IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE FREE THAN GO BACK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220010-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: February 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220010-3
ARTICLE APP \RED
ON PAGE cA
INQUIRY
ArkaO S6anking kA~ 55,
the highest
official to deject to the West,
becomes a U.S. citizen Feb.
28. In April 1978, he walked power and prw
tug asftansenr Soviet at the
United Nations. He had
worked for Foreign An" (~nmy and former
Soviet leaders Nik to Khru-
shchev and Leonid Bnezh-
nev. Shevchenko was inter-
viewed for USA TODAY by
Lee Michael Batt
Topic SOVIET DEFECTORS
Arkady Shevchenko
USA TODAY
19 February 1986
It's more important
to be free than an back
USA TODAY: You're about
to become a U.S. citbun. Do
you ever have second
thoughts about leaving the
life and prestige you had?
SHEVCHENKO: I miss my
country. There's no question
about that But for now, I have
a new country, and I don't
think that anything will happen
in the Soviet Union which can
change my mind. I've never
had any regrets.
USA TODAY: What about
your family? Your wife Lina
died mysteriously a few
weeks after you defected.
And your son Gennady and
daughter Anna - bow could
you leave them?
SHEVCHENKO: I didn't ac-
tually leave them I gave my
wife a full chance and Opportu-
nity to make up her own mind
and decision. I strongly believe
that the Soviets eliminated her.
Of course, I have regrets about
what happened with my wife,
USA TODAY: You were a
dedicated communist. Did
you fed like you had betrayed
year come" by defecting?
SHEV(HENKO: Yes, I did
betray a regime, an elite. I lost
all my beliefs in the system.
tI have no feeling my country that the
betrayed people.
USA TODAY: Did the U.S.
government botch two recent
defection cases - Mirsulav
Medvid, the Ukra la sallor
Soviet
who jumped
omw spy VIW Yurchenko
who defected then recanted?
SHEVCHENKO: Partly. I
cannot say that in my case. But
I will be frank. I didn't like the
idea that the FBI said I had to
be in a safe house, new ap-
pear in public, never write,
never speak, never be a free
man. The sailor's case Is a
clear-cut indication there is
Incidents wet
embarrass the [3., `overo-
ment on the eve of the Gene-
va summit talb. Do you be-
lieve that?
SHEVCHENKO: No for the
simple reason I don't think (So-
viet leader Mikhail) Gorba-
chev or the Sovernment want-
ed to embarrass the president
on the we of the summit. They
were serious about the summit
USA TODAY: Is it sere?
sary for the USA and the
U.S.S.R. to have talks?
SHEVCHENKO: It's abso-
lutely essential and inevitable.
We live on the same earth.
With absolutely no dialogue, a
miscalculation could escalate
into a major confrontation,
leading to a catastrophe, to nu-
clear war. Both we and Soviet
style socialism would be buried
in the same grave.
USA TODAY: Would you fa-
vor a return to the detente of
the Nixon and Carter years?
SHEVCHENKO No. I was
with the Soviet government,
and I knew what the Soviet
Union under Brezhnev's lead-
ership actually had in mind at
that time. The Soviets gained a
lot during the period. There
was an enormous military
buildup, and they increased
their sphere of interest.
USA TODAY: Do the Sovi-
ets really want normalization
of relations between the USA
and the U.S.S.R.?
SHEVCHENKO: On one
hand, the Soviet leadership
doesn't want any major con-
frontation with the West and
the USA in the near future be-
cause of their preoccupation
with domestic dilemmas. They
want to improve the economy
and to eliminate the growing
gap in high technology be-
tween the West and the Soviet
Union. But in the long range,
you have to understand that
the final objectives and goals of
the Soviet leadership never
change. It is the same thing -
that they will win in the histori-
but I don't feel responsible for of command, it was really !fl cal competition with capital-
her death. I OR haven't lost en- handled. The Yurchenko case ism, if not in this century, then
ttrely the hope I can be reunit- will remain a mystery. in the next
ed with my daughter. My son? USA TODAY: There Is a USA TODAY: Then the So-
It will be a pain for me always, theory that Yurchenko was vlet Union plane to take over
but he preferred to stay in the KGB all along, and that these the USA and the world even.
Soviet Union. He told me in a
letter I shouldn't bother him.
something wrong in the chain
o sa
ership thtbat ink the a~specciific
timetable and kind of a master
plan of how to dominate the
world. It's rather a philosophi-
cal concept in which they be-
lieve that capitalism contains
elements of self-destruction.
USA TODAY: Should what
Nikita Khrushchev said at the
United Nations - "We will
bury you" - concern us?
SHEVCHENKO: I was pre-
sent when Nikita Khrushchev
said that He was sorry he said
it We were trained: "Don't tell
about this revolution. Don't
frighten them about bloody
revolution and everything."
USA TODAY: You briefed
President Reagan before the
Geneva sammlt. What did you
tell him?
SHEVCHENKO: Several
things. One thing. which I've
been saying for a long time,
was that I have a strong belief
now that the Soviet Union feels
comfortable with its present
military balance. It is really in-
terested in arms control -
there is more flexibility, which
might even lead to more arms
control agreements.
