GORBACHEV AND THE PROBLEM OF WESTERN RADIOBROADCASTING INTO THE USSR

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06531451
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: December 4, 2018
• Case Number: F-2019-00044
• Publication Date: November 1, 1987

Approved for Release: 2018/11/27 006531451
Directorate of
Intelligence
Gorbachev and and the Problem
of Western Radiobroadcasting
Into the USSR (u)
A Research Paper
SeCrer�
SOV 87-10062X
November 1987
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The Kremlin hopes to decrease RFE/RL's effective-
ness by fanning existing ethnic hostilities among the
broadcasters and editors, sometimes by activating
agents provocateurs. RFE/RL's foreign staff includes
three waves of emigres: those who came West at the
end of World War II in 1945 (mainly Russians and
Belorussians), so-called third-wave emigres (predomi-
nantly Jewish) allowed to emigrate in the 1970s, and a
more recent group of non-Jewish emigres. Differences
in political orientation and ethnic identity of the staff
members create an ideal setting for KGB provocations
designed to foment and exaggerate existing differ-
ences among the station's staff.
39
Although in the late 1950s Soviet operatives made
several assassination attempts against RFE/RL's em-
ployees, there is no evidence that Moscow has resorted
to assassination since then.
notewort y case occurre w en u garian
ante igence operatives�perhaps with Soviet technical support�
killed broadcaster Georgi Markov by injecting him with poison
using the tip of an umbrella. In February 1981, a bomb exploded at
the Munich headquarters of RFE/RL, injuring four employees and
causing over SI million in damage. Although the culprit was never
found, the blast was thought by marriyi be the work of East
European intelligence operatives.
-Secret
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Approved for Release: 2018/11/27 006531451