AT UNITED NATIONS, A HAVEN OF SOVIET SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605840001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/01 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605840001-1
ARTI ",I,I;
ON PLGZ_,R_
S . NEWS & WORLD RLPOKT
17 June 1985
At United Nations, a Haven of Soviet Spies
NEW YORK
Why would a Soviet clerical work-
er arrive at a United Nations post
fully briefed on the intri:acies of
New York's subway system?
And why would another routinely
keep tabs on license-plate numbers
of automobiles driven by FBI agents?
The better to spy. It has long been
an open secret around the U.N. that
the U.S.S.R. and other Communist-
bloc nations use the organization's
headquarters as a cover for a massive
spy effort aimed at acquiring secrets
from America and other countries.
The Soviet Union, Cuba and East-
ern European Communist states now
have about _1,500 people at the Unit-
ed Nations. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation believes
500 are full-time cloak-
and-dagger operatives.
While not all 800 Rus-
sians who work at the
United 'Nations are
spies, say authorities, all
are obliged to help with
espionage missions
when asked. In a June 5
report, the Senate's Se-
lect Committee on In-
telligence noted: "All
Soviets ... must re-
spond to KGB requests
for assistance."
Apart from maintain-
ing its own army of U.N.
spies, the KGB tries to
recruit Third World diplomats, influ-
ence world opinion and gather infor-
mation. "They have KGB meetings
right in the halls of the U.N.," says
James Fox, head of the FBI's Soviet
counterintelligence section.
Arkady Shevchenko, senior Soviet
official at the U.N. until his 1978 de-
fection, has told of briefings at which
the KGB gave him daily marching
orders. In his book Breaking With
Moscow, he says a key duty was find-
ing jobs for agents. Thirteen of the 20
diplomats assigned to him at the mis-
sion,?he says, turned out to be spies.
An assignment to the New York-
based organization provides the ideal
cover. U.N. Secretariat officials travel
freely in the United States, unencurn-
bered by restrictions
Soviet spy nest U.N. head- imposed on other Sovi-
quarters in New York. et diplomats. And they
carry special identifica-
tion that does not dis-
close nationality.
Russians sent to the
U.N. to spy are trained
before leaving Moscow.
FBI agents say that they
are well informed
about the subway. Its
crowded cars and many
stations make surveil-
lance difficult. They
also receive updates on
license-plate numbers
to help them spot trail-
ing FBI cars.
Under the best of circumstances, it
is nearly impossible to keep track of
the Russians. Many live in an apart-
ment complex owned by their gov-
ernment. They board buses each
morning and get off at the U.N.,
melding into the flow of people.
Many wear Italian or British suits and
speak unaccented English.
Cagey courtship. American agents
say that the primary target is infor-
mation. But even more damaging
may be the recruitment of spies
among other delegations. One exam-
ple. A prominent member of Nor-
way's delegation was accused in 1983
of passing North Atlantic Treaty Or-
ganization secrets to a Soviet spy at
the U.N. library. The Norwegian, it
was alleged, had been recruited by
the KGB years earlier.
"A Western official is less cautious-
if he's approached by someone from
a friendly country-rather than a Sovi-
et," explains a Senate aide who
worked on the Intelligence Commit-
tee's report. "That's a major source
of information for the KGB.
Most U.N. spy cases never make
the headlines. Instead, the FBI asks
the State Department to declare an
individual persona non grata. About
10 spies per year quietly leave the
U.S. in this manner.
But it is a revolving door..As'soon
as one spy is sent back to Moscow or
Prague, a replacement is on the way
to the big building on the East River.
within a matter of days. -
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/01 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605840001-1