VIRGINIA: 1ST GLIMPSE OF U.S. FOR SOVIET PILOT WHO DEFECTED

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05539033
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2019
• Case Number: F-2016-00620
• Publication Date: September 7, 1980

AFT I C LE APPEAAn
ON
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THE WASHINGTON POST
7 September 1980
(b)(3)
irginia:
Sovie
trnit0a PieAlilternational
Heavy rainfall ,drenched Dulles
ternational Airport as the CIAFleased .
exec/itive jet rolled to a stop in the 4
, . _ , � '7" 127
, -SUrrients later, several men steoped,
off ,the plane and jumped into nearby-
carsL'.0ne of them, Viktor L. Belenko,
waialdefector'from the Soviet Union.',.
Belenko was the one with. the hOY-:
isiljace, big blue eyes and blond .hair.:
I-Ct',..stood a shade over 5-foot-8, and.
h4Strong. shoulders 'developed-by"!
-years of sports and-exercie.;' -4a,
;The men, CIA" agents,;�and Belenko
traveled for-aboikanizhoili.,aiong back7
roads, then turned into a king driVe!:
cars' 'headlights on
a.,bribk; double-0hr mansion.
Belenko spent his first night in the-.-
United States. in that house Some--1
where in Northern Virginia. "It was
just a property. the CIA had at the
time," said John Barrtiti,' a., senior cdi
tor in the Washington bureau .of Read-
er's Digest. � _ '
:Barron. considered-an expert on So-.
vfet intelligence and military affairs;
has recently- published a-book, "Mi,g'
Pilot." about Beienko, and gave
United Press Internationa permission -
to quote from it.,, � -
Belenko saw .his. first , supermarket
in ,Virginia, learned' to drive- here. '
lived near Falls 'Church :and tangled
with a personal crisis at a truckstop a ,
few miles north. of Richmond�all as a, :
guest of the CIA. ' "
.,The CIA, headquartered in Fairfax.
County's ,Langley ,'neighborhood-, an
parently uses -Virginia to :.help
duce Soviet defectors :to Americans
and :their . There area
other very significant people from the,
SOviet Union, high-level types, who've'
been, beguiled ,by --Virginia," Barron-
said. "For most of them; its the first.;
state they see.".
Petersen;".a.cCIA'nress 'bffieer,,
declined .to, .elablarate
'don't say much -about,.defectors;P:;-he
said; `"�We have, a responsibility to set-',
tle them _without'. fnuctilIttblicit' We.-
45:
Can?t, really ga�c"allhether- We-use Vit.-
.ginii-br:any-ofOrAtitt kr42,
Belenko-. WaSz C:onsidered. one of.
almost,: importala47Soviet defectors ever
to reach -the United-States., He was-a I
lieutenant in? the . SoViet^f air force ;
when he l'ancied a 1�11Q25 at a. north-1
ern. Japanese,airport,1 Sept. 6, 1976, ;
aneinnbitriced.' h6 "wanted asylum. in
the-Unit:id' States.,
The'AIIG25 was belied at the time
to. be the most adyanceckCombat air-_
c:raft in the world.' Sikry-seven days af-
. ten Belenko landed CS. and Japanese
officials had completed their examina-
tion- Of the-plane;s- secrets:, and re- 1
_ _
_
turned it�in pieceSto the- Soviets.
Belenko, stayed.
Belenko no longer lives
"But he's toured- it up and down- and
forward and backward and- just loves;
it," Barron said.
Viktor .Belenko's love affair with
Virginia began the day after he spent
his first night in the U.S. in that
southern mansion "safe �house" owned
by the C/A. :
He first was escorted on a tour of
Northern Virginia's wooded, rolling
horse country with the Blue Ridge
Mountains in the distance. Belenko
was. impressed.
"It was the man-made order of the
farmlands they passed that -most
struck Belenko"�the symmetry of the
fields, the well-mended fences,
painted barns, fat. cattle, lush mead-
�ows. .
.He asked where the outhouses were.
