TAKE 1 OF 4 -- BACTERIOLOGICAL ACCIDENT IN 1979 SUSPECTED

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06628898
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2017
• Case Number: F-2017-00026
• Publication Date: August 31, 1990

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CDSN = LGX958 MCN = 90243/46334 TOR = 902432222
RTTUZYUW RUEKJCS1705 2432223�UUUU--RUEALGX.
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HEADER
312223Z AUG 90
FM JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEALGX/SAFE
312114Z AUG 90
FM FBIS RESTON VA
TO RUDKMKB/FBIS LONDON UK//BBC//
RUDKFV/FBIS VIENNA AU
RUEBHAA/STORAGE CENTER FBIS RESTON VA
RUEOACC/CDR PSYOPGR FT BRAGG NC//ASOF�POG�SB//
RUEKJCS/DEFINTAGNCY WASH DC
RUDMNOP/NAVOPINTCEN SUITLAND MD
RUFHVOA/VOA MUNICH GE
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UNCLAS 3P
SERIAL: WA3108211790
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THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE ************/
PASS: ATTN BBC PRESS
ATTN 90SV0013A
COPY TO UD
COUNTRY: USSR
SUBJ: TAKE 1 OF 4--BACTERIOLOGICAL ACCIDENT IN 1979 SUSPECTED
SOURCE: MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34, 22
AUG 90 P
12
TEXT:
//((ARTICLE BY NATALYA ZENOVA, LITERATURNAYA GAZETA SPECIAL
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CORRESPONDENT FOR THE URALS: "MILITARY SECRET: REASONS FOR THE
TRAGEDY IN SVERDLOVSK MUST BE INVESTIGATED"; ELEMENTS IN SLANTLINES
PRINTED IN BOLDFACE))
((TEXT)) "IN THE SPRING OF 1968 IN THE AMERICAN STATE OF UTAH...
NOT FAR FROM THE MILITARY EXPERIMENTATION CENTER FOR CHEMICAL AND
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AT DUGWAY, 6,400 SHEEP SUDDENLY DROPPED DEAD.
"MILITARY OFFICIALS DENIED ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THIS EVENT,
MAINTAINING AN INNOCENT AIR OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT MONTHS. UNDER
THE PRESSURE OF EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, THEY WERE FORCED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
'A SLIGHT MISTAKE' COMMITTED WHILE TESTING A NEW VARIETY OF WEAPON.
"'WIND DIRECTION CHANGED UNEXPECTEDLY,' AN ARMY REPRESENTATIVE
STATED, EXPLAINING THAT THE SHEEP HAD ENTERED A LETHAL CLOUD.
"AND WHAT IF THE WIND HAD CARRIED IT IN THE OTHER DIRECTION?' A
CORRESPONDENT ASKED. 'THERE COULD BE A CITY THERE!'"
THUS BEGINS A FRIGHTENING FANTASY CONCERNING THE DESTINY OF A
FICTITIOUS CITY WRITTEN BY AMERICAN AUTHOR HENRY SATTON. A
TRANSLATION OF HIS NOVEL "THUNDER AMIDST CLEAR SKIES" (AMERICAN
TITLE--"VECTOR") WAS PUBLISHED BY NASH SOVREMENNIK IN 1977.
YES, THERE COULD BE A CITY THERE ((SUBHEAD))
MAGAZINE BOOK EXCERPTS LIE ON MY DESK, READ AND REREAD WITH
PENCIL IN HAND... BUT NOT AT ALL BECAUSE THE NOVEL STAGGERS WITH
ITS ARTISTIC SOPHISTICATION--IT LOOKS ADEQUATE FROM THAT POINT OF
VIEW, BUT NO BETTER THAN THAT. AND IN NO WAY FOR THE REASON THE
EDITORS HAD HOPED FOR, PREDICTING THAT THE NOVEL "WILL ATTRACT THE
SOVIET READER'S ATTENTION BY ITS ANTIMILITARIST ORIENTATION," OR
THAT IT "TRUTHFULLY REVEALS THE INHUMANITY OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY�
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX..."
