CLAIM BY RUSSIA

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29273, 3 August 1960, Page 13

CLAIM BY RUSSIA

Arrest Of U.S. Spy (W.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MOSCOW, August 2. The Soviet Communist Party newspaper, “Pravda,” today reported that an American spy had been arrested by the Soviet State Security Service on the SovietPersian border, Tass said. The name -of the spy was given as V. M. Slavnov. “Pravda” was quoting a communique of the Soviet Government’s Committee for State Security. The communique said the spy had been sent to the Soviet Union by the United States intelligence service and had been arrested on the frontier trying to enter Persia.

The security service found on him secret information, which he carried to transmit to the American intelligence service. He.. also had several identity cards he had stolen from some Soviet citizens, the communique added.

The Soviet security service also discovered two caches in which the spy had concealed two portable radio transmitters, codes, cyphers, arms, ammunition, false documents and other espionage equipment received from the United States Central Intelligence Agency before his trip to the Soviet Union, the official report said. “Trained in Spy School” Moscow Radio said later that Slavnov had been trained in an American spy school in West Germany, and the 'American intelligence centre told him to establish himself in Leningrad and send information about Soviet defence installations, especially the location of rocket sites.

“Slavnov was also given the task of obtaining by any means samples of personal documents carried by Soviet Citizens—passports, identity certificates, party and Komsomol tickets, etc.— which the Central Intelligence Department of the U.SA. headed by Allen Dulles planned to use later for other American spies sent by the organisation into the Soviet Union.

“In addition, Slavnov was instructed to establish contact with criminal and unstable elements, and if possible to recruit some of them, for use in collecting espionage’ materials and in distributing anti-Soviet leaflets,” Moscow Radio added.