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Aspects of Union Treaty Discussed
otto* KRASNA YA ZVEZDA inepiru
(Report by Colonel A. Bcloutov: "The Future Nature of
(TexiJ The future all-Union treaty it attracting more and more attention. Consultations between plenipotentiary representatives of Union republics and USSR Supreme Soviet working groups were already held during the first stage. It was deemed ripcdicnt to setreparatory committee which would comrpisc the top leaders of Union republics, the USSR president, the chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet, and the chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers As for the expert groups whose purpose rt to assist the committee's work, they have already embarked on discussions of the all-Union treaty's details.
The group of experts on problems of defense, military policy, state security, and border protection began its work in Moscowugust. Representatives of the Russian. Bctoeussian. Turkmen. Kaiakh, Tajik, andUnion republics. USSR people's deputies, and USSR Ministry of Defense experts took part in the exchange of opinions on lhal day The conversation beganiscussion of the main point: What should our Armed Forces be like? Should theyingle interlinked com plcx functioning on the basis of decisions made by the top organs of USSR stale power, or should the republics autonomously decide questions of defense?
V. Panfcrov, acting chairman of lhe RSFSR Council of Ministers State Committee for Military Questions; Bclorustian SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic] People's Deputies L. Privalovribanov; Kaiakh SSR People's Deputy T. Zhumasultanov; Turkmen SSRDeputy P. Korotkiy. Tajik SSR Representative A. Abduroaiaov. and Kirghii SSR Representative S. Iskakov supported in principle the view expressed by mililary opens headed by Lieutenant General ofM. Kuineisov; Colonel V. Ochirov. deputy chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Committee for Defense and State Security Questions; and I. Novoseio'. consuliaianiSSR Supreme Soviet Secretariat Section; and spoke ia favor of unified Armed Forces. This was preceded by quilc heated debates, andof opinions on individual issues emerged even between members of the same delegations Military questions which arc the exclusive province of union republics also became topics of considered discussion
G. Taraievich. chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Soviet of Nationalities Commission for Nationalities Policy and Inicrethnic Relations, addressed theof union republics and specialists I
The expert groups continue their work.
Urals Bacteriological Accident Suspected9
90SVOOISA Moscow UTERATURNA YA GAZETA In Russian2 Aug2
(Article by Nalalya Zenova. LITERATURNAYA GAZETA special correspondent for lhe Urals: "Military Secret: Reasons for the Tragedy in Sverdlovsk Must Be Investigated1'!
(Text) "In the spring8 in the American state ofot far from the military experimentation center for chemical and biological weapons atheep suddenly dropped dead.
"Military officials denied any involvement in this event, maintaining an innocent air over lhe course of eight months. Under the pressure of evidence, however, they were forced to acknowledge 'a slight mistake' committed whileew variety of weapon.
"'Wind direction changedn Armyslated, explaining that ihe sheep hadethal cloud.
"'And what if the wind had carried it in the otherorrespondent asked. 'There couldity there!-
Thusrightening fantasy concerning the destinyictitious cily written by American author Henryranslation of his novel "Thunder Amidst Clear Skies" (Americanwas published by NASH
Yes. There Couldity There
Magazine book excerpts lie on my desk, read and reread with pencil inui not al all because the novel siaggrrs with its artisticlooksfrom that point of view, but no better than that. And in no way for the reason the editors had hoped for, predicting lhal the novel "will auraci Ihe Soviet reader's attention by its antimilitaristr that it "iruthfully reveals the inhumaniiy of the American military'industrial
For me "Thunder Amidst Clear Skies" is notenacing fuluristic warning. And ihe destruction of its heroes is nol just the dcaih of literary characters. The novel directs my thoughts far fromn the contrary, it rivets them to something tbat occurred "here."
l lhat lime too it was spring. And people also fell sick for unexplained reasons. And they too died in torment. And even the number of victims was about the same.
m today firmly convinced lhat in the springeadly cloud arose over our military center and the wind carried it precisely in the direction where not only "there couldut where my native Sverdlovsk was.
