SOVIET BREACHES OF TREATY PROMISES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170015-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2011
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: November 19, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170015-0
02N F At,1 ~- IS
t
nuclear
= and l
'-'wr.u..LAiJMLraLlon nas proved re- offensive use, v o - ?r ????~ av~ 1Vw me nrsv casualties," the ~.
luctant to call the Soviet Union to ac- War offensive - Probably since World port states.
eount=for two glaring breaches of sot- In late April 1979, Sverdlovsk resi- for, Noting an individual is jo that an effective lethal dose 1000
;emn treaty promises, reported by U.S. dents were jolted bya loud explosion, spores, the CIA concludes that an anthrax
,j
intelligence agencies. probably in a laboratory at the biolo '-
". The two episodes - a Se t. 14 un- tremely large number' of the spores
P cal warfare installation the C},ak
ae.....,.....a
a. m?
`
THE WASHINGTON POST
19 November 1980
of
Bre~~~s ~ ~ t
Treaty Promises FAT TCnonna F{. .4 ,- _-?' i
- Provided convincing evidence that Reservists at the military .. ` . peaceful or defensive research being base
were the Kremlin has been systematically the first to die. Next werworkers at a ; Conducted there ,
"violating provisions of two arms-con- ceramics :. factory
downwind wheretrolr treaties with the United States. ' ventilators suked . in concentrated
The. agreements are the Threshold, quantities of the anthrax germs. . -
Test Ban,Treaty of 1576'andthe--bac The official. Soviet explanation was
iteriollogical. weapons ban signed in that the victims, who died within six or
1972:" . G seven hours, had contracted anthrax
Intelligence sources told my associ- from an illegally slaughtered cow. A
ate Dale Van Atta the September nu- classified. CIA- report dated April 4,
clear explosion was - somewhere, be-- 1980, notes that, however, the deaths
tween ,160,and 650 kilotons. Many ex- ".were caused :by pulmonary anthrax as
perts conclude that' the wide diver- opposed to gastric or.-skin anthrax,
gence in measurement data suggests which would be more likely if anthrax-
that the actual intensity of the blast contaminated beef were eaten or han-
was around 400 kilotons died."
U.S.1officials could not ignore the in- "The ceramics factory was sprayed
cident, as they have often done in inside .and out with chioramine, and
previous.cases, because-even the lowest large areas around the military instal- 1
yield estimate was Well above the 150- lation were graded and covered with
kiloton limit permitted by the thresh asphalt," the CIA reported. "Wild ani-
old treaty. So the United States offi- coals in a small forest near the [facility]
cially ".expressed "concern" to Soviet . were allegedly killed, and most dogs in
Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. - the city district were picked up and
The'-violation of the, germ-warfare 'destroyed."
treaty. could be even more serious. The The exact number of casualties was
Sverdlovsk disaster,, which killed hun? covered up, but analysts, have esti-
,dreds of Soviet citizens by the release mated the toll at between 200 and
;of deadly anthrax, bacilli, was appar- 1,000 . 'Unconfirmed reports claimed
' ently the, final-evidence. needed to per- i that,, the - installation 'commander, a
suade-the CIA that the Russians have general 'officer, committed suicide fol-
a .~~ cus~ncz or the city. Clouds of an- tivel n - e ec-
germ-warfare accident in Sverdlovsk thrax bacilli were released y `any assessment of i
-
have been released ? ff
i Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170015-0