. Dissident sources report that last fall four young
researchers at the Moscow Physical Engineering Institute were
detained at work by the KGB for creating an unofficial group
within the institute's Komsomol organization to conduct
independent studies in philosophy and peace. One of those
detained reportedly attempted to establish contact with a
diplomat at the Indian Embass in Moscow, and through him, to
peace organizations abroad. 25X1
Trust-Group Tactics
The Trust Group began as a discussion group, holding a
weekly "Sunday Seminar" at members' homes to discuss nuclear
disarmament. Reporting from the US Embassy in Moscow suggests
rest amon oung
t
i
e
n
that when the seminars began to stimulate
s
tin
h
.
g
e mee
Soviets, the regime moved to break up t
The group then resorted to more daring activity, consciously
seeking to provoke the regime as a way of publicizing its views,
gaining the attention of Western observers and ultimately of
The Trust Group, for
influencing public opinion inside the USSR.
example, called a press conference for foreign correspondents to
announce its founding and released a document that not only set
forth the purpose of the organization but also provided a list of
members and their addresses. Other tactics by the Group have
included:
Petitions and Leaflets. In July 1982 a group member was
arrested and charged with anti-Soviet propaganda for trying to
obtain the signatures of Siberian workers on a petition for
disarmament. In May 1984 the group led a petition drive in
support of a summit meeting between US and Soviet leaders. This
petition reportedly gained 600 signatures. Efforts by the group
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rally seeking the release of two imprisone g
coup also generated numerous public "appeals" and leaflets.
to obtain more signatures led to the arrest of one of the
leaders. In October 1984 the group presented US Embassy
officials with an open letter addressed to both President Reagan
and then General Secretary Chernenko proposing to establish
inter-governmental programs to work on global problems.
February 1985 the group sent a petition to the official Soviet
Peace Committee calling for the organization to participate in a
d roue members. The
roup had publicly announced its
The
g
Demonstrations.
"sche u e or demonstrations in order to gain attention. For
example, according to the US Embassy in Moscow, members of the
group invited the Soviet Peace Committee to join them and an
American tourist associated with US peace groups to participate
in passing out peace buttons and "pen-pals for peace" brochures
at a metro station in January 1985. Embassy officials and other
Western observers, alerted to the scheduled demonstration,
reported that when the members of the Trust Group showed up they
were met by plain clothes police, who detained the group
members. Another demonstration was to be held in May 1985, but
nearly all the members were either detained or arrested
beforehand. The detentions did, however, receive publicity in
the foreign press.
Hunger strikes. In February 1983, two activists began a
hunger strike to protest police surveillance of group members'
apartments. The hunger strike lasted for a month and was ended
at the behest of a European disarmament group. The rearrest of a
group leader in September 1984 for reportedly disobeying a
militiaman transferredhtogarhostrike spitalbandn subsequently released.
member was t
Art Exhibitions. In its first year the group tried to
promote pace-fist Ideas by holding art exhibitions on anti-war
themes in members' apartments. These exhibitions were broken up
by the authorities. The most prominent participants were arrested
o
Many of these Group initiatives have been designed to
increase the group's visibility abroad. In addition to the
activities described above the Group has made numerous attempts
to attract the support of Western peace groups, with some
success:
In 1982 the Group began correspondence with the European
Nuclear Disarmament (END) Group in London.
and the art exhibits confiscate .
Western Connections
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In May 1983 the Group met with members of the British
Greenham Common peace group.
In October 1983 the Group succeeded in getting a Dutch
peace organization to publicly plead for the release of a
jailed Soviet group leader. (The Soviets did not release
the peace group member.)
In April 1984 members of a visiting West German peace
group invited the Group to meet with the official Soviet
Peace Committee (which of course declined the
opportunity) .
In May 1985 activists from a Dutch peace group joined the
Group in an attempted peace rally.
The Trust Group maintained contact with Helsinki Watch
Groups abroad (unofficial organizations who monitor compliance
with the human rights provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords by
governments who signed the accords). It also asks travelers to
the USSR to bring in peace buttons and posters, and attempts to
persuade Western peace groups to print Russian language posters
and flyers. The Group carries on activities abroad, especiall
in New York, through emigres who are active in the movement.
Regime Reaction
In dealing with the Trust Group the regime has used the full
panoply of tactics for suppressing dissent. Group leaders have
been exiled, arrested, or confined in psychiatric hospitals.
