U.S. - Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs

Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD)

Opening Session | Closing Session
World War II Workgroup | Korean War Workgroup | Vietnam War Workgroup | Cold War Workgroup
Full Report: HTML | PDF

WORKING GROUP SUMMARIES
17TH PLENUM
(NOVEMBER 14-15, 2000)

Cold War Working Group

     The Cold War Working Group met twice during the Seventeenth Plenum in Moscow. The working group was chaired on the U.S. side by Mr. A. Denis Clift, President, Joint Military Intelligence College, and on the Russian side by Colonel Vladimir Vinogradov, Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). Also participating in the work of the group were: Mr. Ivan Cherepkov of the FSB Archives; Captain 1st Rank Kazachenko; Mr. James MacDougall, Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD)-Washington; Dr. James Connell, JCSD-Moscow; and Ms. Carol Dockham, Senior Analyst, Cold War Working Group, JCSD-Washington. Rear Admiral (retired) Boris Novyy participated as an expert researcher and witness during the working group sessions.

     The first session, held on 14 November 2000, was devoted to a presentation by Admiral Novyy about his work on behalf of the CWWG at the Central Naval Archives in Gatchina and other places. His briefing was divided into three parts: the 8 April 1950 incident over the Baltic Sea, the 6 November 1951 incident over the Sea of Japan and the 1 July 1960 incident over the Barents Sea.

     Admiral Novyy has performed extensive research at the Central Naval Archives in Gatchina near St. Petersburg and at other Russian archives on the 1 July 1960 shoot down of the RB-47 aircraft. One of the primary purposes of his research has been to determine the disposition of the remains of Major Eugene Posa, one of three missing crewmembers from the RB-47. Based on his archival research, Admiral Novyy has identified a number of potential witnesses, and together with U.S. representatives of the Joint Commission, has been able to locate and interview dozens of them throughout Russia and Ukraine.

     Through a combination of archival research and interviews, Admiral Novyy has been able to trace Major Posa's remains from their recovery at sea to Severomorsk. To locate further information, Admiral Novyy thought the most fruitful lines of inquiry would be through personnel from the Northern Fleet Medical Service and the Special Department of the KGB of the Northern Fleet. He is currently seeking a former Soviet major who was probably a Medical Service administrative officer. This major met the ship that brought the body of Major Posa to Severomorsk, and Admiral Novyy thought he would have information about where the body was taken after it was offloaded from the vessel. As for personnel from the Special Department of the KGB of the Northern Fleet, Colonel Vinogradov was assisting Admiral Novyy in locating 26 officers who had been identified from documents. Interviews with several former KGB officers have already been conducted.

     The Cold War Working Group is hopeful that it is close to finding Major Posa's burial site. The Joint Commission is considering a possible expedition to Kildin Island and Sayda-Guba in 2001 to examine several possible sites. The possibility of the Murmansk Cemetery as the burial site also remains under active consideration.

     In addition to his work on the 1 July 1960 incident, Admiral Novyy had new information to report on the 8 April 1950 and 6 November 1951 incidents. In the case of the 8 April 1950 shoot down of a U.S. Navy PB4Y2 Privateer over the Baltic Sea, Admiral Novyy found documentation showing that two newly upgraded submarine hunters, the MO-201 and MO-206, had been dispatched on a "special mission" in the Baltic at approximately the time the Privateer was shot down. Admiral Novyy speculated the mission of these submarine hunters may have been to search for the Privateer. The fact there had been two of them increased the likelihood some witnesses might still be alive who could clarify the nature of the "special mission" in April 1950. Admiral Novyy had already contacted one of the former crewmen, who was unfortunately too ill to recall any information about this mission. He will continue research on this case.

     Admiral Novyy also found documents relating to the 6 November 1951 shoot down of a U.S. Navy PV2 "Neptune" over the Sea of Japan. After Soviet fighters had shot the Neptune down, three torpedo boats of the 25th Group of the Pacific Fleet were dispatched to the scene where it went into the water. According to the documents, the boats found no wreckage or bodies. Admiral Novyy had identified everyone in the 25th Group who might have information on the search for the Neptune aircraft and had spoken with the chief technical specialist of the 25th Group in St. Petersburg. Admiral Novyy will continue to search for other crewmen, who he suggested might also have information on other Cold War incidents over the Pacific, such as the 13 June 1952, and 29 July 1953 shoot downs.

