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471:. He feared for his life until the day he died. However, in a brief and informal bar interview in 2000, he said that he was happy in the United States, remarking, " have tolerance regarding other people's opinion. In certain cultures, if you do not accept the mainstream, you would be booted out or might disappear. Here we have people—you know, who hug trees, and people who want to cut them down—and they live side by side!" In this interview he also claimed that he visited Moscow but did not provide any evidence of his trip.
74:
445:, being arrested and executed, or otherwise brought to justice. Russian journalists claimed that Belenko allegedly also had a son from his first marriage, never divorced his first wife, and never provided child support to her after his defection, but Belenko denied this. The journalists also claimed that his Soviet wife appealed for his return after his defection.
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was set up for him, which granted him a very comfortable living in later years. The US government debriefed him for five months after his defection and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 since he expected to
372:
The MiG-25's arrival in Japan was a windfall for
Western military planners. The Japanese government had originally allowed the United States to examine the plane and to conduct ground tests of the radar and engines only; however, it subsequently allowed the US to dismantle the plane to examine it
392:
aircraft after a rigorous inspection of the crates. The
Japanese government refused, and the Soviets finally submitted to the Japanese terms on 22 October 1976. The aircraft was moved from Hyakuri to the port of Hitachi on 11 November 1976 on a convoy of trailers. It left in 30 crates aboard the
404:
A senior diplomat described the Soviet position as "sulky about the whole affair." The CIA concluded at the time that "both countries seem anxious to put the problem behind them" and speculated that the
Soviets were reluctant to cancel a series of upcoming diplomatic visits because "some useful
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on
September 24, 2023, at the age of 76. Mr. Belenko is survived by two sons, Paul and Tom Schmidt, and four grandchildren. However, journalists learned about his death only at the end of November. The former pilot's son, Paul Schmidt, told the newspaper that his father had died after a short
401:. A team of Soviet technicians had been allowed to view subassemblies at Hitachi, and upon finding 20 missing parts, one being film of the flight to Hakodate, the Soviets attempted to charge Japan US $ 10 million. Neither the Japanese nor the Soviet bill is known to have been paid.
429:
96-62. Eager to avoid attention, and reprisal from the Soviet Union, he took the surname
Schmidt and moved around often, mostly living in small towns across the Midwest. He worked as a consultant to aerospace companies and government agencies, and married a music teacher from
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This was the first time that
Western military intelligence were able to get a close look at the aircraft and its specifications, and many secrets and surprises were revealed. His defection caused significant damage to the
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on 25 September, and by then, experts had determined that the plane was an interceptor, not a fighter-bomber, which was a welcome reassurance for
Japanese defense planners.
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business is likely to be transacted, and because the USSR, with its political standing in Tokyo so low, can ill-afford setbacks in Soviet–Japanese economic cooperation."
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country. He might have been aware of the US government's policy of awarding large cash prizes to defecting pilots of communist countries. In March and May 1953, two
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and billed the
Soviets US$ 40,000 for crating services and airfield damage at Hakodate. The Soviets responded with a request to return the plane via their own
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1041:"Soviet defector pilot Viktor Bilenko, who hijacked a MiG-25, dies in the United States: what is known and what secrets he revealed to the West"
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Article 'Mission "Foxbat': Almost 30 years ago Senior
Lieutenant Belenko hijacked the Mig-25 fighter from the Sokolovka air base to Japan."
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464:, which confirmed that he had a wife and son in the USSR, although Belenko had previously told his son that this was Soviet propaganda.
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at the time, called the opportunity to examine the plane up close an "intelligence bonanza" for the West. Belenko later became a U.S.
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Image of Viktor
Ivanovich Belenko, Soviet defector, being led by a decoy at Los Angeles International Airport, California, 1976.