FOR ME "THUNDER AMIDST CLEAR SKIES" IS NOT SIMPLY A MENACING
FUTURISTIC WARNING. AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ITS HEROES IS NOT JUST
THE DEATH OF LITERARY CHARACTERS. THE NOVEL DIRECTS MY THOUGHTS FAR
FROM "THERE"; ON THE CONTRARY, IT RIVETS THEM TO SOMETHING THAT
OCCURRED "HERE."
...AT THAT TIME TOO IT WAS SPRING. AND PEOPLE ALSO FELL SICK FOR
UNEXPLAINED REASONS. AND THEY TOO DIED IN TORMENT. AND EVEN THE
NUMBER OF VICTIMS WAS ABOUT THE SAME.
YES, I AM TODAY FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT IN THE SPRING OF 1979, A
DEADLY CLOUD AROSE OVER OUR MILITARY CENTER AND THE WIND CARRIED IT
PRECISELY IN THE DIRECTION WHERE NOT ONLY "THERE COULD BE A CITY,"
BUT WHERE MY NATIVE SVERDLOVSK /WAS./
UNDERSTANDING THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SUCH A STATEMENT, I CANNOT
WASTE NEWSPAPER SPACE ON EMOTION--I NEED TO USE IT FOR PROOF. FOR
THOSE WHO WANT TO EXPERIENCE PSYCHOLOGICALLY EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED,
I REFER TO THE ABOVE�MENTIONED NOVEL OF H. SATTON--EVERYTHING THERE
IS "ONE TO ONE," AS MANY OF THE PEOPLE FROM MY REGION BELIEVE.
AND SO, IT WAS APRIL OF 1979. AT FIRST RUMORS BEGAN TO SPREAD OF
SUDDEN DEATHS--"MEDICINE DOESN'T HELP AT ALL!" THEN--CONVERSATIONS
CONCERNING SOME OLD WOMAN WHO SOLD THE MEAT OF EITHER A SHEEP OR COW
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THAT HAD FALLEN DEAD, ABOUT A DUG�UP CATTLE BURIAL GROUND. AT THE
SAME TIME WARNINGS APPEARED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS: CATTLE IN THE
URALS HAVE BEEN WEAKENED BY THE DIFFICULT WINTER. THEY ARE PRONE TO
INFECTION AND THEREFORE IT IS POSSIBLE--YOU WILL NOTE, JUST
POSSIBLE!--THAT THERE WILL BE INCIDENTS OF MALIGNANT ANTHRAX
INFECTION. AND NOT A WORD HERE REGARDING OUTBREAKS OF SICKNESS OF
ANY KIND AMONG ANIMALS OR PEOPLE.
BUT PEOPLE WERE DYING. PRIMARILY MEN OF HEALTHY AGE, AND
BASICALLY FROM THE SAME AREA. AND THE AREA WAS A VERY SUSPICIOUS
ONE--CHKALOVSKIY--WHERE THE SO�CALLED 19TH MILITARY INSTALLATION IS
LOCATED. WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE THE ENTRY GATE OF THIS CLOSED
STATION ALONG THE SVERDLOVSK CITY LINE NO ONE HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW
BUT THERE WERE MANY, OF COURSE, WHO KNEW. IN ANY CASE THEY KNEW
BACTERIOLOGISTS WERE WORKING THERE. THAT IS WHY, AS SOON AS THE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE CENTER WAS REVEALED, THERE WAS AN IMMEDIATE DROP IN
INTEREST SHOWN IN THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE SHEEP AND PRECAUTIONARY
NOTICES REGARDING MEAT. AND SOMEONE ELSE HEARD "A VOICE FROM OVER
THE KNOLL" TELLING OF A "BACTERIOLOGICAL EXPLOSION" IN SVERDLOVSK.
