The Ukrainian Weekly 1985, No.29
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www.ukrweekly.com -1 30 O"O x J– -n Published by the Ukrainian National Association inc.. a fraternal non-profit association! - о о - о О У. о rainian Weekly і") Z vol. LIII No. 29 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 21,1985 25 cents Murzhenko arrested in Kiev Ruban charged with "anti-Soviet" agitprop; NEW YORK -Oleksiy Murzhenko, sought medical treatment for invalid son who served 14 years in a labor camp for his part in an attempted hijacking at NEW YORK - Exiled Ukrainian Leningrad airport in 1970, was re- activist Petro Ruban was arrested some arrested in Kiev in early June, according time within the last three weeks and to a Russian emigre newspaper here. charged "anti-Soviet agitation and pro– Mr. Murzhenko, a 42-year-old paganda," according to the External Ukrainian, was charged with violating Representation of the Ukrainian Hel– the provisions of administrative sinki Group. surveillance under which he had to The 45-year-old sculptor was arrested register with the police once a week. in vynnytsia oblast, where he was in the Reports of the surveillance first reached last year of a six-year labor camp and the West in February. three-year exile term he received in 1976 in June 1970, Mr. Murzhenko was for planning to present an original piece one of 11 persons, most of them Jews, of art to the United States in celebra– who tried to commandeer an airplane at tion of this country's bicentenniel. Leningrad's Smo!ny airport. Eventually Although he was charged with "anti- all the defendants were allowed to Soviet agitation and propaganda," emigrate to lsrael except Mr. sources say the real reason for the Murzhenko and Yuri Fedorov, an arrest, Mr. Ruban's fourth, was his ethnic Russian. persistent attempts to gain permission for his 10-year-son, Marko, to go to the Mr. Murzhenko's new arrest came West for medical treatment. The boy shortly before the scheduled release on was badly injured when run over by a June 15 of Mr. Federov, who served a Oleksiy Murzhenko truck in 1982 and has been paralyzed 15-year term for his part in the Petro Ruban ever since. attempted hijacking. There was strong agitation and propaganda" for speculation that authorities did not organizing a group called "Svoboda the state. want the two co-defendants to meet in Rozumu" (Freedom to Think), which Third arrest Mr. Ruban had previously served a freedom. put out a manifesto. term from 1965 to 1973 for "anti-Soviet Mr. Murzhenko spent 14 years in As a result of his imprisonment, Mr. Mr. Ruban was arrested for the third agitation and propaganda" and "the labor camp No. 36-1, part of the huge Murzhenko reportedly suffers from a time in October 1976 and charged with illegal possession of a weapon." penal complex near Perm in the Ural number of medical problems, including three counts: "stealing state property," Mountains. He was released in June tuberculosis, angina and gastritis. "engaging in private enterprise," and Wife's illness 1984. He was previously imprisoned He is married and the father of two "slandering the Soviet state." The from 1962 to 1968 under "anti-Soviet daughters, ages 16 to 6. charges stemmed from a carving of the According to the External Represen– Statue of Liberty Mr. Ruban intended tation, Mr. Ruban could face a 15-year as a gift to the American people. term as a rescidivist. His wife is re– After the arrest, Mr. Ruban and his portedly very ill, having been hospita– wife, Lida, an engineer at the Plastmast lized for a year with tuberculosis. Murzhenko case recalls hijack fry factory in the Chernivtsy oblast, had in addition to Marko, the couple has their unfinished home confiscated by a 17-year-old daughter, Natalia. JERSEY C1TY, N.J. - On June December 15, 1970. Only the 15, 1970, 10 men and a woman, immediate relatives of the accused armed with 16 truncheons an'd one were allowed in the courtroom. faulty pistol, approached an airplane Foreign journalists were banned. at Leningrad's Smolny Airport. The The defendants were charged with Congressmen seek additional co-signers group, nine of whom were activists in treason, a capital offense, the Jewish emigration movement, conspiracy, anti-Soviet agitation and for letter to Reagan backing 0S1 planned to hijack the flight on its way propaganda, and stealing state to Priozersk and fly it to Sweden. property. WASHINGTON - A second "Dear has come under increased attack from As the group.neared the aircraft, The defendants claimed that they Colleague" letter has been issued by Ukrainian, Baltic and East European the KGB swooped down and arrested did not seek to harm the Soviet congressmen seeking additional co- ethnic communities because of the them, thus beginning one of the more Union and that the