Soviet Runaway

Row over a diplomat's son

For 16-year-old Andrei Berezhkov, time in America was growing short. The son of Soviet Diplomat Valentin Berezhkov, 67, a first secretary at his country's Washington embassy, Andrei had spent most of his teens in the U.S., and now, after a year of high school in the U.S.S.R., was back for a summer visit. It might be the last, since the elder Berezhkov is shortly due for reposting. One evening last week, Andrei left his family's Bethesda, Md., apartment in an embassy car and simply disappeared. His father notified police, but before they could locate the young runaway, Valentin called again to report that his son had returned home safely. End of incident.

Or was it? During Andrei's daylong absence, letters arrived at the White House and the Washington bureau of the New York Times. "I hate my country and it's [sic] rules and I love your country," said the writer to the Times. "I want to stay here." It was signed Andy Berezhkov.

The State Department notified the Soviet embassy that it will "insist" on interviewing Andrei, presumably to learn whether he wants to defect, before the youth is permitted to leave the country. A Soviet official, contending that the letters were forgeries, accused the U.S. of creating a "clear provocation." For his part, "Andy" was incommunicado. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.