SOME PEOPLE SAW WITH THEIR OWN EYES HOW IN CHKALOVSKIY RAYON THEY
WERE WASHING DOWN THE SIDEWALKS, ROADS, AND ROOFS WITH SOAP,
REMOVING THE TOPMOST SOIL LAYER, RUSHING TO PUT DOWN ASPHALT IN
PLACES WHERE ASPHALT HAD NEVER BEEN. IT WAS ALSO NOTICED THAT
PEOPLE IN PROTECTIVE CLOTHING WERE TAKING SOME KIND OF SAMPLES NEAR
THE INSTALLATION...
A PANIC GREW....
I ADMIT, NONE OF US LOCAL JOURNALISTS RUSHED OUT TO THE RAMPARTS
AT THAT TIME. I REMEMBER WELL HOW AT VECHERKA WHERE I WORKED, THE
TELEPHONE SUDDENLY BEGAN TO RING WITH ITS DESPERATE, INTERCITY RING,
AND OUR OFFICIAL SECRETARY, ALTERNATELY TURNING RED AND GROWING
PALE, JUMPED OUT INTO THE CORRIDOR. AT THIS THE ENTIRE EDITORIAL
STAFF GATHERED BY THE DOORS, GAZING WITH HORROR AT THE INSTRUMENT BY
WHICH A CORRESPONDENT FROM SOME AMERICAN NEWSPAPER HAD JUST GOTTEN
THROUGH TO OUR CLOSED CITY. THE TELEPHONE RANG AGAIN, AND THE MOST
DESPAIRING AMONG US WARILY TOOK THE PHONE AND SAID, MURDERING THE
LANGUAGE: "ALO, WHOISIS? WELL, AIN'T NO ONE HERE..."
LATER EVERYTHING CALMED DOWN. AND FOR MANY YEARS NO ONE DUG UP
THIS BURIAL GROUND OF OBLIVION... BUT PEOPLE REMAINED, WITNESSES OF
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE, AND PRIMARILY--DOCTORS.
DOCTORS' TESTIMONY ((SUBHEAD))
/N. BEZRUKOV, ANESTHESIOLOGIST, HOSPITAL NO. 20/
"I WAS IN CHARGE OF A RESUSCITATION DIVISION. SUDDENLY SICK
PEOPLE STARTED COMING IN ONE AFTER ANOTHER DIAGNOSED WITH
'PNEUMONIA.' WHEN FIVE OR SIX OF THEM HAD AMASSED, ALL WITH THE
SAME CLINICAL PICTURE AND SPEED OF DEPARTURE--TO THE MORGUE, WE
BEGAN TO SUSPECT SOME KIND OF ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS INFECTION. YOU
UNDERSTAND, THE SYMPTOMS WERE UNLIKE THOSE OF PNEUMONIA--EVERYTHING
FLARED UP INSTANTANEOUSLY AND WENT TO EMPHYSEMA. THE PATIENTS DIED
ON AN ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATOR, RECEIVING TREMENDOUS DOSES OF MEDICINE.
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/******
REF:
BEGINNING OF TAKE 002 ******/
WA3108211790 MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34,
22 AUG 90 P 12 ///DOSES OF MEDICINE.
SOURCE: MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34, 22 AUG 90 P
12
TEXT:
"THEN A CULTURE ARRIVED FROM OUR LABORATORY--PROBABLY MALIGNANT
ANTHRAX, BUT NOT ABSOLUTELY FOR CERTAIN... WHAT STRUCK US? THE
BATCH WAS PAINFULLY THE SAME--MEN SOMEWHERE AROUND FORTY, ALTHOUGH
TWO WOMEN ALSO DIED.
"AND HOW WERE THEY BURIED? IN THE CITY THERE WAS TALK OF LEAD
CASKETS....
"THE FIRST SIX WERE BURIED IN THE USUAL MANNER�AFTER ALL, WE DID
NOT HAVE THE RIGHT DIAGNOSIS YET AND WROTE 'BACTERIAL PNEUMONIA.'
THE LAST SIX WENT AS 'MALIGNANT ANTHRAX.' THERE WERE NO LEAD
CASKETS--THE COFFINS WERE COATED WITH TAR, BLACK.