gun, which could signers for a letter to President Ronald agency's reliance on Soviet-supplied celebrated cases in the annals of not be fired, was brought along only Reagan expressing support.for the evidence in prosecuting naturalized Soviet dissent. to frighten the pilot and crew. They Office of Special investigation, a branch (Continued on page 15) Arrested were Edward Kusnetsov, also denied intending to steal the air- of the Justice Department charged with his wife Silva Zalmanson, Mark plane, saying that they planned to investigating suspected Nazis or colla– Dymshits, who was to pilot the have it returned by Swedish borators living in the United States, INSIDE plane, Ukrainian Oleksiy authorities. Their only aim, they reported the Ukrainian National infor– Murzhenko and Yuri Fedorov, a said, was to go to lsrael, and they Ш Ukrainians in mation Service. Nairobi - page 3. Russian worker. Also arrested were were forced to use drastic measures The letter, which was dated July 9, A. Altman. B. Bodyna, 1. after authorities repeatedly denied was issued by Reps. Gary Ackerman Ш Kuropas on Zalmanson. 1. Mendelevich, M. them exit visas: (D-N.Y.) and John Porter (R-lll.), two Youth for Christ - Khnon and Borys Penson. After an eight-day trial, the court of the six congressmen who issued a page 6. Soon after the hijackers were passed sentence. Messrs. Kusnetsov similar letter on June 19. Ш Cymbalistyon arrested, 22 Jewish activists with no and Dymshits were each serUenced to "Recently, there have been some ethnic education - connection to the conspirators were death, while the others received objections raised regarding the work of page 7. arrested in Leningrad. Kishinev and harsh labor camp terms ranging from the Office of Special investigations," Ш interview with Riga. Authorities seized Hebrew 10 to 15 years. the letter said, "in light of this we feel it Chrystyna lsajiw — textbooks and samizdat publica– The case became a cause-celebre is timely to reiterate Congressional page 7. tions. not only among Jews in the West, but support for the mandate of the В TENN1S AT The trial of the hijackers began on (Continued on page 13) agency." SZQ page 8. Over the last several years, the OS І 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 21,1985 No. 29 A GLIMPSE OF SOVIET REALITY Five officials get camp terms for dam break in Ukraine Officials striving to improve NEW YORK - Five Soviet industry earth movements and that the officials officials have received jail sentences of associated with the project would be housing problem in rural Ukraine up to five years after being found found blameless. responsible for an environmental in now reporting on the trial, lzvestia by David Marples same time, some 4 million homes have disaster two years ago that polluted the said that five officials had been found been converted to gas. water supply of a large part of south- guilty of negligence by having ignored Recent issues of the popular techni– in the current five-year plan period, west Ukraine, reported The New York construction norms and rules over a 10- cal Ukrainian monthly Silske Budivnyt– the proportion of expenditure on con– Times. year period during which the reservoir stvo contain photographs of newly struction of non-productive buildings in The results of a trial in the widely was being designed and built. constructed detached residences for over-all capital investment in agricul– publicized case were reported June 27 in The chief engineer of the dam con– farmworkers in Ukrainian villages. The ture has increased to 20 as opposed to Moscow by lzvestia, the government struction agency, l.N. Mohyla, and the houses, which are remarkably similar in 9.6 percent in the 10th five-year plan. newspaper. Last year, lzvestia had senior foreman on the project, v.l. appearance whether in the vinnylsia or Further, the majority of the residences expressed concern about a possible Chemysh, were given the stiffest sen– Dnipropetrovske oblasts. are solid- being constructed in the village by cover-up in the case. tences, five years each. The manager of looking brick structures. organizations of the Ukrainian Ministry in the accident, on September 15, the potash concentration, plant, N.l. According to one report, because of a of Rural Construction are detached 1983, the dam of a liquid-waste reser– Kirsenko, got four years; v.v. Hra– general shortage of bricklayers, they are homes of the "111-94 series." voir at a potash plant at Stebnyk bovsky, a quality-control engineer, often constructed in "blocks of brick." The figures sound more impressive collapsed, discharging 160 million cubic three years, І.М. Kirik, a design engi– They are. in fact, model specimens, than they really are. in 1984. a Soviet feet of toxic brine into a nearby stream neer, two and a half years.