Date :
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doctor
microbiologist, of course, but in my opinion we were dealing with some kind of anthrax apparently mixed with plague. The propenies were similar to both And they were dead-endwas not passed on any funherby an individual il had struck. One mutt give it ill*at an astounding thing. Il struck precisely those people who were needed."
"What was this thing then in Sverdlovsk?"
"There can be nowe had wai watte from a
bacteriological weapon "
"You were ai Hotpilali that time?"
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I was athen Noember of an emeriency anti-epidemic com mission, rveryihing began during my watch.ad three people die. The umr Ihingecondhen we started soul-searching and consulting our leadingheyulture. Laboratory results led ui to the idea that dearly something was wrong here. Then weap of the area and wind rose, looked at tl. aad taw that iheyalt coming from the same place From here one didn't have lo be aknows we haveh military installation.
Then came civilian people, military people. Allhough Ion the emergency epidemic commission, we had ao information whatsoever When we started io askthey let us know very politely but very firmly that il would be better to beas especially struckrofessor from Moscow. He was an expert, of course, andery fine manner of speaking, bul it is simply amazing how he was able to concoct suchtalk io prettily at length about nothing,"
"Do you have any figures to operate with?"
an only say (hateds were prepared for hospitalization."
"And how do you relate lo how closed we are on this mbjeeir
"What do we have, what do we noiveryone prefers lo remain silent concerning bacteriological weapons. It ii indecent to talk about this in decent society"
B. ZlsJIn. doctor of medical telenets, chiefigisl nf the region
"Al thatas consulting in ihe intensive care department of Hospitalaw several patients at the same lime with the tame symptoms,as convinced ihat thisa serious contagion wiihas unfamiliar. It immediately affects all thethe lungt, (he brain, and the
"And did the people die quickly?"
"One womanittle better off and mil conscious. She (old me that everyihini beganeverish chill, ind ihat toon she was short of breath. They quickly put her on artificial respiration too and, like ihe others, sheound thismmediately lelephoned ihe regional public healthequestede military reveal whether Ihis waj theiralf hour later they called me and said that everythingfine wilh the
"Several years havehai is your opinion loday?"
"They were obligated to speak up. Secreti areelieve that more thaneopleerhaps they managed lo save some of them."
"But lei us suppose, God forbid of course, thatsimilar happens again. How will you and your cofleaguet react?"
ee something like lhalill find
"If il is something like that Bui might you tee something quite differenir
o not think to. Buluppose that the militaryl not hide it in the future. They do not have ihe right'"
A. Ope- Secret
"They do no* have ther
Back then the military denied everything. And now?
This spring, theth Installation" was published in the oblatt newspaper URALSKJY RABOCHIY. It brought out into the open the military poiai of view on the evenUlotnikov vu.ied thai installation together with membersepresentaiive delegation. This spared me Ihe trouble of following that same trail and asking ihote tame questionsave reason to believe that the "slir" around the long-buried subject began after the interest shown in it oo the pan of Ihe UTERATURNAYA GAZETA eo-re ipondenl Bul that is off the subject.
The article talks about the visit to Ihe militaryor. more accurately, the military epidemiology sector of the Scientific Research Institute forof the USSR Min.ttry of Defense. Yes, (he miliury admits, earlier "the institute studied the technology and production of vaccinaliont for the protection ofand the populationumber of dangerousoday the center isoil accounting basis, andesult it is quite interested in cooperating mtht has communicated facts in detail in the areas where it was possible Such facts, of course, are important.magine lhal the residents of Sverdlovsk were cheered up most of all by the news that production of vaccinations "for defense of troops and theceased here.
But what happened when the previous wort was ttiB in full swing?hareehko. chief of the military epidemiology sector, givet anuote: "The rumors which were going around Ihe city in the spring9 loeffect thai an explotion look place on ihe territory of our institution and that ihe anthrax pathogen was discharged into ihe external environment do noi have any real basis, primarily because we have never had any explotiont of any sort."
But what aboul discharges? They happenegular basis even to thisew paragraphs later it is stated that "all discharges inio the air and sewage are filtered andhat good it correcting theinaccuracies? lo the end. what is the mainfor the affected region of the meant by which the misfortunedischarge, or exhaust?
