KGB chief accuses Peace Corps workers of spying in Russia
Lubyanka, headquarters of the KGB. KGB directors from Lavrentiya Beriya to Yuriy Andropov had their office on the third floor of the building. The center of the square was dominated by a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the first communist secret police, the Cheka. Like many others, the statue was torn down by a crowd during the 1991 coup attempt
Read and comment on this story from Russia Journal on an interview with Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Federal Security Service (previously known as the KGB), that accuses Peace Corps volunteers of attempting to gather information about Russian officials. "Some of them were engaged in collecting information about the sociopolitical and economic situation in Russian regions, about government employees and administrators and the course of elections," Patrushev said.
This is the latest episode in the ongoing controversy between the United States and Russia over the continued presence of Peace Corps Volunteers in Russia. Earlier this year, the Russian government refused to extend the visas of 30 of the 64 Peace Corps workers already in the country. At the time, the Russian government gave no explanation. RPCVs have speculated that Russia is using the Peace Corps to signal its displeasure with other US government policies.
For the record, there is no evidence of intelligence gathering by the Peace Corps or by Peace Corps Volunteers over the agency's 40 year history.
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FSB chief accuses Peace Corps workers of spying
December 15, 2002 Posted: 14:10 Moscow time (10:10 GMT)
MOSCOW - In a wide-ranging interview about spying in Russia, the head of Russia's security service on Sunday accused U.S. Peace Corps volunteers of attempting to gather information about Russian officials.
Earlier this year, the Russian government refused to extend the visas of 30 of the 64 Peace Corps workers already in the country. At the time, the government gave no explanation.
"Some of them were engaged in collecting information about the sociopolitical and economic situation in Russian regions, about government employees and administrators and the course of elections," said Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Federal Security Service, according to the Interfax news agency.
The interview was given to Russia's state-controlled television and Russian news agencies. The security service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, is the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
Patrushev said that the Peace Corps still has about 200 volunteers working in nearly 30 Russian regions. Peace Corps officials in Moscow could not immediately be reached for comment.
Despite the end of the Cold War and the general warming of relations between Russia and the West, the espionage trade remains alive and well with Russia and the United States frequently trading accusations of spying.
Recounting the FSB's successes, Patrushev noted an alleged attempt by U.S. spies to recruit a Russian defense employee as an agent in 2001. In April, allegations emerged that a Russian defense worker who went to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to seek information about a missing relative was given drugged cookies and drinks in a failed attempt to break his will and recruit him.
"We prevented a heavy blow from being delivered to Russia's defense capabilities and security," Patrushev said, according to Interfax, referring to the alleged U.S. espionage effort.
The Russian security service had earlier identified the defense worker's contact at the U.S. Embassy as Yunju Kensinger, a third secretary in the embassy's consular department. Patrushev said that Kensinger was expelled from the country and two Russian citizens were arrested. The U.S. Embassy has refused to comment on the allegations.
Patrushev also hailed the conviction of businessman Viktor Kalyadin, who was found guilty this summer of providing military information to the United States. Patrushev said Kalyadin was allegedly trying to collect information about Russian defense priorities, Interfax said.
Patrushev also noted that Russia's security service had apprehended an Azerbaijani officer assigned to maintain contacts with the militaries of former Soviet states. The officer, identified by Patrushev as Maj. Gen. Rasulov, was allegedly caught with documents that "represented a state secret." He has been barred from entering the country for five years.
Patrushev also expressed concerns about Turkish extremist sects operating in Russia and trying to gain information about the situation in the North Caucasus, where Russian troops are engaged in the second war in a decade in breakaway Chechnya. "The sect ... promoted pro-Islamic ideas among Russian youths," Patrushev was quoted as saying.
The FSB blocked the activities of more than 50 of the alleged sect's members in mainly Muslim regions of Russia in the last year, Patrushev said.
Background on the Peace Corps in Russia
The Washington Post reported on August 12 that the Russian government had "moved to kick out dozens of Peace Corps workers in a decision that could severely hinder the program's operations here and prevent new volunteers from coming."
The Associated Press reported on August 13 that the US Peace Corps "has canceled plans to send a new batch of volunteers to Russia this year, because the government is refusing, without explanation, to issue visas."
Read PCOL's ongoing coverage of the Peace Corps in Russia at:
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