Foreigners who have met with Group members inside the USSR have
been questioned by the KGB and warned away from further ,
contacts. Repression has all but eliminated the Group inside the
ews
l
i
n
ona
USSR, although some emigres publish an internat
bulletin on the Soviet independent peace movement drawing
id
e.
information from the few contacts remaining ins
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The Fate of Soviet Pacifists
As a result of regime repression, most of the leading
acivists of the Trust Group are now abroad or in labor camp or
prison:
-- Founding member Mikhail Ostrovsky, exiled abroad--within a
month of the Group's formation in June 1982.
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-- Several other original members, including Yuriy Medvedkov
and Yuriy KhronopuZo, arrested in 1982 and served 15-day
jail sentences. KhronopuZo withdrew from the Trust Group
but rejoined it in early 1985. Medvedkov detained by the
KGB in May 1985.
-- Oleg Radzinskiy, a young teacher, first detailed in July
1982, convicted in October 1983 on unknown charges,
sentenced to five years internal exile. He recanted,
reportedly under KGB pressure.
- Aleksandr Shatravka and Vladimir Mishchenko, arrested in
July 1982, sentenced in April 1983 to three and one year
respectively for slandering the Soviet regime. Shatravka
sentenced in February 1985 to an additional five years of
Labor camp on narcotics charges.
Sergey Batovrin, another founder, one of ten refusenik
members of the Trust Group, given permission or forced to
leave the USSR. Since 1983 conducting activities from
his home in New York.
-- Kirill Popov a prominent human rights activist also
involved with the Trust Group, arrested in June 1985, -
awaiting trial on unknown charges.
Other refusenik members of the Group--previously under
periodic detention or house arrest granted exit visas:
Mikhail and Ludmitla Ostrovsky, Lyubov Potekhina,
(Batovrin's mother), Valery Godyak, Vladimir and Mariya
Fleishgakker, Mark Reitman, Lev Dudkin and Vitaliy
Barbash.
Olga Kabonov and Natalya Akulyonok, high school students
and new Group members, detained for two weeks in a
psychiatric hospital in June 1985.
-- Vladimir Brodsky, a physician, earlier received several
15-day sentences, arrested on 17 July 1985, awaiting
trial on charges of "aggravated hooliganism."
Nikolay Khramov, detained two days before the July 1985
Youth Festival, confined in Venereological Hospital
Number 1 in Moscow.
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Several factors have caused Soviet leaders to regard the
Trust Group with concern. The speeches of some high-level
military spokesman, for example, including the Defense Minister
n
d
concer
and the Chief of the General Staff, nave suggeste
patriotism is weakening.among young people and that this is
having an adverse effect on the morale of military conscripts.
Considerable evidence suggests that in recent years there
has been an increase in pacifist sentiment among the Soviet
population, especially among youth. In 1982, for example, when
Yuriy Andropov was party leader, he reportedly told Polish
security officials that S h were becoming increasingly
apolitical and pacifist.
The regime may fear that Soviet "peaceniks" could tap
sentiments against the Afghan war. Recent unofficial opinion
polls--conducted by USIA and others--indicate that.
Soviet support for the war has declined sharply since 1980. In
May 1985, according to reliable sources of the US Embassy in,
Moscow, demonstrations against the Afghan war occurred in Tbilisi:
and Yerevan, capitals of the Georgian and Armenian republics
respectively. These sources believed they were among the largest
anti-war demonstrations ever in the USSR.
By soliciting the support of Western peace groups, the Trust
Group probably stimulated regime apprehension about the growing
tendency of elements of the Western peace movement to target
Soviet policies for criticism. Reporting over the past several
years has indicated substantial disappointment within the Soviet
active measures apparatus about the declining influence within
the peace movement of Soviet-controlled front groups such as the
World Peace Council. The chairman of the Soviet Committee for
the Defense of Peace has expressed concern about non-Communes
peace groups undercutting the Soviet propaganda postion.
The regime's harshly repressive actions toward the Trust
Group, flow not only from such policy considerations but reflect
its own problems of internal control. The party, aware of its
own evolution from a small conspiratorial group to a powerful
organization capable of engineering a revolution feels it cannot
afford to tolerate any spontaneous activity on the part of
dissident elements in society.
The Trust Group has been fragmented and virtually
eliminated. It has provided, however, a new focus of dissident
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attachment in the USSR--peace. As with other types of dissent
and of widespread
probably odoesrnotasignifyctherendrofrantiwaron
of the e T u Group
agitation.
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