U.S. GOT TRUE ACCOUNT OF U-2 PLANE INCIDENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400100002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 8, 1999
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: NSPR

iND TIMES HERALD
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initized - Approved For Relea
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y no own, had antiaircraft defenses 1
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~PYRGHT (Fifth in a Series) CPYRGHT
By Frank Gibney
appeared, Khrushchev
7,
..Y Ole- P'enkovsl:y the order to use them.
c
N
Khrushchev kept his mouth
hut, because at that time
horn worp ~n flint
go into action so quickly.
Marshal Biryuzov, then
commander-in-chief of mix
site forces, was reprimand-
ed because he had not car
Col. Oleg Penkovski returned to Moscow on May G, cOui(i be e ec ive at lea - e n'cc moil 0 lC -..
fli
h
ghts-
e misgauged the
1061. from his first visit to London and set about in titudes where the U-2 air- !
craft were flying importance of the targets
earnest to gather more information for Western in.: When Powers was shot His forces wanted to fire
tC1li;ence. ?.~ down over' Sverdlovsk, it; when the aircraft from
n
h
k
the
th
a h
?~as
ot
ing to fire
e shoc
wave that
e
turned out to be the first ac ' ?
did it. The aircraft simply J with and the aircraft es?
hhing incidents on the So- his descent Powers lost colt -escaped if he had flown one.
Diet-American policy iron-, sciousness several times. He or one and a half kilometers
tiers-the downing of the was unconscious when they to the right of his flight
L?2 rceonnaissance plane in picked him up from the path.
X
1960 and the later Soviet at- conversatnon
innocuous (the ground; therefore, he was On May 5, after Powers
tack on another American --+ helpless to do anything and was knocked down, Khru-
aircraft off the coast of Si- room of a foreign visitor like did not put up any resist- shchcv ordered a suspension
beria. Wynne would probably be ante. On May 1 when this Of (secret) agent operations
When he returned to 14Ios (wired), Wynne gave Penkov incident 'happened I was to avoid the risk of being
cow, he stored his new cam-
era, film, radio receiver and
frequency instructions in a
secret drawer in the apart-
ment which he and his fami-
ly occupied on the Maxim
Gorky Embankment. But he
kept all knowledge . of . his
new espionage role from.
them.
As far as Vera Penkovsky
was concerned, her husband
was busy at his normal coil-
fidential talks. Her own
background as the daughter
of a "political" general con-
ditioned her `against asking
too many questions about
his late hours or unex-
slcy a package containing 30 Duty Officer at GRU (Mili? caught by a Western provo
Lary Intelligence) headquar? cation or, possibly, of fur,
fresh rolls of film and fur- : tcrs. 1 was the first one to 1 nishing, material for West.
then instructions from the report it to the ' GRU offi- c r n ' counterpropaganda.
Anglo-American intelligence. cials. There were many protests
team in London, At that moment, the KGB about dropping scheduled
con-
Far from suspecting any- did not have an English in. - meetings and other con-
terprcter. I was supposed tarts, but it had to be done.
thing strange in Pcnkov-' to talk to him because I was The resident in Pakistan
sky's meetings with Wynne, the only one around who ~ decided on.his own to pick'
his superiors in Soviet Mili- - had -some understanding of up material from a dead
Lary Intelligence continued; English-I had already rc- drop which was already
ported the incident to some loaded, in order to avoid
o think that he was "devel?: generals. If they had not possible compromise to the
oping" a promising British found a KGB interpreter at I agent. Foi this he was so.
contact.. Penkovsky's work, the last minute, I wouldj verely reprimanded by his
with the Soviet delegation have been the first one toi superior at the GRU even
in London was so highly re- interview Powers. though he did the right
thin '1 d 't ' tl
lug
e
plained absences. The best ' };"LUt:u, In i.ua, 611,LU Ilia ULL111,dtcly, LLICy CdLIC(I LII)i
Vera hoped for was another 1pleased superiors arranged; to say that I was not needed.
attaches-assignment abroad, to send him there again in It seems that the - KGB;
key, wwheir here 0shchcoulId prat- of .1 SovietcIndustrial~ Exhi= young fellowtShelepin, w;lo
the better clothes and corn- travel alone,. without any" die, replaced Scrov at the'
panionship of a foreign so., delegation. American and KGB), wanted to make the'
cicty. British intelligence could 11eport to Khrushchev per
a
"' en ))IULUI and picked rowers;
into Moseow on May 27, to!
resume business no otia One presumes that West-, up himself. But the military;
g
itlli fd i
negenceounn-
Lions with Pelkovsky's com? tensely valuable. not only
nlittoe on behalf of the Brit-' Pcallcovslcy's estimates of fu-
i
h fi
h
g.
,
'j, le
damage it did to the agent
network, Khrushchev or-
dered cessation . of agent
contacts during the period
when he was going to capi-
talize on the Powers in-
cident.
Khrushchev Lied
,Khrushchev followed
Powers' investigation' a n d
trial with great interest. He
had knocked Powers down, personally conducted the
and Powers was considered' propaganda activity con--~
e represented.. ? Io be a military prisoner.! nected with the case. lie
s
rms
Polikovsky met him with a' tune Soviet plans, but his lie should have been turned- was the first who began to
car at Shore otevo Airport., reconstruction of recent over to the General Staff, -shout about the direct --hit,
t events in Soviet-American N o n e t h e l e s s , the KGB
On the way into the city,, relations most of which seized him, took him to although actually there hail
"Alex," as Wynne called served only to underline Dzerzhinskiy Square, and;" been no such thing. Khru-
him, handed the English- his warnings about Khru? made their own report. He 1 shchev wanted to brag about
his missiles.
elan a packet of some 20. shchev's new policy of ag needed medical treatment,
exposed ? films and other gression? because he was still in; Khrushchev lied wl'.en he
documents, including his says that Powers was shot
' e
For rcnkovsky the intel? shock.
own reports, for delivery to ligonce information he gave down by the first missile
British and American intcl? was only a means to an end. New Rockets fired. Actually, 14 ? missile
ligence. - His real purpose was to. Earlier, when a U-2 flight; were fired at his plane. The,
The panic evening Pen- alert the American and Brit: came over in the direction shocic wave produced by the
lcovsky visited Wynne in his ish people to the danger of of Kiev-Kharkov, there hadj bursts caused his plan,' to
room at the 117etropol Hotel. Khrushchev's ".adventurist", been nothing to shoot with.: disintegrate. The exanlina- -
Taking care to keep their, tactics. As soon as the, new rockets!..tion of Powers'- plane pro-
Sanitized - Approved 'For ,Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400NRP e1,
oWers ingot, other U-:;1
lights had been made over,
" :Z il:B .~ Kiev and Kharkov, 'out'