SOVIET DEFECTOR CALLS ATTACK ON MEMOIRS 'TERRORISTIC'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330056-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 56
• Publication Date: August 1, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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WASHINGTON TIMES
A
Soviet defector calls attack
on memoirs terroristic'
B
THy Bill Gertz
NMSHINOTON TIMES
A high-ranking Soviet defector
said yesterday that charges he fabri-
cated portions of his memoirs are
"terroristic journalism:'
Arkady Shevchenko, author of the
best-selling book "Breaking With
Moscow" admitted that "a few"
minor inaccuracies appeared in his
best-selling book but said they were
the result of poor memory.
Mr. Shevchenko a former Soviet
disarmament specialist, said he gyro-
I e U. S. intelligence with details
0 secret vies "fall-back" DOSI ions
on arms control negotiations in
eneva. The iscove U by Soviet
counterintelligence o icers t t e
was wor cm or t e Americans led
is defection, he said.
M3 evc a to held a press con-
ference to respond to Edward a
Epstein's artic a tote July 15 issue
of The New Vu ic, in which Mr
stein accused r. S evc enko of
collaborating wit t e Central Intel-
ligence Agency in writin t hook.
e ea ine on The New Repub-
lic cover said "The Shevchenko
Fraud:'
"The CIA idid] not (help) me in
writin
this book, Mr. evc en to
_
sat
e
MA was t e last ce"
p
that would ave rovt
T
e e
sat
eagency o se
revea in
details of r. Sh-ev-cTie
n o s espi-
ona a activities.
Mr. tevc en o accused the arti-
cle's author of harboring the
"obsession" that all Soviet defectors
are "double agents" secretly work-
ing for Moscow.
Mr. Epstein's article claimed the
former Soviet official had embel-
lished certain episodes, which did
not appear in an earlier manuscript
turned down by a New York pub-
lisher. The article also pointed out
several alleged inaccuracies regard-
ing Mr. Shevchenko's driver's
license, the exact date of his defec-
tion and a meeting with a Soviet
secret police official.
Before defecting to the United
States in r. evc en o
served as an under secretary en-
era at the United Nations. -For a
period o t ree years he retort y
worked as an agent or the LIA, sup-
min details of Soviet forei n
policy positions, specifically Soviet
arms contra pose ions.
esponmg to c arges his book is
a "fraud;' Mr. Shevchenko said,
"Then two presidents of the United
States are frauds." He said former
President Jimmy Carter and Pres-
ident Reagan knew about his activi-
ties, as well as "several national
security advisers."
Mr. Shevchenko said the manu-
script that was turned down by
Simon and Shuster in 1979 "was not
a book" but five chapters about 100
pages in length.
The book took a long time to write,
he said, because of "the very dull
Soviet style" of writing.
Mr. Shevchenko charged that Mr.
Epstein did not read "Breaking With
Moscow" because the book contains
no exact date of his defection. The
only date provided in public, he said,
appeared in Time magazine, which
incorrectly identified the day as
"Friday, April 6, 1978." Mr. Epstein
pointed out that April 6 that year was
a Saturday.
Mr. Shevchenko firmly defended
the accuracy of events portrayed in
the book. The few minor inaccura-
cies relate to dates, he said.
"There are only a few I mistakes I,"
Mr. Shevchenko said. "I'm amazed
that I didn't make more mistakes
than I already did."
Mr. Epstein said yesterday he
stood by the thesis of his article that
the Shevchenko book was "basically
a fraud."
"I think he's making these things
up:' Mr. Epstein said in a telephone
interview He described the portions
of the book dealing with Mr. Shev-
chenko's espionage activities as "a
novel;' and said he will respond to
Mr. Shevchenko in detail in a
forthcoming article.
Mr. Epstein said former Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger did not
know anything about Mr. Shevchen-
ko's activities, but admitted that for-
mer Carter administration national
security adviser Zbigniew Bzrezin-
ski was not consulted for The New
Republic piece.
A New Republic spokesman said
the controversy will be addressed in
a forthcoming issue.
The book prpvides details of
Soviet foreign policy decisions,
including Middle East conflicts, and
an intimate profile of former Soviet
Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko,
now Soviet president.
He denied that the CIA had any-
thin o o wi a book, but
a mate t he CIA helped him to
locate two translators or an earlier
manuscr_ip .
AZ7~okesman said earlier this
year Wen t o oo c was pu is e
that ii i not review the k-71 C A'
statement two weeks a o, in
response tote stein article, sai
r. evc en o
provided "invalu-
able" in ormation.
As a reen, Mr. Shevchenko's
editor with Alfred A. Knopf Inc., yes-
terday said book sales have
increased since the Epstein article.
first appeared. Of 184,000 copies in
print, 180,000 have been sold, Mr.
Green said.
I Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/11/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330056-3