USA TODAY: What else did
you tell President Reagan?
SHEVCHENKO: He wanted
to know from someone who
lived in the Soviet Union
whether it's really true that the
Soviet leaders believe in Marx-
ism and Leninism or if that's
just a cover for retaining pow-
er. I assured him there are
some who've lost belief. But
the core - Gromyko, Gorba-
chev - are true believers.
USA TODAY: Do you think
Gorbachev's call for bilateral
disarmament by the year 2111
is serious?
SHEVCHENKO: No. The So-
viet Union has never been seri-
ous about that. That is a utopi-
an idea They will never trust
us like we will never trust
them. They will never trust an
American president - Demo-
crat or Republican.
USA TODAY: How do the
Russians view Reagan?
SHEVCHENKO: Hatred
mixed with respect - hatred
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220010-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220010-3
because they cannot forgive
the president two things: one,
the strong effort at the begin-
the administration to
mmode~rnize the strategic foorce,,
and secondly, Reagan was
open and frank as far as the na-
ture of the Soviet system.
USA TODAY: Did Reagan
seem to have a grasp of the
intricacies of Soviet govern-
ment?
SHEVCHENKO: I think he
did. I cannot say that he knew
or even should know absolutely
all the details of everything,
but I think be has a very clear
understanding of what be is
talking about He Is equal if not
superior to some of the Soviet
leaders. He has an understand-
ing of Soviet objectives and
thinldnlL
USA TODAY: Is Gorbachev
different as a Soviet leader?
SHEVCHENKO: He is a
hardcore communist, a prod-
uct of the Soviet system, a be-
liever in the Soviet system. He
has an acute sense that unless
the Soviet economy is modern-
ized, the tremendous technol-
ogy gap with the West eliminat-
ed, survival of the Soviet sys-
tem will be at stake. It's not so
much because he is concerned
about the well4,efng of the So-
viet people. He is concerned
about the future of the system.
We can expect a major effort
to reallocate the resources in
the Soviet Union from the mili-
tary to the civilian sectors.
USA TODAY: Last sum-
mer, Edward J. Epstein, in
the New Rep *114 called your
book, Bre-dng With Moscow,
"a fraud," and said that you
"made up sources and even
fabricated direct conversa-
tions."
SHEVCHENKO: There is
only one year which I con-
fused. And when you put the
right year in, everything would
be in its place.
USA
for tbe CIA?
SHEV : No. I didn't
feel that I was a sov. It was a
secret cooperation with me
CIA or the American men t, that's e.
USA TODAY: Did You at
p by the CIA?
S _ [ ENKO: I have nev-
er been on the Devroll?of the
CIA.
USA TODAY* N but the
save you a year to ve
H V NKO: Do You
it to me
snow
i that mv hank am
wouw 29&
V~LMW and live
wituout W of CIA
The took was delayed for
M and I was at the m.
to sell my car and every
USA TODAY: Wasn't your
crediibiliitty ynd rm neddsb oral
thousand dollars a mouth sup.
porting a can girl who later
wrote a book called Defec-
tor's Mbar"*
SHEVCHENKO: To a cer-
tain degree, yes. But I think it
was a usual exaggeration by
the American press. They
made it a sensational story. rm
sorry it happened. But Fll be
frank with you. I wanted a
companion, a woman. I was in
very bad shape.
USA TODAY: Now you get
,Mil a speech, and you
made S51N,N1 from the sale of
film rights from your books.
Have you adjusted well to the
capitalist system?
SHEVCHENKO: Of course,
some of the things are a little
bit exaggerated, I feel a suc-
cess in the United States, and I
like the system. My dream is to
be absolutely financially se-
cure in the nearest future, and
then to join some solid, serious
academic institution.
USA TODAY: You live
openly. Aren't you worried
that the KGB will track you
down and kill you?
SHEV(HENKO: The KGB
has a long memory and a long
hand. My public profile is my
defense. Anyway, rm ready to
take all these risks because its
more important for me to be
free than to go back to the Sovi-
et Union.
TIMELINE: Arkady Sh vch nlco
Arkady Shevchenko lives near Washington, D.C.,
with his second wife, Elaine.
Oct. 11,1990: Born In the Ukraine, son of a physician.
1954: Graduated from Moscow State Institute of In-
ternational Relations; later received a doctorate In inter-
national law.
1956: Joined Soviet Foreign Ministry.
1958: Began participation in United Nations General
Astem and disarmament negotiations in Geneva.
1963- 97th Served in the Soviet Mission to the United
Nations in New York.
1970-1973: Personal adviser to Foreign Minister An-
drei Gromyko; named Ambassador Extraordinary and
Pleniip~oary , highest Soviet diplomatic rank.
1 T;tenti1978: As undersecretary, he headed U.N. Politi-
cal and Security Council Affairs.
Summer 1197& in
would hayl to Q= MMBX of nrrAog for d*A CIA.
April 111117M He defected; his wife returned to Russia
and died under mysterious circumstances.
F
- 198& in am" Wfth
Shevchenko Said he SOW for ths CIA more man At
VMS Dom am IM, Scheduled to become a U.S. citizen.
Sower. USA TODAY is w h
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220010-3