It is unlikely that late Soviet-era defector Viktor Belenko led a contented life within the US, Dmitry Peskov has prompt
Committing treason is the “greatest tribulation” which might occur to somebody, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has mentioned regarding the latest dying of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet-era fighter pilot who defected to the US within the Seventies.
Peskov made the remarks in an interview with TASS printed on Tuesday, stating that Belenko is unlikely to have led a “happy life” within the US.
“A traitor can never live a happy life. It is always the greatest tribulation for a person to become a traitor,” Peskov prompt.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Belenko had handed away in September at a nursing house in Illinois. The defector was 76 years outdated.
Belenko received into the worldwide media highlight in 1976, when he flew a MiG-25P (NATO reporting identify ‘Foxbat’) to Japan. At the time, the airplane was probably the most fashionable Soviet fighter jets. The plane was finally returned to the USSR, however not earlier than being dismantled by US specialists to check its construction and onboard tools. It was described as an “intelligence bonanza” by then CIA director and future US president, George H. W. Bush.
While the explanations for Belenko’s defection have lengthy remained a topic for debate, the pilot himself insisted he was merely in search of “freedom” within the US, as he informed Japanese authorities after touching down on the northern island of Hokkaido. He was finally granted US citizenship in 1980, altering his surname to ‘Schmidt’, getting married and fathering two sons, earlier than finally ending up divorced.
Belenko largely averted media consideration whereas residing within the states, maintaining his life personal and dealing as a guide for American aerospace firms and authorities companies.
“He lived the most private life,” his son Paul informed NYT. “He flew under the radar, literally and figuratively.”
(RT.com)