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the colonel did not produce any further testimony, and instead of arguments he substituted the following psychological observation; "'I believe that this absurd story has circulated because the majority of people are more ready to believe in fantastic things than in real and natural explanations."
I did not get the impression lhat the doctors withad talked were so ready lo believe in lhequite the opposite in fact.
On behalf of the educated minority with explanations. B. Mikhaulov, sector specialist, addresses the fantasizing majority: "Inthis has beenthe outbreak of anthrax illnesses among people was causedrevious outbreak of this disease among agricultural livestock in many population centers of ihc southern pan of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Professoreiden-ezhnyye and V. Nikiforov wrote an article aboul this which was published0 in ZHURNAL
I looked up the article he bad named, not without ihc shudderilettante: The journal is highly technical. But lhe article by I. Bezdenzhnyyehe former chief inspector of the RSFSR [Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic' who came at that time from Moscow to the Sverdlovsk extraordinary evcnl and headed the commission lhat was created (its medicalabsolutely readable. Moreover, it seemed that it would be more difficult for specialists in view of the scarcity of facts.
I personally had questions for the authors, and many of them.
Foread: "Sporadic illnesses of anthrax in one of the areas of Sverdlovsk preceded the outbreak of anthrax among agricultural livestock on individual farms of the adjoiningt lhal same lime isolated instances of anlhrax illnesses among people were
How were they isolated? What aboul theospital beds that were readied? Andeople who died? Ut us recall thatied almost simultaneously in Hospitale will add theost-mortems with the same diagnosis in Hospitalathological anatomist who attended all these post-mortems, gave this figure. We will also add several cases which occurred at other medical institutions. And these are all isolated illnesses?
nd there were skin and intestinal forms of thehy only skin and intestinal? What about pulmonary?
I quote the article again: 'That the disease is related to anthrax was confirmed by the results of laboratory tests of sick people and animals. The pathogen of anlhrax was isolated from meat taken for tests from two families of patients. In both cases the meat had been purchased from private persons. The strains of the anthraxisolated from the meat were not distinguishable from the strains isolated from the patients."
But does this prove that the events that are mentioned are part of the specific chain of terrifying events that shook the city back then? Are there really no grounds to suppose that they existed parallel with them?
1 had the opportunity to travel to the cemetery, visit the houses, and resort to the archives of thestablished that the first patients died at Hospital No.pril. And the first articles about weakened livestock and their possible infection appeared in the local press onpril. Which rxcccdcd which? Docs not the conclusion suggest itself that the people died first and thenesult of their deaths preventive warnings were "superimposed"?
ven pose this question within the bounds of the scholarlyuoted. Why. if it was "simply" anthrax in Sverdlovsk, did people in military uniforms play first violin in Ihe investigation of facts? Why was the whole story or the illness eliminated along with all records and all documentation from "concerned"Why now.ears afterward, arc officials again visiting here and there on investigations? Is any other answer possible?
1 huntedrivate home in the suburb of the cityoman who died in Hospitalne of the first, had onceeld in my hands her death certificate which gave "bacterial pneumonia" as the cause. Some people had come for lhat certificate and wished to lake it away, but the family would not give it up: "It is ours. It is all that is left to us."
anolher household whoseorkereramic factory, had died with the same diagnosis.
ersonally have an answer for all thosedeclared it openly al the very beginning. But however well-argued it seems toecognized that it isrivate opinion andrivaic investigation. Official conclusions are needed. Quickly.
ragedy it should beragedy, andshould be called guilty. And to the degree thaipresented here is grounds for aon behalf of the editorial board Ihethat our parliament createommission.
Otherwise we cannot ensure lhat lightning will nol strikeear sky again tomorrow.
Irku>sitNpiTicial Views Aircraft Export Problems
oscow Domestic Seryjce in
[Teal] For exporting co^tfjes. sales of miliiry hardware abroad have longinO^-ofrating for Ihe standard of their techncJogyHhe Irkutsk Aiscraft Faciory is now
Original document.
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