"NOW WE WAITED--EXPECTING SYMPTOMS TO APPEAR VERY SOON IN
OURSELVES. AFTER ALL, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE INFECTION WAS SPREAD BY
AIRBORNE PARTICLES. WE DECIDED TO STAY HERE SO AS NOT TO TAKE THE
CONTAMINATION HOME. AND EVERYONE STAYED--ALL THE DOCTORS, ALL THE
NURSES... THERE WAS EVEN A PREGNANT ONE WHO NEVER LEFT HER POST.
THE DAYS PASSED--NO ONE CAME DOWN WITH ANY SYMPTOMS."
"AND WHAT CONCLUSION DID YOU ARRIVE AT?"
"THAT GENETIC ENGINEERING WAS AT WORK HERE, CREATING SUCH
EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE BACTERIA THAT WOULD SELECTIVELY STRIKE RESIDENTS
OF A CERTAIN AGE, CAPABLE OF CARRYING A WEAPON. AND NO ONE WAS
BEING CONTAMINATED BY CONTACT. TO THIS DAY WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT KIND
OF CARRIER IT WAS, BY WHAT MEANS CONTAMINATION OCCURRED. IF IT WERE
THE ESOPHAGUS, FAMILY MEMBERS WOULD COME DOWN WITH IT. IF IT WERE
AIRBORNE PARTICLES, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN CONTAMINATED."
/N.A., DOCTOR/
"I AM NOT A MICROBIOLOGIST, OF COURSE, BUT IN MY OPINION WE WERE
DEALING WITH SOME KIND OF ANTHRAX APPARENTLY MIXED WITH PLAGUE. THE
PROPERTIES WERE SIMILAR TO BOTH. AND THEY WERE DEAD�END
PROPERTIES--IT WAS NOT PASSED ON ANY FURTHER BY AN INDIVIDUAL IT HAD
STRUCK. ONE MUST GIVE IT ITS DUE--IT WAS AN ASTOUNDING THING. IT
STRUCK PRECISELY THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE NEEDED."
"WHAT WAS THIS THING THEN IN SVERDLOVSK?"
"THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT--WHAT WE HAD WAS WASTE FROM A
BACTERIOLOGICAL WEAPON."
"YOU WERE AT HOSPITAL NO. 40 AT THAT TIME?"
"FIRST I WAS AT NO. 20, THEN NO. 40 AS A MEMBER OF AN EMERGENCY
ANTI�EPIDEMIC COMMISSION. EVERYTHING BEGAN DURING MY WATCH. FIRST
I HAD THREE PEOPLE DIE. THE SAME THING CONTINUED A SECOND DAY...
THEN WE STARTED SOUL�SEARCHING AND CONSULTING OUR LEADING EXPERTS...
THEY TOOK A CULTURE. LABORATORY RESULTS LED US TO THE IDEA THAT
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CLEARLY SOMETHING WAS WRONG HERE. THEN WE TOOK A MAP OF THE AREA,
WIND ROSE ((ROZA VETROV)), LOOKED AND SAW THAT THEY WERE ALL TAKEN
FROM THE SAME PLACE ((SENTENCE AS PUBLISHED)). FROM HERE ONE DIDN'T
HAVE TO BE A GENIUS--EVERYONE KNOWS WE HAVE THE 19TH MILITARY
INSTALLATION.
"THEN CAME CIVILIAN PEOPLE, MILITARY PEOPLE. ALTHOUGH I WAS ON
THE EMERGENCY EPIDEMIC COMMISSION, WE HAD NO INFORMATION WHATSOEVER.
WHEN WE STARTED TO ASK QUESTIONS, THEY LET US KNOW VERY POLITELY,
BUT VERY FIRMLY, THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO BE SILENT. I WAS
ESPECIALLY STRUCK BY A PROFESSOR FROM MOSCOW. HE WAS AN EXPERT, OF
COURSE, AND HAD A VERY FINE MANNER OF SPEAKING, BUT IT IS SIMPLY
AMAZING HOW HE WAS ABLE TO CONCOCT SUCH NONSENSE--TO TALK SO
PRETTILY AT LENGTH ABOUT NOTHING."