The CIA men laughed. -and said few
-American houses had such' things any-
more. . ,
Belenko's first enedimter with an
.American . shopping_ center, and the
'lifestyle it represented," came on "the
outskirts of a small 'Virginia town,"
Barron told UPI, "Viktor doesn't re-
call exactly where."' But-Barron said
he believes it may -have been Freder-
ricksburg,' Culpeper or. Warrenton.
Two CIA men and Belenko .started
for. clothing store, ..but. Belenko
wanted-to tour a supermarket. He "ex-
plored and stared in, ever-widening.
wonder" at all .the meats, vegetables,.
beer, cans and, packages, cookies', the
He never 'had seen such a market,
one with so many products available.
or one without- long lines of people.
He'd always been told 'Americans
liVe in the -shadow of hunger and that
pockets of near starvation were,wide-,
spread2'. .
Belenko,,uncertain what to believe,
decided the, store�the entire shop-
ping ,center�was. a CIA. front, built
and operated- especially to fool defec-
tors. .-- � ' �
"bolted'into a shop offering tele-
visions,' stereos, radios and calcula-
tors." Belenko still disbelieved. He
questioned the CIA men: ,can an "av-
erage American worker" buy a color
television set? In Russia. such a set
. . .
would cost five months' wages-, '
Next door, Belenko bought his first
suit�gray- flannel--and a buttondown
shirt. He alsok saw his first gasoline
station "ft which there were no
"In Belenko's past life, gasoline out-
lets were so scarce that a wait of four
or five hours for fuel was ordinary."
In coming sveeks, Belenko lived in
an apartment near Falls, Church.' It
had a small den, two bathrooms, wall-
to-wall carpeting, dishwasher and dis-
posal. CIA men assured him such I
apartments were within themeans of
'moderate-income Americans:
He and his ,CIA bodyguards toured,
'the King Dominion amusement park
about 25 miles north of Richmond.
Later, Betenko.7 ; considered ." of
"working-class'!- origins -in-. Russia,
wanted to see "a real workers' bar?!
He found one near Falls Church, com-
plete with a long,bar, stools,: wooden
booths and men .in working clothes
drinking beer or ,Natching Monday
night football on a giant television.
The menu was chalked on a black
board_ Belenko'..ordered'a'- barbecue
sandwich, French fries, coie slaw and
'beer. "Tt.; little 'green check-totaled
$2.03. �
-^-4A Belenka &lire, and
he mastered -the basics in about- an
hOur.'He had'-to- get' i.Virkinia learn-
er's perinit. He was an' excellent
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driver, but with one had habit: ,he
speeded.. 4
Soon after he won his license, a rr-
ginia state trooper stopped him on-In-
terstate 95. He asked Belenko if :he
knew he was driving 85 miles per
hour. Belenko smiled, handed over his
driver's license�and two $20 bills. Be-
lenko thought at the time he was do-
ing what was expected of him., '
. The CIA man with Belenko quickly
jumped out of the car and explained
the situation to the trooper. He told
Belenko he wanted to shake his hand.
The CIA- man told Belenko that :at-
tempted bribery was a serious crime
, in the United States..
Weeks, then. months passed. Be-
lenko .assumed- his new. . lifestyle.
moved to a rnidwestern farm, and
traveled to . other. . places. He
searching, trying, to understand some,
thing..
He was free. independent, some
,thing.he'd wanted. all his life. But he.
missed his homeland_ And the Soviets.
Avere exerting tremendous pressure to
get him back.
Belenko decided. The tug was too
great.. He would go back to Russia.
Somewhere between the North Car,
Olina line and Richmond, Betenko bev.
gan to-shake, sweat, turn pale.
He pulled into a truck stop a feW:
miles north of Richmond at about 1
a.m.
, "A very lovely lady, a waitress, at.
the truck stop just took a motherly in
,terest. in him," Barron told UPI. She
insisted Belenko eat something.
At 4 a.m., Belenko knocked on the
door of a Washington mansion. It wal
not the Soviet Embassy, but the home
of a high-level CIA official. ,
Viktor I. Belenko had. made his
peace with himself�and- his ney?
,country. ,
Approved for Release: 2019/04/11 C05539033