FORMER EMBASSY EMPLOYEE REQUESTS REFUGEE STATUS;

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 003445

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2017
TAGS: PREF PINR APER RS
SUBJECT: FORMER EMBASSY EMPLOYEE REQUESTS REFUGEE STATUS;
CLAIM NOT CREDIBLE

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns.
Reasons 1.4 (b and d)


1. (C) This is an action request. See paragraph 12.


2. (C) SUMMARY: Freelance journalists Marina Kalashnikova,
who was fired by the Embassy in 2000, and her husband Viktor
Kalashnikov (a former Russian intelligence officer) have
requested refugee status or other USG assistance in leaving
Russia, claiming that they are being persecuted for writing
critically about the government. Tying these persecution
claims to her previous employment at the U.S. Embassy, they
have repeatedly claimed that all their other avenues of
departure from Russia have been blocked by misinformation
passed by the U.S. to other Western governments.


3. (C) Because of the difficult climate that journalists
face in Russia, the Embassy has made a considerable effort to
look into this case. Embassy officers, including the
Political Minister-Counselor and Refugee Coordinator, have
met four times with the Kaklashnikovs and the Refugee
Coordinator has conducted a thorough review of her claims.
Having reviewed Kalashnikova's employment record with the
Embassy and her journalistic credentials and those of her
husband, we do not believe their claims of persecution are
credible enough to warrant referral to the U.S. Refugee
Admissions Program. Rather, the Kalashnikovs now appear to
be seeking refugee status as part of a long-running effort to
have the U.S. government "atone" for her termination and to
improve their economic situation. Their claims are becoming
increasingly overdramatic. We request Department concurrence
that we inform the Kalashnikovs that the U.S. cannot provide
any assistance to them. The Kalashnikovs may respond to our
rebuff by seeking to publish derogatory, wildly inaccurate
accounts of their interaction with the Embassy, as they have
done in the past. END SUMMARY.

BACKGROUND
--------------


4. (C) Marina Kalashnikova was employed by the Embassy as a
locally engaged Information Specialist in the Public Affairs
Section from May 12, 1998 to March 3, 2000. Acording to a
memo in her personnel file, she was terminated for
unsatisfactory performance, including creating tensions among
staff in the section in part through wild conspiracy
theories, failing to understand her work requirements, and
continuing her employment at the USA-Canada Institute while
simultaneously working at the Embassy. Her two-inch thick
file also documents unexplained absences, rude and aggressive
behavior to other members of the staff, and failure to carry
out her responsibilities. It also contains letters from her
seeking reinstatement, asking for Embassy assistance to
obtain a passport two years after her termination, an inquiry
from the MFA she instigated about reasons for her dismal, and
threats to sue the U.S. government in Russian courts, as well
as articles she published about her treatment by the Embassy.


5. (C) Kalashnikova subsequently worked for other media
outlets, including the newspapers Kommersant, Russkiy Kuryer,
and Nezavisimaya Gazeta, from where she was fired, she
claimed, at the behest of Russian officials for writing
negative stories about them. She has continued to
periodically publish freelance articles but claimed it is
impossible to find permanent employment because of
interference by Russian authorities.


6. (C) Her husband, Viktor Kalashnikov, worked as an
intelligence officer in the Foreign Intelligence Service
(SVR) from 1985 to 1992. He later became a journalist for
the ORT television channel and claims that he was fired
because of his liberal, pro-Western views. He also worked
freelance for other media outlets. Kalashnikov claimed that
he had approached several Western intelligence services,
including that of the U.S., offering to work for them after
leaving the SVR. Like his wife, Kalashnikov maintains that
Russian authorities have blocked his efforts to find
full-time employment.

FAST FORWARD
--------------


7. (C) In June 2006, the Irish Ambassador passed a letter
from the Kalashnikovs in which the two sought contacts with
senior U.S. officials over purported threats against them and
mistreatment by the Embassy. The two asked for assistance in
emigrating to the U.S. and finding employment there. After
reviewing the letter and other information available at post,
REFCOORD responded to their request in a letter that noted
they were not being considered for refugee status. The
Kalashnikovs persisted in seeking meetings with
representatives from the Embassy, including the Ambassador,
alleging that REFCOORD's letter had added to the danger they

faced since Russian intelligence services believed that the
couple was attempting to tarnish Russia's reputation abroad.


