SOVIETS' SPY NETWORK DAMAGED, U.S. BELIEVES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100032-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: October 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100032-2
AR ICLE APPEARED" BALTIMORE SUN
23 October 1986
Soviets' spy network
damaged, U.S. believes
By Mark Matthews
Washington Bureau of The Sun
WASHINGTON - U.S. expul-
sions of Soviet diplomats have dealt
a crushing blow to Soviet intelli-
gence here by wiping out a substan-
tial part of its senior management,
administration officials said yester-
day.
Tuesday's announced ouster of
55 diplomats virtually stripped the
Soviets' San Francisco consulate of
its intelligence apparatus and re-
moved a significant number of se-
nior officers in the Washington em-
bassy, the officials said.
These expulsions, combined with
the previous departure of 25 Soviet
U.N. mission employees In New
York, mark "an end of an era in So-
viet operations," said one official.
who with two others briefed report-
ers.
While Soviet intelligence is not
.out of business," it will have to pro-
mote less experienced officers to act
as both managers and as contact
agents for Americans recruited as
spies, such as convicted spy John
Walker, the officials said.
Among those ousted were top
representatives of the KGB. the Sovi-
et domestic security apparatus; the
GRU, the military intelligence arm:
and key specialists in science and
technology. politics, economics and
penetration of the CIA and FBI, they
said.
And the expulsions probably will
produce a struggle between Soviet
intelligence services and the Foreign
Ministry over which side will get to
fill vacancies in the reduced diplo-
matic presence allowed by the Unit,
ed States.
The expulsions were described as
part of an administration long-term
goal, strongly encouraged by con-
gressional intelligence committee
members, of reducing the Soviet
Union's diplomatic presence and by,
so doing cut its intelligence forces.
The United States has estimated
that one-third of Soviet diplomats in
this country are spies.
A law enacted last year required
the administration to achieve parity
in the number of Soviets stationed
here with the number of Americans
in the Soviet Union, but it did not
specify how that would be achieved.
Such was the size of the Soviets'
presence that they were into gravy-
land," one official said. Over the past
decade, he said, Soviet intelligence
has been able to acquire U.S. tech-
nology that has given them "a leg up"
strategically.
The officials said that division
within the government, questions
about the appropriate timing and
"potential political fallout" slowed
the decision to act.
The initial administration target',
was the Soviets' United Nations mis-
sion, which the administration last
spring ordered to be cut by 25. In
September, after the Soviets had in-
dicated reluctance to act and amid
the Daniloff-Zakharov affair, the'
United States identified the expelled
diplomats by name, contending that
all were linked with either the KGB
STAT
or GRU.
At that time, the administration
warned the Soviets that retaliatory
expulsion on their part would trigger
a reduction in the overall Soviet
presence here. After Sunday's ex-.
pulsion of five American diplomats
from Moscow and Leningrad, "we
felt it was of great importance to do
what we said we would do," another
official said.
"When we send the Soviets a
clear cautionary message, they
should be able to rely on our word,"
he said.
Among those picked for Tues-
day's announced expulsion were
those in the ranks of experienced,
intelligence officers on repeat tours
in this country, the kind used by the
Soviets to run their intelligence net-
work.
They represent "either the bright-
est or the best-connected" of Soviet
intelligence officers, a third official
said.
"The people who would handle
... the Walkers" are those on their
"second, third or fourth tour," he
said. Those of lesser importance also
expelled include communications
specialists, report writers and code
clerks.
The diplomats declared "persona
non grata" will not be able to serve
in allied Western countries again, he
said.
The Soviets could increase their
reliance on "illegals," people dis-
patched to the United States as part
of the emigre flow, often with false
documents.
"Illegals can be very dangerous,
but they never substitute for a case
officer working at an embassy." the
third official said. "You have to have
a mix and match."
The Soviets may respond by in-
creasing their intelligence presence
in other countries, an official said.
They might also nfake greater use of
commercial representatives. But
since these don't have diplomatic
immunity, they are subject to prose-
cution if caught.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100032-2