"DO YOU HAVE ANY FIGURES TO OPERATE WITH?"
"NO. I CAN ONLY SAY THAT ABOUT 500 BEDS WERE PREPARED FOR
HOSPITALIZATION."
"AND HOW DO YOU RELATE TO HOW CLOSED WE ARE ON THIS SUBJECT?"
"WHAT DO WE HAVE, WHAT DO WE NOT HAVE... EVERYONE PREFERS TO
REMAIN SILENT CONCERNING BACTERIOLOGICAL WEAPONS. IT IS INDECENT TO
TALK ABOUT THIS IN DECENT SOCIETY."
/B. ZISLIN, DOCTOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, CHIEF ANESTHESIOLOGIST OF
THE REGION/
"AT THAT TIME I WAS CONSULTING IN THE INTENSIVE CARE DEPARTMENT
OF HOSPITAL NO. 20. I SAW SEVERAL PATIENTS AT THE SAME TIME WITH
THE SAME SYMPTOMS, AND I WAS CONVINCED THAT THIS WAS A SERIOUS
CONTAGION WITH WHICH I WAS UNFAMILIAR. IT IMMEDIATELY AFFECTS ALL
THE ORGANS--THE LUNGS, THE BRAIN, AND THE KIDNEYS..."
"AND DID THE PEOPLE DIE QUICKLY?"
"ONE WOMAN WAS A LITTLE BETTER OFF AND STILL CONSCIOUS. SHE TOLD
ME THAT EVERYTHING BEGAN WITH A FEVERISH CHILL, AND THAT SOON SHE
WAS SHORT OF BREATH. THEY QUICKLY PUT HER ON ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION
TOO AND, LIKE THE OTHERS, SHE DIED. I FOUND THIS SUSPICIOUS. I
IMMEDIATELY TELEPHONED THE REGIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT. I
REQUESTED THAT THE MILITARY REVEAL WHETHER THIS WAS THEIR DOING. A
HALF HOUR LATER THEY CALLED ME AND SAID THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE
WITH THE MILITARY..."
"SEVERAL YEARS HAVE PASSED... WHAT IS YOUR OPINION TODAY?"
"THEY WERE OBLIGATED TO SPEAK UP. SECRETS ARE SECRETS, BUT I
BELIEVE THAT MORE THAN 70 PEOPLE DIED... PERHAPS THEY MANAGED TO
SAVE SOME OF THEM."
"BUT LET US SUPPOSE, GOD FORBID OF COURSE, THAT SOMETHING SIMILAR
HAPPENS AGAIN. HOW WILL YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES REACT?"
"IF I SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I WILL FIND OUT..."
"IF IT IS SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BUT MIGHT YOU SEE SOMETHING QUITE
DIFFERENT?"
"I DO NOT THINK SO. BUT IF... I SUPPOSE THAT THE MILITARY
PEOPLE WILL NOT HIDE IT IN THE FUTURE. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT!"
AN OPEN SECRET ((SUBHEAD))
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"THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT!"...
BACK THEN THE MILITARY DENIED EVERYTHING. AND NOW?
/****** BEGINNING OF TAKE 003
REF: WA3108211790 MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34,
22 AUG 90 P 12 ///EVERYTHING. AND NOW?
SOURCE: MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34, 22 AUG 90 P
12
TEXT:
THIS SPRING, THE ARTICLE "19TH INSTALLATION" WAS PUBLISHED IN THE
OBLAST NEWSPAPER URALSKIY RABOCHIY. IT BROUGHT OUT INTO THE OPEN
THE MILITARY POINT OF VIEW ON THE EVENTS OF 1979. JOURNALIST S.
