8 July 1998

    Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 16:17:56 -0700 (PDT)
    Subject: Defector Warns of Russian Plans
    To: jy@jya.com
    From: nobody@shinobi.alias.net (Anonymous)

    Associated Press, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 3:20 p.m. EDT

    Defector Warns of Russian Plans
    By Barry Schweid, AP Diplomatic Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former Soviet agent says Russia's military
    intelligence is gathering information on President Clinton, key
    congressional and military leaders and members of the Cabinet for
    assassination squads.

    Elite troops already are training in the United States and in the
    event of war "would try to assassinate as many American leaders as
    possible, as well as their families," Stanislav Lunev, a former
    colonel in the Russian military intelligence service, asserts in a
    book published Wednesday.

    They would also blow up power stations, telephone switching systems
    and dams and target secret landing sites for Air Force One, wrote
    Lunev, who defected in 1992.

    "The use of tactical nuclear weapons would be likely," he said.

    Declaring he wanted to use his experience "to warn America of the
    dirty tricks that can be played against her," the defector says
    Russian pilots are training for action against the United States
    and NATO.

    In the book, "Through the Eyes of the Enemy," and in an Associated
    Press interview, Lunev said special agents were entering the United
    States as foreign tourists on fake passports and that elite troops
    were locating sites to deposit small nuclear devices, known as
    "suitcase bombs," in the Shenandoah Valley outside Washington and
    the Hudson Valley of New York.

    "Russia remains terrified of the power of America, and Russian
    military intelligence does everything it can to prepare for a war
    that it considers inevitable," Lunev wrote.

    CIA and FBI officials declined to discuss the former colonel or his
    assertions. On one of his central points, that Russian mobsters
    have considerable control over the Russian government, including
    espionage operations, CIA spokesperson Anya Guilsher said:

    "The Russian intelligence security services have expressed public
    concern regarding Russian organized criminal ties to government
    officials. There is a determined effort under way to prosecute
    officials for criminal activity."

    Guilsher also said "the Russian mafia is something we continue to
    watch carefully."

    Last September, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official denied
    the existence of suitcase-size nuclear bombs, saying such devices
    would be technically possible but too costly and inefficient to
    produce.

    The statements by Lt. Gen. Igor Volynkin disputed claims by former
    Russian government officials that Moscow possessed the miniature
    bombs and had lost track of some of them.

    In the book, Lunev wrote that "America is facing a nation led by
    gangsters -- gangsters who have nuclear weapons. And some of these
    weapons are on American soil."

    In a telephone interview, Lunev said the Russian government cannot
    account for about 100 nuclear devices, and "it's possible" nuclear
    weapons already have been dropped in the Shenandoah and Hudson
    valleys or elsewhere in the United States.

    On the influence of Russian mobsters, he spoke without qualification.
    "The mafia controls the government and the political establishment,
    and as a result of this they have a huge influence over (President
    Boris) Yeltsin."

    Lunev shied away from registering an opinion of Clinton's decision to
    go to Moscow in September for talks with Yeltsin. "It's not my
    business," he said.

    However, Lunev said it was more important to talk to the Russian
    president about the proliferation of missile technology than to defer
    a summit until the Russian parliament approves the START II missile
    reduction treaty.

    Asked what his intentions were, Lunev said: "I wish America to take
    much more care about this country's national security because the
    Cold War is not finished."

    Lunev went on: "There is no military confrontation between the two
    blocs, but the Cold War is still in play and going on in much more
    dangerous ways. There is no open confrontation, but a lot of activity
    from special services and criminals."

    Insisting that Russia was preparing for war with the United States,
    the former intelligence officer said, "Russian pilots are training
    for action against NATO and the U.S. military. Russia still consider
    the United States and NATO the main potential military adversaries."

    Asked how U.S. officials responded to his allegations, Lunev replied:
    "They are very interested, but they are professional and they cannot
    provide emotions."

    Copyright 1998 The Associated Press