Вил Мирзаянов - State Secrets - An Insider's Chronicle of the Russian Chemical Weapons Program

That is why when Petr Mukshin, a reporter from the Interfax wire services, called me at 11:35 A.M. on March 11, 1994 and said that he had just received a fax from the Attorney General’s Office stating that my case had been dismissed, it was an enormous and very pleasant surprise for me.

Soon Asnis called and asked me to come to the Attorney General’s Office on Pushkin Street to receive an official copy of the resolution about the termination of my case for “lack of corpus delicti.” [360] Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines corpus delicti as the facts constituting a crime.

I was incredibly excited by this call. It took me a few minutes to get ready. Then I rushed off to the trolley-bus stop. An hour later I was in the Attorney General’s Office. A crowd of television reporters and photo journalists has gathered, waiting for us there with their questions. Mostly my lawyer answered them. Indeed, he was now the main character in focus, and the journalists received thorough and detailed explanations from him.

We got our passes and went to see Lev Baranov, the head of the department. He was extremely polite to me and said that he highly esteemed my convictions, which prevented me from acting outside of the framework of the law and from disclosing any secrets. I signed a receipt for the resolution [361] “RESOLUTION on the termination of the criminal case”, Moscow, March 11, 1994. See Annex 78. and we said good-bye to Baranov.

Although the termination of my case was expected, it was a sensation, and not just for me. The wire services and newspapers widely reported it. [362] Sergei Mostovshchikov, “The Mirzayanov Case was Terminated for Absence of Corpus Delicti”, Izvestia March 12, 1994. , [363] Vladimir Nazarov, “The Investigation is Over – Forget About it, Mr. Mirzayanov?!” Kuranty , March 12, 1994. , [364] Richard Seltzer, “All Charges Dropped Against Russian Chemist”, Chemical and Engineering News , March 21, 1994, p. 6. , [365] David Wise, “Novichok on Trial”, New York Times , March 12, 1994. , [366] Editorial: “Chemistry and the Life of Mirzayanov”, Moscow News , March 13, 1994. I was and am still proud of the conclusion of the editorial in Moscow News , which said that my “case had united scientists from many countries, human rights activists.” 366

The termination of my case was also the cause of a pleasant episode at one of the sessions of U.S. Senate on March 15 th. [367] Congressional Record. Proceedings and Debates of the 103d Congress, First Session. March 15, 1994, v. 140, N 28. S. 2958. See Annex 77.

I did not have enough time to give journalists interviews or to answer the telephone calls. Not only famous people congratulated me, but also many that I hadn’t known of before.

Gale Colby called from Princeton to let me know that I was awarded the distinguished 1994 Heinz R. Pagels Rights of Scientists Award of the New York Academy of Sciences, “in recognition of his courage and his singular demonstration of the moral responsibility of individual scientists in upholding the integrity of scientific knowledge in an emerging democratic society”. Professor Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel Prize laureate (who Gale only half-jokingly dubbed as “one of the gods of science”), and the President of the NYAS, called to confirm this and congratulated me.

The famous philanthropist and billionaire George Soros and another renowned Nobel Prize laureate James Watson awarded me the distinguished prize at a reception in the Radisson-Slavyanskaya Hotel, located near the Kiev Railway Station in Moscow. Mostly it was Americans who accompanied George Soros on his trip across Russia, who were present at the ceremony.

Was I happy? I can say I definitely was. My head was full of sunshine. Despite that, almost none of the problems that I raised have yet been solved. Novichok was unmasked then, and there was no real chance for that yet. My personal problems were also mounting, no job, and no real opportunities. I was still a Russian secret-bearer, and because of that, I didn’t have any chance to go abroad and to try to start my new life. Simultaneously I was defiant and recalcitrant, yet full of energy to struggle for my future…

AAAS — American Association for the Advancement of Science

A-208

O-i-C 4H 9

D

CH 3-P=O Substance 33

\

S-CH 2-CH 2-N(C 2H 5) 2

A-230

F

/

CH 3-P=O Substance 84

\

N=C(CH 3)-N(C 2H 5) 2

A-232

F

D

CH 3O-P=O A-232

\

N=C(CH 3)-N(C 2H 5) 2

A-234

F

D

C 2H 5O-P=O A-234

\

N=C(CH 3)-N(C 2H 5) 2

A-242

F

D

CH 3-P=O A-242

\

N=C-N(R) 2,where R – diethyl radical

\

N(R) 2

A-262

F

D

CH 3O-P=O A-262

\

N=C-N(R) 2, where R – diethyl radical

\

N(R) 2

A-235 — Russian code name of sarin

A-255 — Russian code name of soman

Complex ether — GOSNIIOKhT’s code name of Substance 33

C.P.S.U — Communist Party of the Soviet Union

CW — Chemical weapon

CWC — Chemical Weapons Convention

DDR — Democratic Russia Movement

FAPSI — Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information

FAS — Federation of American Scientists

Foliant — Soviet/Russian nerve agents program

FSB — Federal Service of Security

GC — Gas chromatograph(ic)

GOSNIIOKhT — State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology

GRNIIOKhT — State Russian Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology

GRU — General Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet (Russian) Army

K-410 — Russian code name of CS-tear gas

K-444 — Russian code name of SR-tear gas

KGB — Committee of State Security

Khoryok — Russian binary chemical weapon program

M-01 — GOSNIIOKhT code name of Substance 33

M-02 — GOSNIIOKhT code name of sarin

M-03 — GOSNIIOKhT code name of soman

MB RF — Ministry of Security of the Russian Federation

MCAD — Military Academy of Chemical Defense

Military Unit 64518 — Directorate of Chief of Chemical Troops of Russia

Military Unit 61469 — Scientific Research Military Institute and Independent Chemical Battalion in Shikhany-2

Military Unit 26382 — Scientific Research Military Polygon and Independent Chemical Battalion in Nukus, Uzbekistan

MITKhT — Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology

NII — Scientific Research Institute

NII-42 — Former code name of GOSNIIOKhT

NII-94 — Former code name of GOSNIIOKhT

NIOKR — Scientific Research Experiment Design Work

NKVD — People’s Commissiariat for Internal Affairs

Nomenklatura — the top of the elite ruling class or bureaucrats in the Soviet Union

Novichok — Soviet/Russian nerve agents program

Novichok-5 — Russian binary weapons program for A-232

NPO Basalt — Scientific Industrial Association for warfare design

OKBA — Special Design Bureau of Automation

OMON — Special Purpose Police Detachment

Ordoval-1 — GOSNIIOKhT code name of sarin