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family (his passport states his ethnicity as Russian). Lieutenant Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment,
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Belenko was not the only pilot to have defected from the Soviet Union in this way or even the first to defect from a
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On 2 October 1976, the Japanese Government announced that it would ship the aircraft in crates from the port of
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flew his MiG-15 to a US air base in South Korea; the MiG is in the permanent collection of the
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189:; February 15, 1947 – September 24, 2023) was a Russian-born American aerospace engineer and
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repeatedly spread false stories about Belenko being killed in a car accident, returning to
947:"Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a MiG-25 Foxbat Jet Fighter, has passed away"
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JAPAN-SOVIET RELATIONS: NEGOTIATIONS FOR RETURN OF MIG-25, TOKYO 16354 021113Z
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JAPAN-SOVIET RELATIONS: NEGOTIATIONS FOR RETURN OF MIG-25, TOKYO 15888 221325Z
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364:, Turkey, on 20 May 1989. That MiG-29 was promptly returned to the Soviets.
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Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
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Mr. Mig: And the Real Story of the First Migs in America, Paul T. Entrekin
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1003:"Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76"
870:"Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76"
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MiG returned to Soviet Union, United Press International, May 21, 1989.
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SHARING MIG 25 INFORMATION WITH THIRD COUNTRIES, TOKYO 220903Z NOV 76
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Belenko almost never appeared in interviews during his life in the
352:, displayed in its original owner markings. Later, Soviet Captain
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An act for the relief of Viktor Ivanovich Belenko, 94 Stat. 3599
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Belenko started a new life in the United States. In 1980, the
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Belenko's Soviet military identification photo; stored at the
895:"Wife and Mother of Soviet MIG Pilot Appeal for His Return"
615:
Rowe, Kenneth H. (No Kum-sok); Osterholm, J. Roger (1996).
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Viktor Belenko died in a nursing home in the small town of
1133:
Chris Dixon. A Reporter's Online Notebook: Victor Belenko.
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on 15 November 1976 and arrived about three days later in
786:
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE, Monday 8 November 1976
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assist US pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft.
776:(Confidential), U.S. State Department, 2 November 1976.
737:(Confidential), U.S. State Department, 22 October 1976.
434:, Coral Garaas. They had two sons, before divorcing.
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extensively. The plane was moved by a US Air Force
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764:(Secret), U.S. State Department, 22 November 1976.
810:A bill for the relief of Viktor Ivanovich Belenko
451:MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko
27:Soviet pilot who defected to the West (1947–2023)
788:(Top Secret), Central Intelligence Agency, 1976.
550:. Vol. 105. McGraw-Hill. 1976. p. 120.
421:for him, which was signed into law by President
8:
690:New York Times, 22 September 1976, column 4.
242:Belenko's knee pad notebook with flight data
702:, U.S. State Department, 27 September 1976.
1077:MiG Pilot: the Final Escape of Lt. Belenko
715:MiG Pilot: the Final Escape of Lt. Belenko
72:
54:
745:
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710:
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515:List of Soviet and Eastern Bloc defectors
479:illness. There was no memorial service.
1200:Soviet expatriates in the United States
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448:Belenko co-wrote a 1980 autobiography,
336:and Lieutenant Zdzisław Jaźwiński flew
274:. On 6 September 1976, he successfully
853:Он сел на истребитель и сбежал из СССР
535:Time Magazine, Monday, 1 November 1976
1190:Soviet defectors to the United States
1149:University of California, Los Angeles
1021:from the original on 19 November 2023
653:National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
350:National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
7:
564:Предатель – Беленко Виктор Иванович.
547:Aviation Week & Space Technology
851:Aleksandr Kots (26 September 2006)
978:Reedstrom, Karen (November 1996).
25:
1205:Soviet Air Defence Force officers
1145:Charles E. Young Research Library
1128:Article on Belenko at Everything2
921:"'Skyhook' and other CIA spyware"
510:List of Cold War pilot defections
1001:Risen, Clay (18 November 2023).
868:Risen, Clay (18 November 2023).
837:Савка, Ольга (7 November 2003).
489:
377:cargo aircraft from Hakodate to
218:Director of Central Intelligence
621:. McFarland & Company Inc.
533:INTELLIGENCE: Bonanza or Bust?
1:
1102:"1996 interview with Belenko"
827:GPO's Federal Digital System.
417:enacted S. 2961, authorizing
34:Eastern Slavic naming customs
1195:Japan–Soviet Union relations
1180:American aerospace engineers
752:, 27 November 1976, p. 1546.
