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

Chairman

V.P. Ivanov

Secret

Copy N 2

To G.V. Berdennikov,

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the

Russian Federation

6/01343/April 5, 1993

The Investigation Department of the RF Ministry of Security is investigating the criminal case in which Vil Sultanovich Mirzayanov, a former employee at the State Russian Science Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology (GRNIIOKhT), is charged with committing a crime stipulated by Article 75, Part 1, of the RSFSR Criminal Code. It was established during the investigation that in 1992 Mirzayanov disclosed information to the mass media that constitutes a state secret about the creation of a new chemical agent and the development of a binary system based on it at GRNIIOKhT at request of the Ministry of Defense. In connection with this, please inform us if the MID [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] of Russia has any information about any kind of negative consequences to the political or any other interests of the Russian Federation that resulted from Mirzayanov’s above-mentioned actions.

Head of the Department

S.D. Balashov

Secret

Copy N 1

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Of the Russian Federation

121200, Moscow, G-200

32/34 Smolensko-Sennaya Pl.

Tel. 244-16-06

May 11, 1993 N 61/drk

To S.D. Balashov, Head of the

Investigation Department at the RF

Ministry of Security

In response to 6/01343 of April 5, 1993

In connection with your inquiry into the case of V. S. Mirzayanov, the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs can respond in the following way.

Currently it has become impossible to determine what generated a greater resonance in the country and abroad – the publications of Vil S. Mirzayanov or the fact that criminal proceedings were instituted against him on charges of disclosure of state secrets, since it was the latter that was perceived as confirmation of the information contained in these publications.

The RF MID has no information at its disposal about the authenticity of the information mentioned in the articles or about what the extent of the damage was to our national security as a consequence of the investigation of the disclosure of information about the development of binary chemical weapons.

Nevertheless, we can verify that the campaign in the Russian and foreign mass media that developed in connection with V. S. Mirzayanov’s case served as the basis of the expression of concern on the part of the U.S., and requests arose for clarification of the situation. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences appealed personally to the RF President on this issue. However, no one has observed that our relations with the U.S. and other countries have become complicated so far. During the top-level Russian-American meeting in Vancouver it was noted that progress was achieved at the bilateral negotiations between Russian and U.S. on the prohibition of chemical weapons.

With respect,

Deputy Minister

G. Berdennikov

We are distributing the text of the statement of President B. N. Yeltsin of the Russian Federation on the issue of chemical weapons.

Statement made by the President of the Russian

Federation on the issue of the destruction of chemical weapons

In the past few months the public in a number of regions has been seriously concerned about the issue of the destruction of chemical weapons.

In the preceding decades, tens of thousands of tons of military chemical agents have been produced and stockpiled in Russia. The world has changed, and Russia’s position in the world has changed: we are not going to attack anybody. The time has come to rid ourselves of chemical weapons which we have inherited from the past legacy. This is not only Russia’s view, but also the opinion shared by the one hundred and thirty eight countries which have signed the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons this year in Paris.

We must begin the destruction of chemical weapons, proceeding from the requirements not only of international, but also of national security; as the shells and containers are steadily deteriorating and can’t be stored indefinitely. These weapons were produced over the course of many years at several plants. The destruction process will be difficult and a substantial period of time will be required for its implementation. However, it has to be started. A government program for the destruction of chemical weapons is currently being prepared. It will be based upon the following principles:

- Unconditional guarantee of the safety of the life and health of the population, as well as of the condition of the surrounding natural environment;

- Unconditional fulfillment of all the social needs of the population living in the zone of influence of the chemical weapons destruction facilities;

- Use of the latest technologies, making it possible to minimize the risk and also, in cases where feasible, to extract valuable chemical substances as a result of the destruction;

- Reduction to the minimum of the volume of transportation of chemical agents, within the Russian territory.

The work on the destruction of chemical weapons will begin only after positive conclusions [have been reached] by state environmental-protection experts regarding the Program as a whole and at each individual facility. Such an expert evaluation will definitely involve the participation not only of scientists and specialists, but also of representatives of public organizations, including environmental organizations, on both the all-Russian and regional levels.

I am requesting the executive bodies of Udmurtiya, Chuvashiya, and the Saratov Region to ensure their active involvement in development of this program, in the determination of the priorities and terms of its preparation and in carrying out the work of the destruction of chemical weapons. Such participation will help transform this endeavor – an unavoidable step for Russia – into a powerful lever for the socio-economic development of significant territories of the country, while strictly ensuring the observance of guarantees for the safety of the population. A substantial part of the funds under this program will be channeled towards solving regional issues of public health protection, the protection of motherhood and childcare, as well as towards the construction of housing accommodations, social and community services, roads, and other infrastructure.

The mountains of now useless and dangerous weapons are a heavy burden inherited from the legacy of our past. Russia must be saved from it, in the interests of its own security and in the interests of the security of the whole world.

Top Secret

Indictment

C O N F I R M A T I O N

Deputy Attorney General

of the Russian Federation

3 dClass State Councilor

E.G. Denisov

“25” November 1993

Concerning Criminal Case N 62, about the indictment of Vil Sultanovich Mirzayanov for committing a crime according to Part 1 of Clause 75 of the Criminal Code (UK) of the RSFSR.

This criminal case was initiated by the Investigation Department of the Security Ministry of the Russian Federation on October 19, 1992, on the basis of materials received from the Department of Economic Security of the MB RF about divulging state secrets in the article “Poisoned Policies” published in the N 38 issue of the newspaper Moscow News on September 16, 1992.

v. 1, p.p. 1, 18-27

On October 22, 1992 Mirzayanov was detained according to Clause 122 of the Criminal and Procedural Code (UPK); on October 24 the status was changed to that of an arrest. On November 2, 1992 by resolution of the Kalinin District Court of Moscow, his preventative arrest was changed into non-departure status.