Chicago Tribune, October 24, 1987
Copyright 1987 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune
October 24, 1987 Saturday, NATIONAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4; ZONE: C
LENGTH: 346 words
HEADLINE: FIVE SOVIET GENERALS KILLED
ARMY OFFICERS APPARENTLY DIED IN HELICOPTER CRASH
BYLINE: Associated Press.
DATELINE: MOSCOW
BODY:
Five Soviet army generals have been killed, apparently in a helicopter
crash, it was reported Friday.
Red Star, the Defense Ministry newspaper, said five officers and two
helicopter crewmen died in an air crash Monday.
The report did not say where the crash occurred, but a Western diplomatic
source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had information about the
incident that "ruled out Afghanistan," where the Soviet military has
been
fighting Afghan guerrillas for nearly eight years. The newspaper provided no
further details, such as the type of aircraft or whether it was shot down.
It could be deduced that the army generals were aboard a helicopter
because the obituaries of two junior officers, one a helicopter pilot and the
other his technician, were published along with those of the generals.
Red Star carried obituaries on Col. Gen. Vladimir P. Shutov, most
recently listed as deputy chief of a main directorate of the military general
staff, headquartered in Moscow; and Lt. Gen. Kiril N. Trofimov, deputy chief
of communications of the Soviet armed forces.
Obituaries also were provided on Lt. Gen. Yuri I. Ryabinin, identified as
serving in "responsible positions on the general staff;" Maj. Gen.
Erlen V.
Porfiryev, chief of staff of the southern group of the armies; and Maj. Gen.
Vladimir S. Bardashevski, who "recently occupied a responsible position
on
the general staff of the Soviet armed forces."
Porfiryev's position with the southern group suggested the crash occurred
in the southeast border region where the Soviet Union and Afghanistan meet,
but the Soviet military practically never identifies which units are fighting
in the neighboring country.
The diplomatic source said he had received recent information indicating
the crash could have occurred in the southern region or in eastern Europe.
Asked how he knew Afghanistan was not involved, the source, who has access to
various Western intelligence reports, said: "I can't tell you that."
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