     The second session of the Cold War Working Group took place on 15 November 2000. It opened with the issue of continued research at the Central Naval Archives at Gatchina. Mr. Clift noted the previous day's working group session had ended with a report on documents relating to the 6 November 1951 incident, and said we should prepare to conduct similar research on the 13 June 1952, 29 July 1953, and 18 April 1955 incidents.

     Secondly, Mr. Clift said the U.S. side thought it important to renew contacts with the Border Guards. The Border Guards had no doubt played a role in the various shoot down incidents, particularly in the search and recovery operations. Information from the Border Guards had in fact shed light on several Cold War loss incidents, and we needed to continue the search for additional documentation. Recognizing that the Border Guards were part of the KGB during the Soviet era, Mr. Clift said we probably could not expect exactly the same kind of research arrangement at the Border Guards Archives as we have at the Central Military Archives at Podolsk or at the Central Naval Archives at Gatchina. He proposed that Dr. Jim Connell, the Chief of the Joint Commission Support Directorate office in Moscow, work with Colonel Vinogradov and his staff on arrangements for further research at the Border Guards Archives. Colonel Vinogradov agreed to the need for continued work with the Border Guards and agreed to pursue Mr. Clift's recommendation.

     The discussion then turned to the memoirs of the Russian émigré and the 13 June 1952 shoot down of a U.S. Air Force RB-29 over the Sea of Japan. Mr. Clift pointed out the memoirs were just one source of information the U.S. side possessed indicating the crew may have survived. Reports of sightings of the crew from the 13 June 1952 shoot down had been received by the U.S. Government almost from the day the plane went down. The other sources of information included a report about a Radio Moscow broadcast from 16 June 1952 that reported a U.S. officer had been picked up by a Soviet vessel two days previously; debriefings of another RB-29 crew, shot down on 4 July 1952 over Korea, who said they had been asked personal questions about Major Samuel Busch, the pilot of the aircraft, during interrogation sessions; and a diplomatic note from the U.S. State Department in 1956 that contained a report of an alleged sighting of an American aviator in a hospital north of Magadan. Copies of these items were included among the U.S. documents on U.S. Cold War losses over or near Soviet territory that were provided to the Russian side at the beginning of the first working group session.

     At this point, Ms. Dockham suggested several concrete steps that could be taken to investigate these sources. The U.S. side was requesting a copy of the transcript of the Radio Moscow broadcast of 16 June 1952, as well as the individual interrogation reports of the aircrew members from the 4 July 1952 shoot down. We know these exist from documentation previously passed by the Russian side. These interrogation reports were most likely to be found in the Central Military Archives at Podolsk. As for the September 1956 diplomatic note, it was based on U.S. reports written from debriefs of foreign nationals who had been released from Soviet camps; one or two such reports were included among the documents passed to Colonel Vinogradov.

     Colonel Vinogradov promised the Russian side would look for the Radio Moscow transcript and would also check for newspaper stories from the period. As for the interrogation reports from the crew of the 4 July 1952 shoot down over Korea; Vinogradov suggested making a request for these documents through Colonel Orlov, Co-Chairman of the Korean War Working Group. He asked Admiral Novyy to check for archival documentation on vessels that might have been sent to the place where the RB-29 went down. He promised to check the Border Guards and Federal Security Services Archives for materials, and said he would query local authorities in the Far East about the information contained in the U.S. documentation he had received.

     Mr. Clift brought up the subject of the gun camera photography cited in a report from Kuznetsov to Stalin concerning the 13 June 1952 incident. Mr. Clift said he found it difficult to believe the gun camera photography had simply been discarded. Admiral Novyy suggested such photography, if it still exists, might be held in the Pacific Fleet archives. Colonel Vinogradov agreed a request should be made for a search for the photography at those archives.

     During the course of the working group sessions, Mr. Clift handed Colonel Vinogradov information the U.S. side had obtained on three former Soviet prisoners of war from Afghanistan and passed a complete set of all U.S. documentation on U.S. Cold War losses that took place over or near Soviet territory. He also provided a draft of the Cold War Working Group section of the 1995-2000 report of the Joint Commission to Colonel Vinogradov.

Opening Session | Closing Session
World War II Workgroup | Korean War Workgroup | Vietnam War Workgroup | Cold War Workgroup
Full Report: HTML | PDF