219 Pine St.
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
(912) 638-8918

30 December 1992

News Director
NBC TV
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

Dear Sirs,

I'm writing to you about a rather amazing saga. I have no vested interest in the story or persons involved --- but as both an artist and a professional, the story interested me -- so I hope my presentation is as objective as possible. The story, has "everything;" drama, the CIA, KGB, betrayal, international flight, and a missing treasure-trove of 1,500 works of art. The central figure is documented on existing TV footage.

10 years ago, when she was 19, Vassa Zhdanov was on the Soviet national synchronized swim team. At that time, she defected from the Soviet Union to the United States. For her parents, it was the beginning of a much stranger, byzantine story. At the time of Vassa's defection, her mother, Galina Gerasimova, and father, Alexandr Zhdanov, were successful professionals in Moscow. Galina was a scientist, and Alexandr was a well-known artist with his own studio and apprentices. After the defection, the KG13 appeared at the Zhdanov's apartment. They beat both Alexandr and Galina severely; Galina was attacked ,-io savagely that one of her legs was broken. Their home was ransacked and much of Alexandrs' art was thrown out on the street, where the KGB told passers-by that his paintings were free.

In the ensuing 4 years Galina and Alexandrs' fortunes went downhill. Alexandr became involved in protesting the repressions of the (nowformer) regime through his "art. This literally made him a persona non grata. By 1987, the soviet court issued a ruling that his works "lacked any artistic value." Both suffered serious hardships.

Then, five years ago, Alexandr and Galina were given exit permits and asked to leave the Soviet Union. They were faced with several choices regarding a lifetime of influential, "cuffing edge" works of art that Alexandr had amassed. Buoyed by their impending reunion with their daughter in the U.S., they decided to present his one thousand, five hundred crated paintings and sculptures to the people of the United States. They made this decision with a sense of gratitude to America for providing a safe haven and future for their daughter. The Zhdanovs' had a clear, less altruistic, emotionally easier alternative: to ship the crated work to Vienna. The soviets' ruling on the work's "lack of artistic value" had cleared the way for them to do this dutyfree.

At the United States Embassy in Moscow, in November, 1987, Zhdanov met with "Cultural Attache"' Gregory Guroff, and made the presentation of the works of art. The art was accepted as a gift to the American people. Guroff received a detailed catalogue of the works, and assured Zhdanov that the crates would be picked up by the U.S. government after Alexandr and Galina had left the country. Immediately before they left, Consul General Max Robinson promised the Zhdanov's specifically that the 1500 works of art would be picked up by the U.S. Government after 12 December, 1987.

All of the art disappeared. The U.S. Government, per se, apparently did not pick up the work. Guroff himself would never respond as to the fate of the work. U.S. Government officials close to the case give mixed information about the circumstances; in letters to Zhdanov they admit to having received the catalogue of works; they deny receiving a gift but are vague about the reasons for being in possession of the catalogue; they release little information, but state "an extensive investigation" has been completed. Zhdanov's appeals meet a bureaucratic cold shoulder. After Zhdanov began a persistent inquiry into the missing art, Guroff appeared at Zhdanov's daughter's home in Virginia, and told her (ominously, it would seem) that it would be best for all if her father dropped his efforts.

I understand there is archival TV footage from Russia available on Zhdanov's work and plight. He is a highly-regarded artist whose work continues to win awards and plaudits here in the United States. He was the first artist in Russia to publicly show works depicting the tragedy of Chernobyl; his work vis a vis Chernobyl was the subject of a TV documentary at the time.

I have seen Zhdanov's documentation myself; it convinced me that the events I describe occurred, and that Zhdanov was subjected to a shocking miscarriage of justice.

Alexander's and Galina's address and phone number are:

     Alexandr Zhdanov & Galina Gerasimova
     1468 Belmont St., N.W., #3
     Washington, DC 20009
     (202) 387-1997

In dealing with documents Mr. Zhdanov will gladly provide you, I would ask you not to write off the dramatic nature of his writing, and the sometimes-bitter and accusatory manner in which he lashes out. I'd ask you, instead, to consider the sources on which generations of Russians relied: Voice of America, underground information channels, and third-hand accounts of american freedom and justice of legendary proportions. If you believed that this system, held up to you for so long as an ideal, had betrayed your trust, but you somehow still believed that in America right prevailed, and that victims wouldn't just be brushed off, would you expect to be heard?

Please consider this story as a subject for an investigative report.

cc: Alexandr Zhdanov
Yours,

Sincerely
Rene' Ruffner