BREZHNEV: THE FINAL DAYS

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000100740015-5
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 18, 2010
Sequence Number: 
15
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 12, 1982
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000100740015-5.pdf141.8 KB
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STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100740015-5 .C Il .i... GAL' ri s. ur Vii F AGZ INTERNATIONAL rezrzhOnev., F or months the approaching end has been written in his face: the drawn ex- pression, the distant gaze, the eyes empty of the strength that has animated and driven the Soviet Union for the past eighteen years. Now it seems all but certain that the politi- cal career of Leonid Brezhnev is entering its final days. Moscow churned last week with rumors that Brezhnev was lying ill at home or in a hospital. The swirl of gossip and sightings ran to a mysterious plane flight from Tashkent, a canceled diplomatic visit and some rough jockeying in the Politburo. Beyond that, there was an unsettling si- lence-and no other sign of The Leader. As was truein the twilight years ofJoseph Stalin and Chairman Mao, the true state of Brezhnev's health was one of the world's best kept secrets. But NEWSWEEK has learned that a ten- a e U.S. intelligence document re rts t at Brez nev suffered a very serious" stroke in Tashkent two wee s ago and is now in a Moscow hilos ere _ rt concludes that even rezhnev survives his ordeal, he will be unable to hold NEWWS:1~EIC 12 APRIL 1982 e V;1- in 27zl `Desperate Situation : Even if Brezhnev ; night Brezhnev returned from Tashkent, does struggle back, it is hard to see how he., two black ZIL limousines pulled up_ to a can effectively run the Soviet Union for special hospital on Granovsky Street near long. His decline leaves the country facing a the Kremlin, where Politburo members fre- d b d f i istur ing per o o instability. Brezhnev does nothave a natural successor in waiting. The Soviets are overextended in Afghani- stan and Poland and in lesser adventures in the troubled Third World. Compounding: those uncertainties, a growing economic crisis now tugs at the Soviet Union and most of its Eastern European satellites. "They're in a more desperate situation than I had assumed," observed Ronald Reagan in his press conference last week. For a time a succession crisis could force Soviet leaders to focus their energies and attentions on the home front. But there were also worries that a Soviet Union weakened or off balance could well turn more aggressive. The rumors of Brezhnev's collapse began two weeks ago after the Soviet leader made a taxing four-day visit to Tashkent in Uzbekistan. When Soviet television and newspapers failed to carry the customary photographs of Brezhnev's return to Mos- 1 of onto power for o as General Secretary t e oy et Communist lsarry a-,' Pres~ dent oft-ha Soviet Union. a need to prepare for Brez_ nev's succession, the report says, prompted leaders to postpone a n- tra Committee meeting scheduled for last week until late May. The report also pro- diets that Brezhnev will resign his posts at the May meeting. There are already numer- i ous sus that a shadowy battle or- Me sue cession has begun among a_groPolit- - el buro members 'who are still- A u own in the West (page 33)..`"They are going to use the Central Committee to make the succession look like a democratic . . . , Other sources were a good deal more guarded. They said doctors were still not sure whether Brezhnev had actually suf- fered a mild stroke or a transient prestroke condition called "spasms of the cerebral vessels." They were hoping that the second, less serious, diagnosis was correct. If so, Brezhnev could reappear within a- few weeks. "It is not a matter of life or death yet," said one Soviet insider, who suggested Brezhnev may be under treatment at his well-equipped sickroom at home"rather than in the hospital. . j official " said one U S choice With his health faltering and his career drawing to an end, the Kremlin's. power struggle begins cow, word spread quickly that he had been hospitalized. Suspicions deepened when a scheduled visit to the Kremlin by South Yemen's President Ali Nasir Muhammad was abruptly canceled. According to one report, Brezhnev had suffered a stroke at the airport in Tashkent; his aides had to lift him on to theplane and later carried him on a stretcher to a Moscow hospital. The un- confirmed report also said that Brezhnev's family had gathered around his hospital bed and that the atmosphere was "like a wake." Predictably, Soviet officials refused to comment on the reports. But Brezhnev's personal physician, Yevgeny Chazov, can- celed a scheduled trip to England. On the quently go for treatment. (ZIL's are the official vehicles of Politburo members, and Brezhnev's is the only motorcade that in- cludes two ZIL's.) Normally, traffic signs discreetly steer unauthorized cars away from Granovsky Street where some senior Moscow officials. live, while a policeman patrols the corner. Last week a metal barrier blocked off the street. "Dangerous Zone," warned a sign-although there was no haz- ardous construction work in sight. By all accounts, Brezhnev's health has been declining for years. There have been repeated unconfirmed reports that he re- ceives injections for a nerve affliction in his jaw, requires blood transfusions for a mild form of leukemia and wears a, pacemaker. He is also reported to have taken regular medication for a heart condition and has apparently had several heart spasms-the latest in February. At a trade-union con- gress shortly after the latest attack, Brezh- nev repeatedly halted working sessions for unscheduled breaks-apparently so he could rest and get-medical help. He was also reportedly looking frail and distracted when he met a Finnish delegation at the Kremlin last month. During a'90-minute talk with Finnish President Mauno Koi- visto, Brezhnev was able to focus on the discussion only for the first half hour. Hearing Aid: In recent months signs of Brezhnev's deterioration have also shown up with startling frequency in public. When a group of Soviet leaders went to the Mos- cowArtTheaterlast month to see "Thus We' l Shall Triumph," a play about Lenin's twi- light years, Brezhnev had problems ------ hearing aid. Like many people with hearing problems, he reacted by speaking in an ab- C?NTMUE.Q Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100740015-5 .