8. (C) On four occasions in 2007 -- March 27, April 4, April
19, and May 3 -- Emboffs have met with the Kalashnikovs to
discuss their situation and further assess any persecution
claim they might have. The Kalashnikovs told us that Russian
intelligence services were orchestrating a campaign to
discredit them and that they believed they were in danger.
They claim this is a result of arose from their favorable
orientation toward the West, their criticism of the GOR, and
alleged intelligence service retribution for Kalashnikov's
unwillingness to rejoin them. They described various
provocations or incidents of thinly veiled or explicit
threats, occurring not only in Russia but during their
travels abroad in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Poland, the
Baltics, and the U.S. Kalashnikova alleged that Russian
intelligence services had been involved in the death of her
elderly mother "as a message" and that she feared going to
the hairdresser because the stylist may "slit my throat."
Following the poisoning of Aleksandr Litvinenko, Kalashnikov
published an op-ed piece in a Russian weekly news magazine
drawing parallels between himself and Litvinenko. Privately,
Kalashnikov told us he believed he was the target of a
poisoning in 1997. He provided few details in describing
this incident, other than to say he fell ill for a few hours
on a train from Brussels to Amsterdam after a visit to the
Russian Embassy in Brussels as part of a NATO study tour. He
said he did not seek medical attention because he did not
want to be dropped from the tour.


9. (C) The Kalashnikovs attribute their inability to obtain
employment with news outlets or think tanks outside of Russia
to Kalashnikova's firing from the Embassy and information
allegedly spread by the USG that they are a security risk.
Kalashnikov claimed that the couple have been told repeatedly
by contacts in Europe who offered to help them on the
condition that they "have to settle things with the
Americans. Everything passes through them." Kalashnikov
also said that his approaches to several Western intelligence
services offering information were rebuffed after initial
interest, with allusions to information obtained from U.S.
intelligence. In a meeting with REFCOORD on May 3,
Kalashnikov asked that the USG "rehabilitate" Kalashnikova
and try to arrange some employment for them in a third
country if they cannot be resettled to the U.S.


10. (C) Beyond seeking meetings with Emboffs in Moscow, the
Kalashnikovs have also approached our embassies in London and
in Dublin during recent trips there, maintaining their claims
of persecution and complaining that Embassy Moscow was
unfairly discriminating against them. On several occasions,
Kalashnikova has continued to misrepresent herself as an
Embassy employee, handing out business cards from her
previous employment, including as part of her application for
a visa for the UK. When queried by UK officials about her,
the Embassy informed the British of her true status,
resulting in the February 2007 cancellation of her UK visa.

REPUTATION AS JOURNALISTS
--------------


11. (C) We have devoted considerable time and effort to meet
the Kalashnikovs and hear their claims because of the
difficult climate for many Russian journalists. We have
found nothing that would substantiate their claims.
Journalistic contacts in Moscow have told us that
Kalashnikova has a reputation for being abrasive and
difficult to the point that she is unemployable. The
Kalashnikovs said that their appeal to the Glasnost Defense
Foundation, a highly regarded defender of press freedom,
brought no assistance, further suggesting to us that they and
their claims have little credibility. Our assessment is that
the couple's articles have been straightforward reporting,
neither overly critical of Russia or unwaiveringly supportive
of the West. The most critical article that Kalashnikova has
written recently is a commentary on the medical care she
received during a recent trip to Ireland.

COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST
--------------


12. (C) Upon careful examination, we have found no evidence
to substantiate the Kalashnikovs' claims. Rather, their
conspiratorial nature appears consistent with the sometimes
bizarre behavior displayed while Kalashnikova was employed at
the Embassy. With Department concurrence, we intend to
convey to the Kalashnikovs that we cannot refer them to the
U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and intend to stop any
further contact with them. In doing so, we expect the
Kalashnikovs to persist in pursuing this issue, perhaps
through seeking to publish sensational, critical articles
about their treatment and/or approaching other U.S. missions

or the Department, either in person or via e-mail. We
request Department concurrence with this approach soonest.
BURNS