PLOTNIKOV VISITED THAT INSTALLATION TOGETHER WITH MEMBERS OF A
REPRESENTATIVE DELEGATION. THIS SPARED ME THE TROUBLE OF FOLLOWING
THAT SAME TRAIL AND ASKING THOSE SANE QUESTIONS. INCIDENTALLY, I
HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE "STIR" AROUND THE LONG-BURIED
SUBJECT BEGAN AFTER THE INTEREST SHOWN IN IT ON THE PART OF THE
LITERATURNAYA GAZETA CORRESPONDENT. BUT THAT IS OFF THE SUBJECT.
THE ARTICLE TALKS ABOUT THE VISIT TO THE MILITARY INSTALLATION
OR, MORE ACCURATELY, THE MILITARY EPIDEMIOLOGY SECTOR OF THE
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR MICROBIOLOGY OF THE USSR MINISTRY
OF DEFENSE. YES, THE MILITARY ADMITS, EARLIER "THE INSTITUTE
STUDIED THE TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION OF VACCINATIONS FOR THE
PROTECTION OF SERVICEMEN AND THE POPULATION FROM A NUMBER OF
DANGEROUS INFECTIONS." TODAY THE CENTER IS ON A COST ACCOUNTING
BASIS, AND AS A RESULT IT IS QUITE INTERESTED IN COOPERATING WITH
"CIVILIANS": IT HAS COMMUNICATED FACTS IN DETAIL IN THE AREAS WHERE
IT WAS POSSIBLE. SUCH FACTS, OF COURSE, ARE IMPORTANT. BUT I
IMAGINE THAT THE RESIDENTS OF SVERDLOVSK WERE CHEERED UP MOST OF ALL
BY THE NEWS THAT PRODUCTION OF VACCINATIONS "FOR DEFENSE OF TROOPS
AND THE POPULATION" CEASED HERE IN 1986...
BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE PREVIOUS WORK WAS STILL IN FULL SWING?
COLONEL A. KHARECHKO, CHIEF OF THE MILITARY EPIDEMIOLOGY SECTOR,
GIVES AN EXPLANATION. I QUOTE:
"THE RUMORS WHICH WERE GOING AROUND THE CITY IN THE SPRING OF
1979 TO THE EFFECT THAT AN EXPLOSION TOOK PLACE ON THE TERRITORY OF
OUR INSTITUTION AND THAT THE ANTHRAX PATHOGEN WAS DISCHARGED INTO
THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT DO NOT HAVE ANY REAL BASIS. PRIMARILY
BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER HAD ANY EXPLOSIONS OF ANY SORT."
BUT WHAT ABOUT DISCHARGES?.. THEY HAPPEN ON A REGULAR BASIS EVEN
TO THIS DAY. A FEW PARAGRAPHS LATER IT IS STATED THAT "ALL
DISCHARGES INTO THE AIR AND SEWAGE ARE FILTERED AND MONITORED."
WHAT GOOD IS CORRECTING THE TERMINOLOGICAL INACCURACIES? IN THE
END, WHAT IS THE MAIN SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE AFFECTED REGION OF THE
MEANS BY WHICH THE MISFORTUNE OCCURRED--EXPLOSION, DISCHARGE, OR
EXHAUST?
BUT THE COLONEL DID NOT PRODUCE ANY FURTHER TESTIMONY, AND
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INSTEAD OF ARGUMENTS HE SUBSTITUTED THE FOLLOWING PSYCHOLOGICAL
OBSERVATION: "I BELIEVE THAT THIS ABSURD STORY HAS CIRCULATED
BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE MORE READY TO BELIEVE IN
FANTASTIC THINGS THAN IN REAL AND NATURAL EXPLANATIONS."
I DID NOT GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE DOCTORS WITH WHOM I HAD
TALKED WERE SO READY TO BELIEVE IN THE FANTASTIC--QUITE THE
OPPOSITE, IN FACT.
ON BEHALF OF THE EDUCATED MINORITY WITH EXPLANATIONS, B.