666:MiG returned to Soviet Union
174:Viktor Belenko's military ID
700:UNCLAS State Message 239736
340:to Denmark. Later in 1953,
234:Defection of Viktor Belenko
160:Defecting to the U.S. with
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839:"A Story Not About A Hero"
812:, Bill Summary and Status.
670:United Press International
649:Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis
577:"A Story Not About a Hero"
231:
32:In this name that follows
31:
1185:Soviet Air Force officers
1055:"Viktor Belenko Obituary"
965:www.chrisdixonreports.com
409:Life in the United States
264:Soviet Air Defence Forces
186:
71:
64:
656:Retrieved 25 August 2017
605:Retrieved 27 August 2017
592:Retrieved 27 August 2017
228:Early life and defection
179:Viktor Ivanovich Belenko
65:
925:San Francisco Chronicle
505:Aleksandr Zuyev (pilot)
425:on 14 October 1980, as
187:Виктор Иванович Беленко
305:. Belenko was granted
243:
175:
717:, John Barron, 1980,
241:
173:
857:Komsomolskaya Pravda
804:10 July 2020 at the
750:Flight International
603:Canadian MiG Flights
246:Belenko was born in
1210:People from Nalchik
1108:on 11 January 2001.
990:on 10 October 2017.
949:. 22 November 2023.
901:. 29 September 1976
618:A MiG-15 to Freedom
1121:Google translation
1007:The New York Times
899:The New York Times
874:The New York Times
579:. 7 November 2003.
393:Soviet cargo ship
334:Franciszek Jarecki
332:pilots Lieutenant
244:
222:aerospace engineer
176:
123:September 24, 2023
1141:Los Angeles Times
927:. 16 October 2012
476:Rosebud, Illinois
214:George H. W. Bush
201:while flying his
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131:Red Bud, Illinois
97:February 15, 1947
16:(Redirected from
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303:Soviet Air Force
291:Hakodate Airport
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457:Reader's Digest
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354:Aleksandr Zuyev
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206:jet interceptor
203:MiG-25 "Foxbat"
197:in 1976 to the
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272:Primorsky Krai
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157:Known for
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1106:the original
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1023:. Retrieved
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988:the original
984:Full Context
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929:. Retrieved
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632:. Retrieved
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432:North Dakota
423:Jimmy Carter
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342:North Korean
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252:Russian SFSR
245:
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125:(2023-09-24)
113:Soviet Union
109:Russian SFSR
49:
41:
29:
1170:2023 deaths
1165:1947 births
1081:John Barron
1025:19 November
905:26 November
879:19 November
797:96th Cong.
462:John Barron
427:Private Law
419:citizenship
415:US Congress
399:Vladivostok
326:Soviet-bloc
314:Gerald Ford
287:jet fighter
139:Nationality
46:family name
1159:Categories
1060:Legacy.com
521:References
375:C-5 Galaxy
346:No Kum Sok
318:trust fund
268:Chuguyevka
193:pilot who
149:Occupation
93:1947-02-15
80:CIA Museum
38:patronymic
1015:0362-4331
961:"Oshkosh"
368:Aftermath
356:flew his
266:based in
212:, Japan.
42:Ivanovich
1083:, 1980,
1019:Archived
802:Archived
483:See also
395:Taigonos
316:, and a
295:Hokkaido
276:defected
210:Hakodate
195:defected
142:American
931:25 July
460:writer
386:Hitachi
362:Trabzon
338:MiG-15s
297:Japan.
278:to the
256:Russian
254:, in a
248:Nalchik
183:Russian
164:in 1976
144:Russian
101:Nalchik
50:Belenko
18:Belenko
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799:S.2961
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625:
443:Russia
358:MiG-29
344:pilot
307:asylum
284:MiG-25
216:, the
191:Soviet
162:MiG-25
133:, U.S.
36:, the
1079:, by
454:with
1085:ISBN
1027:2023
1011:ISSN
933:2017
907:2023
881:2023
719:ISBN
636:2013
623:ISBN
437:The
280:West
199:West
120:Died
87:Born
360:to
309:by
289:to
48:is
40:is
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