DEFECTORS : THE 'FIFTH MAN' IS HERE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302000011-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2012
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: February 3, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/31 CIA-RDP90-00965R000302000011-8
ry ARTICLEAPP~ARED U. S .NEWS & WORLD REPORT
OlPAGE 1s 3 February 1986
Defectors: The "fifth man' is here
^ The Central Intelligence Agency
faced twin challenges in late January:
Keeping secret the existence of a fifth
high-ranking Soviet-bloc intelligence
agent who defected in 1985 and staving
off a drive to strip the CIA of the duty
of caring for defectors.
In addition to the four spies that the
government acknowledges fled to the
West, a KGB major general-the high-
est ranking defector of them all-was
brought to the U.S. last year, well-in-
formed American intelligence sources
told U.S.News & World Report.
The CIA, stung by last November's
redefection to Moscow of KGB Col.
Vitaly Yurchenko, is working behind the
scenes to ward off charges that it has
bungled its role as provider and friend to
defectors. The White House is consider-
ing a plan to give the job to a rival, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The CIA refused as a matter of policy
to comment on the latest
disclosed defection, and
the Kremlin has never ac-
knowledged it.
"Extremely valuable" is
how one source termed the
Soviet officer, who was
feeding secrets to the U.S.
even before he defected.
The major general, a pro-
fessional with technical ex-
pertise, is described as a
middle-age Russian who
often traveled to Soviet-
bloc countries. He was
smuggled out of East Ger-
many in late April or early
May by helicopter and de-
briefed at a U.S. base in
West Germany. He was hidden to pre-
and Yurchenko defected in
Rome in July.
Although those four be-
came known, U.S. authori-
ties kept the fifth secret.
His disclosure now carries
no apparent national-secu-
rity risk, but it may deepen
the CIA's woes. For one
thing, the major general
wants to remain anony-
mous-and is being given a
new identity. Also, the
CIA has clamped down on
any talk of defectors, part-
ly from fear of another
Yurchenko case and partly
to quiet critics who say it
vent press leaks that might have up- Harsh criticism of the agency came
staged the Geneva summit in November. 0from the Jamestown Foundation, a pri-
After the summit, he was flown to the vate group set up to work with high-level
U.S. and, because of the Yurchenko defectors. After the Yurchenko affair, it
fiasco, settled in the Midwest. was asked by the White House to assess
Yurchenko left his CIA handler be- CIA defector practices.
hind in a Washington restaurant and Jamestown said most defectors it
went to the Soviet Embassy to redefect. spoke to complained that they were as-
The newly revealed defector is said to signed to "low-level, insensitive, un-
be unlike Yurchenko, who seemed errat- trained, frequently rotated officers who
ic. The CIA's prize is termed a "strong did not speak their language.... Some
and steady" personality. One CIA agent say the treatment was so bad that they
called him a "top-notch guy." considered suicide" or redefection.
The "fifth man" was among the earli- Q Senator Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.), a
est, if not the first, of 1985's defectors. former Intelligence Commit-
Milan Svec, No. 2 officer at the Czecho- tee member, said the CIA
slovak Embassy in Washington, defect- shows "repetitious Nam-
ed on May 14; Sergei Bokhan, first secre- handedness," adding that "af-
tary at the Soviet Embassy in Athens, ter the CIA debriefs a defec-
went over to the West on May 25; Oleg tor, he shouldn't be dropped
Gordievsky, KGB station chief in Lon- into a hole."
don, changed sides in July or August, A tour of duty resettling
A FINE MESS YOU'VE
GOT US INTO, STANLEY....
defectors is not likely to advance a CIA
agent's. career, the Jamestown report
said. By contrast, defectors speak high-
ly of FBI agents, who are seen as un-
pretentious, friendly and sensitive, ac-
cording to the study.
The fear is that shoddy treatment of
Yurchenko and others may discourage
Eastern officials from fleeing. The foun-
dation's No. 1 proposal is to create an
interagency team led by the FBI rather
than the CIA to resettle defectors.
"I'm not sure yet which would be the
better agency," said Vice Chairman
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) of the Senate
Intelligence Committee. "I've asked for
a thorough review of Yurchenko, and
also one other defector that has not
been made public, to get a better view."
Other foundation recommendations:
? The U.S. guarantee defectors in-
comes equivalent to the government's
GS-I l salary-ranging from $26,381 to
534.292-so that money worries don't
add to the strain of abandoning home.
? The law be changed so that defectors
can become U.S. citizens in two years,
rather than the current five to 10.
? An institute staffed by defector
scholars be set up as a pool of "ideas
and insights" about the Soviet bloc.
Wallop, who backs the proposals,
said: "Defectors have much to offer and
their experiences should be
shared in the classroom, on
the speech circuit. They
should serve as useful beacons
for future defectors." ^
,by Charles Fen esi and
Kathryn o nson
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/31 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302000011-8