Kremlin Denounces U.S. Expulsion of Diplomat

MOSCOW —  The Soviet Union on Friday accused the FBI of “gross provocation” in detaining and expelling a Washington-based Soviet diplomat, and alleged that FBI agents forced him from his apartment house without shoes or coat, prevented him from calling his embassy for several hours and offered him financial aid if he defected.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov refused to rule out the possibility that American diplomats might be ordered to leave Moscow in retaliation.

“The U.S. side assumes all the responsibility for what happens in the future,” he warned.

But official Soviet reaction to the expulsion of Lt. Col. Yuri N. Pakhtusov was notably muted on two counts. For one thing, Gerasimov was careful to blame the FBI, not the Bush Administration, for what he called “a hostile act.”

“I would classify this as an instance of gross provocation staged by those people in the United States who are reluctant to accept improvements in Soviet-American relations,” Gerasimov said. “Of course, the full responsibility will rest on U.S. special services for what happened.”

Secondly, the Soviet spokesman repeatedly declined to deny that Pakhtusov had sought to obtain secret information. Asked three times whether Pakhtusov had engaged in espionage, Gerasimov repeated details of the arrest and said that Pakhtusov, reportedly a military intelligence officer, “did not carry out any actions incompatible with his diplomatic status.”

The FBI said that Pakhtusov, 35, took up his post as a military attache in Washington last June and two months later contacted an American civilian employee of a computer company in an effort to try to acquire documents showing how the U.S. government protects secrets in its computer system. The employee reported the contact to the FBI and Pakhtusov was placed under surveillance for six months, the FBI said. Neither the employee nor the company was named.

Received Document

Pakhtusov was arrested Wednesday after he received classified documents from the American employee, according to U.S. officials, who said that no classified information had reached the Soviet Union.

U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Jack F. Matlock Jr. dismissed as nonsense any allegation that the FBI had behaved in a hostile manner.

A senior U.S. diplomat here observed: “The expulsion was a perfectly legitimate act, showing simply that we take our internal security seriously. It shouldn’t have any repercussions on Soviet-American relations.”

But the official Soviet news agency Tass said the allegation that Pakhtusov was a spy was a “sin against truth,” and added:

“What is behind this affair? It is only left for us to presume that not everybody in the United States is pleased with the long-awaited thaw in relations between the two superpowers. Not everyone, apparently, is pleased that ever-growing numbers of Americans are lately showing sympathy with what is happening in the Soviet Union, displaying unconcealed interest in the ongoing processes in our country.”

Pakhtusov was identified by U.S. sources as a member of the GRU, the intelligence branch of the Red Army. Soviet officials refused to confirm or deny this.

Tass and Gerasimov offered differing accounts of Pakhtusov’s arrest. Tass said Pakhtusov was arrested Wednesday night when he left his apartment to carry out the garbage. The news agency said he wore only light trousers, an undershirt and slippers.

“Pakhtusov was dragged to a car and handcuffed,” Tass said. “He was not allowed to go back and get dressed, or to see his wife, who remained home with his two children not knowing what had happened to her husband, who had gone out for only a few seconds.”

Gerasimov said Pakhtusov was visiting an American friend who lives in his apartment house when “FBI agents forced their way into the flat. . . . Pakhtusov was subjected to physical force. He was put into handcuffs. He was even denied the basic right to immediately get in contact with the Soviet Embassy and to report this incident.

Barefoot in the Cold

“Pakhtusov was not allowed to put on his overcoat and shoes, despite the cold weather. He was brought to the FBI, where for a long time he was denied the opportunity to contact Soviet representatives. The staff of the FBI attempted to persuade Pakhtusov to defect and promised financial assistance in exchange.”

Gerasimov said the expulsion of the diplomat was “incompatible with the new, constructive atmosphere which has been emerging in Soviet-U.S. relations.”

Secretary of State James A. Baker III met this week in Vienna with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze. It was their first formal meeting since Baker came to office, and the two plan more talks in Moscow in May.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman declined to respond in detail to the Soviet allegations about the FBI.

“The reason for our action was very simple,” Redman said. “He (Pakhtusov) was caught red-handed with the goods, and no amount of verbiage can change that.”

Redman said the Soviets “have protested the expulsion but have advised us that Pakhtusov will be leaving as requested. There is no reason to believe it should affect our relationship. The Soviets know, as they always have, that we will protect our national security whenever it’s threatened.”

The last time a Soviet diplomat was expelled from the United States was in December, 1987, when Mikhail Katkov, a middle-level official at the Soviet U.N. Mission in New York City, was sent home as an alleged spy.

Times staff writer Jim Mann, in Washington, contributed to this article.

U.S.-SOVIET EXPULSIONS

June 14, 1985--Soviets expel Paul M. Stombaugh, second secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, accusing him of being involved in a “widespread espionage operation.” March 14, 1986--Soviets expel Michael Sellers, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, on spying charges. May 14, 1986--Soviets expel American diplomat Erik N. Sites, an embassy attache, for “unlawful espionage actions” after he was discovered with a Soviet citizen identified as a recruit of an American intelligence service. Oct. 1, 1986--The United States expels 25 Soviet diplomats, accusing them of spying. Oct. 19, 1986--Soviets expel five U.S. diplomats, accusing them of engaging in “actions which are incompatible with their official status.” Oct. 21, 1986--The U.S. orders 55 Soviet diplomats in Washington and San Francisco to leave the country and bars the Kremlin from filling another 19 vacancies in those cities. Oct. 22, 1986--In retaliation, the Soviets expel five more American diplomats and withdraw 260 Soviet employees from U.S. missions in Moscow and Leningrad. Dec. 18, 1987--U.S. expels Soviet diplomat Mikhail Katkov, accusing him of trying to acquire military data.