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

v. 1, p.p. 166-167, 181-182, 189-190

On October 30, 1992 criminal procedures were instituted against Mirzayanov for divulging information constituting a state secret, i.e., for committing a crime according to Part 1 of Clause 75 UK of the RSFSR.

v. 1, p.p. 191-193, 229-232

V.S. Mirzayanov was working during the period from 1965 up until January 1992 at different positions in GOSNIIOKhT, including the position of Head of the branch Foreign Technical Counterintelligence Department, and because of his duties he was knowledgeable about information of state secrecy concerning research work in area of development of chemical weapons.

After he was fired from the institute, in August 1992 in Moscow Mirzayanov prepared for publication in the press a manuscript titled “The Chemical Sharashka is Waiting for American Assistance” in which he included information known to him in connection his duties and constituting state secrets about the latest achievements in area of science and technology (results of research work in interest of country’s defense) that allowed enhancement of the capabilities of existing arms (munitions), the direction and the results of perspective scientific research work conducted in the interest of the country’s defense, the applied scientific research work on the creation of binary weapons, and familiarized the leading scientist of the Institute Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry L.A. Fedorov with them, and disclosed them by joint publication together with Fedorov in N 38 issue of the newspaper Moscow News on September 1992 in the article titled “Poisoned Policies”.

Mirzayanov disclosed the same information, in September 1992 in Moscow, to a reporter from the newspaper the Baltimore Sun William Englund through whom he published it on September 16, 1992 in the aforementioned newspaper in the article “Former Scientist Says that Gorbachev’s Regime Created a New Nerve Gas in 91”, and in October of 1992 – to the reporter from the magazine Novoe Vremya O.V. Vishnyakov, and with his help it was published in the same month in the N 44 issue of that magazine in the article “’The Binary Bomb” has Exploded”.

V.S. Mirzayanov refused to plead guilty to the crime as charged, because in his opinion disclosure of information about development in area of chemical weapons doesn’t constitute a state secret. At the same time during the preliminary investigation, Mirzayanov pointed out that assuming GOSNIIOKhT is conducting scientific research work in the area of the development of chemical weapons in violation of Russia’s international obligations, in order to focus the public attention on this problem in August-September 1992, he wrote and gave the leading scientist at the Institute Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, L.A. Fedorov, the text titled “The Chemical Sharashka in Moscow is waiting for American Assistance” for him to become familiarized with it and then for publication in press. In this article he presented information known to him because of his work in GOSNIIOKhT about the synthesis of a new chemical agent and the development of a binary weapon on its basis, and it was published later in the article “Poisoned Policies” in the N 38 issue of the newspaper Moscow News in September of 1992. The information was the same as the indicted explained, and for the same purposes he reported to the correspondent of the newspaper the Baltimore Sun , William Englund for the publication in September 1992, and in October 1992 – in an interview with the reporter O.V. Vishnyakov of the magazine Novoe Vremya .

v. 1, p.p. 169-172, 174-180, 195-200, 229-234

The guilt of Mirzayanov in committing the crime he is charged with, except for his admission of the factual circumstances of the crime, is also corroborated by:

L.A. Fedorov, the leading scientist of the Institute Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, who stated that in August of 1992 in Moscow V.S. Mirzayanov had familiarized him with and gave him the manuscript about the development and production of chemical weapons in Russia titled “The Chemical Sharashka in Moscow is Waiting for American Assistance” for publication, and on the basis of which he (Fedorov) prepared the article, including in it information reported to him by Mirzayanov about a new chemical agent created in GOSNIIOKhT, gave this article to the reporter L.A. Nikishin and it was published in the N 38 issue of the newspaper Moscow News on September 20, 1992 under the title “Poisoned Policies”. Moreover, as the witness pointed out, V.S. Mirzayanov reported information about the new chemical agent created in GOSNIIOKhT in his presence, in September of 1992 in Moscow in the office of the newspaper the Baltimore Sun to reporter William Englund, and in October 1992 in the office of the Editorial Board of the magazine Novoe Vremya – to the reporter O.V. Vishnyakov.

v. 1, p.p. 235-241

L.N. Nikishin, reporter for the newspaper Moscow News , stated that in September of 1992 L.A. Fedorov gave him an article prepared jointly with V.S. Mirzayanov for publication about the problems connected with the development of chemical weapons, which was published in the N 38 issue of the newspaper Moscow News on September 20 1992 under the title of “Poisoned Policies”.

v.1, p.p. 267-270

O.V. Vishnyakov, reporter from the magazine Novoe Vremya , stated that on October 20 1992 in the building of the Editorial Office he recorded an interview with Mirzayanov in which he reported to him information about a chemical agent created in GOSNIIOKhT, after which he typed out the text and published it in the N 44 issue of the magazine Novoe Vremya on October 1992 as the article titled “The Binary Bomb has Exploded”.

v.1, p.p. 251-253

William Englund, reporter from American newspaper the Baltimore Sun stated that his article “Ex Soviet Scientist Says Gorbachev’s Regime Created a New Nerve Gas in 1991” which was published on September 16 1992, is written on the basis of an interview given to him on September 15 1992 by V.S. Mirzayanov and L.A. Fedorov, during which information about the creation of a new chemical agent in the USSR was reported to him by V.S. Mirzayanov.

v. 1, p.p. 292-296

A.E. Riskal who was working from 1989 until 1991 in the Foreign Technical Counterintelligence Department of GOSNIIOKhT stated that in this period of time procedures were developed in the department for the determination of the presence of the new chemical agents on objects in the environment and V.S. Mirzayanov as head of this department and as Scientific Leader was working with these substances and knew their physical chemical characteristics.

v.1, p. 262

S.S. Sokolov who has been working since 1987 in the Foreign Technical Counterintelligence Department of GOSNIIOKhT stated that during 1987-89 this Department was working on the development of procedures for control of the presence of chemical agents in waste water, air and solid waste and was controlling them in those media. V.S. Mirzayanov, as head of the department and its Scientific Leader, was working directly with those substances and he knew their toxicity characteristics.

v. 1, p.p. 271-275

- the typed text of the article “Poisoned Policies” handed over by L.V. Karpinsky, the Editor in Chief of the newspaper Moscow News , during the seizure in the Editorial Office of the newspaper, in which information is presented about the creation of a new chemical agent and the development of a binary weapon on its basis, in GOSNIIOKhT.

v.1, p.p. 97-105, v.2., p.p. 303-312