MIKHAULOV, SECTOR SPECIALIST, ADDRESSES THE FANTASIZING MAJORITY:
"IN REALITY--AND THIS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED--THE OUTBREAK OF ANTHRAX
ILLNESSES AMONG PEOPLE WAS CAUSED BY A PREVIOUS OUTBREAK OF THIS
DISEASE AMONG AGRICULTURAL LIVESTOCK IN MANY POPULATION CENTERS OF
THE SOUTHERN PART OF SVERDLOVSK OBLAST. PROFESSOR I. BEZDENEZHNYYE
AND V. NIKIFOROV WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN
1980 IN ZHURNAL MIKROBIOLOGII, EPIDEMIOLOGII I IMMUNOBIOLOGII..."
I LOOKED UP THE ARTICLE HE HAD NAMED, NOT WITHOUT THE SHUDDER OF
A DILETTANTE: THE JOURNAL IS HIGHLY TECHNICAL. BUT THE ARTICLE BY
I. BEZDENZHNYYE AND V. NIKIFOROV--THE FORMER CHIEF INSPECTOR OF THE
RSFSR ((RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATED SOCIALIST REPUBLIC)) WHO CAME AT
THAT TIME FROM MOSCOW TO THE VERDLOVSK EXTRAORDINARY EVENT AND
HEADED THE COMISSION THAT WAS CREATED (ITS MEDICAL UNIT--SEEMED
ABSOLUTELY READABLE. MOREOVER, IT SEEMED THAT IT WOULD BE MORE
DIFFICULT FOR SPECIALISTS--IN VIEW OF THE SCARCITY OF FACTS.
I PERSONALLY HAD QUESTIONS FOR THE AUTHORS, AND MANY OF THEM.
FOR INSTANCE, I READ, "SPORADIC ILLNESSES OF ANTHRAX IN ONE OF
THE AREAS OF SVERDLOVSK PRECEDED THE OUTBREAK OF ANTHRAX AMONG
AGRICULTURAL LIVESTOCK ON INDIVIDUAL FARMS OF THE ADJOINING
REGIONS... AT THAT SAME TIME ISOLATED INSTANCES OF ANTHRAX
ILLNESSES AMONG PEOPLE WERE REPORTED..."
HOW WERE THEY ISOLATED? WHAT ABOUT THE (APPROXIMATELY) 500
HOSPITAL BEDS THAT WERE READIED? AND THE (APPROXIMATELY) 70 PEOPLE
WHO DIED? LET US RECALL THAT 12 DIED ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY IN
HOSPITAL NO. 20. WE WILL ADD THE 42 POST�MORTEMS WITH THE SAME
DIAGNOSIS IN HOSPITAL NO. 40 (F. ABRAMOVA, A PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMIST
WHO ATTENDED ALL THESE POST�MORTEMS, GAVE THIS FIGURE). WE WILL
ALSO ADD SEVERAL CASES WHICH OCCURRED AT OTHER MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
AND THESE ARE ALL ISOLATED ILLNESSES?
"... AND THERE WERE SKIN AND INTESTINAL FORMS OF THE INFECTION."
WHY ONLY SKIN AND INTESTINAL? WHAT ABOUT PULMONARY?
I QUOTE THE ARTICLE AGAIN: "THAT THE DISEASE IS RELATED TO
ANTHRAX WAS CONFIRMED BY THE RESULTS OF LABORATORY TESTS OF SICK
PEOPLE AND ANIMALS. THE PATHOGEN OF ANTHRAX WAS ISOLATED FROM MEAT
TAKEN FOR TESTS FROM TWO FAMILIES OF PATIENTS. IN BOTH CASES THE
MEAT HAD BEEN PURCHASED FROM PRIVATE PERSONS. THE STRAINS OF THE
ANTHRAX PATHOGENS ISOLATED FROM THE MEAT WERE NOT DISTINGUISHABLE
FROM THE STRAINS ISOLATED FROM THE PATIENTS."
BUT DOES THIS PROVE THAT THE EVENTS THAT ARE MENTIONED ARE PART
OF THE SPECIFIC CHAIN OF TERRIFYING EVENTS THAT SHOOK THE CITY BACK
THEN? ARE THERE REALLY NO GROUNDS TO SUPPOSE THAT THEY EXISTED
PARALLEL WITH THEM?
