EXPULSIONS 'DECAPITATE' SOVIET SPY NETWORK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100034-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: October 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100034-0
STAT
WASHINGTON 1IMES
23 October 1986
Expulsions `decapitate' Soviet
t,R i ICLE APPEARE
ON PAGE
spy network
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Soviet intelligence operations in
the United States will be "decapi-
tated" by the loss of 80 top spies
kicked out in two recent expulsions
of Soviet diplomats in Washington,
New York and San Francisco, Rea-
gan administration officials said
yesterday.
"The heyday of Soviet espionage
in the United States is over," said one
official.
Calling the latest expulsion "the
end of an era," another official said:
"The Soviets operated the largest
spy network in the world in the
United States, but no longer will they
have a massive, unchallenged,
bloated number of intelligence of-
ficers here as some kind of inherent
right or special privilege."
"It was a decapitation" of the two
Soviet intelligence services, the
KGB and the military GRU, the offi-
cial said. "It has to be a crushing
blow to their intelligence oper-
ations."
A series of expulsions began Sept.
STAT
17, when the administration ordered
25 Soviet diplomats at the United Na-
tions in New York to leave the coun-
try. The Soviets retaliated Sunday.
The United States responded
Tuesday by expelling 55 additional
Soviets. And yesterday, Moscow re-
taliated by kicking out five more U.S.
diplomats and removing 260 Soviet
citizens working at the U.S. Embassy
in Moscow
The administration officials, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said President Reagan would decide
what steps to take in the next few
days in response to yesterday's ac-
tion by the Kremlin.
The officials identified all 55 di-
plomats, who were ordered out of
the United States by Nov 1, as well
as the 25 diplomats expelled last
month, as the most senior members
of the KGB and GRU "espionage ap-
paratus" They included many spies
who had served several three-year
tours of duty, the officials said.
The 80 suspected spies were
picked from an estimated 300 Soviet
intelligence officers operating in the
United States, an official said.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201100034-0