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I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL TO THE CEMETERY, VISIT THE
HOUSES, AND RESORT TO THE ARCHIVES OF THE REGISTRY OFFICE--AND I
ESTABLISHED THAT THE FIRST PATIENTS DIED AT HOSPITAL NO. 20 ON 9
APRIL. AND THE FIRST ARTICLES ABOUT WEAKENED LIVESTOCK AND THEIR
POSSIBLE INFECTION APPEARED IN THE LOCAL PRESS ON 13 APRIL. WHICH
PRECEDED WHICH? DOES NOT THE CONCLUSION SUGGEST ITSELF THAT THE
PEOPLE DIED FIRST AND THEN AS A RESULT OF THEIR DEATHS PREVENTIVE
WARNINGS WERE "SUPERIMPOSED"?
BEGINNING OF TAKE 004 ******/
REF: WA3108211790 MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34,
22 AUG 90 P 12 ///WARNINGS WERE "SUPERIMPOSED"?
SOURCE: MOSCOW LITERATURNAYA GAZETA IN RUSSIAN NO. 34, 22 AUG 90 P
12
TEXT:
WHY? I EVEN POSE THIS QUESTION WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF THE
SCHOLARLY ARTICLE I QUOTED. WHY, IF IT WAS "SIMPLY" ANTHRAX IN
SVERDLOVSK, DID PEOPLE IN MILITARY UNIFORMS PLAY FIRST VIOLIN IN THE
INVESTIGATION OF FACTS? WHY WAS THE WHOLE STORY OF THE ILLNESS
ELIMINATED ALONG WITH ALL RECORDS AND ALL DOCUMENTATION FROM
"CONCERNED" INSTITUTIONS? WHY NOW, 11 YEARS AFTERWARD, ARE
OFFICIALS AGAIN VISITING HERE AND THERE ON INVESTIGATIONS? IS ANY
OTHER ANSWER POSSIBLE?..
I HUNTED DOWN A PRIVATE HOME IN THE SUBURB OF THE CITY WHERE A
WOMAN WHO DIED IN HOSPITAL NO. 20, ONE OF THE FIRST, HAD ONCE LIVED.
I HELD IN MY HANDS HER DEATH CERTIFICATE, WHICH GAVE "BACTERIAL
PNEUMONIA" AS THE CAUSE. SOME PEOPLE HAD COME FOR THAT CERTIFICATE
AND WISHED TO TAKE IT AWAY, BUT THE FAMILY WOULD NOT GIVE IT UP:
"IT IS OURS. IT IS ALL THAT IS LEFT TO US."
I VISITED ANOTHER HOUSEHOLD WHOSE HEAD, A WORKER AT A CERAMIC
FACTORY, HAD DIED WITH THE SAME DIAGNOSIS.
... I PERSONALLY HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ALL THOSE "WHYS"--I DECLARED
IT OPENLY AT THE VERY BEGINNING. BUT HOWEVER WELL�ARGUED IT SEEMS
TO ME, I RECOGNIZED THAT IT IS ONLY A PRIVATE OPINION AND ONLY A
PRIVATE INVESTIGATION. OFFICIAL CONCLUSIONS ARE NEEDED. QUICKLY.
/IF THERE WAS A TRAGEDY, IT SHOULD BE CALLED A TRAGEDY, AND THE
GUILTY SHOULD BE CALLED GUILTY. AND TO THE DEGREE THAT THE
INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GROUNDS FOR A PARLIAMENTARY
INVESTIGATION, ON BEHALF OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD THE AUTHOR REQUESTS
THAT OUR PARLIAMENT CREATE SUCH A COMMISSION./
OTHERWISE WE CANNOT ENSURE THAT LIGHTNING WILL NOT STRIKE FROM A
CLEAR SKY AGAIN TOMORROW.
ADMIN
(ENDALL) PMC/CD/IRELAND 31/2135Z AUG
UNCLASSIFIED//
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Approved for Release: 2017/09/27 C06628898
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