Vladimir Pasechnik
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Pasechnik was a senior Soviet biologist and bioweaponeer who defected to the UK in 1989, alerting Western intelligence to the vast scope of Moscow's clandestine biological warfare
(BW) program, known as Biopreparat
. His revelations that the program was ten times larger than previously suspected were confirmed in 1992 with the defection to the United States of Colonel Kanatjan Alibekov, the No. 2 scientist for the program.
during the World War II. Pasechnik studied at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, where he was one of the institute's brightest stars, graduating at the top of his class. Pasechnik initially specialized in the study of polymer
s for biological uses at the Institute of High Molecular Compounds in Leningrad. The intent was to develop new antibiotics and other treatments.
In 1974, at the age of 37, Pasechnik was invited by a general from the Soviet Ministry of Defence to start his own biotechnology institute in Leningrad
and he was given “an unlimited budget” to buy equipment in the West and recruit the best staff available. The laboratory he created was in reality part of the countrywide Biopreparat program. Known as the Institute of Ultra Pure Biochemical Preparations, it was to work on a strain of plague. The laboratory actually began operating in 1981, and over the next two years Pasechnik realized that, far from running a civilian research operation dedicated to vaccine development, as he had been promised, he had become part of a vast network of laboratories and factories involved in a massive BW program.
According to Pasechnik, the Institute, which had a staff of about 400, did research on modifying cruise missile
s to spread the plague. The weapons system was to operate by flying low to avoid early-warning systems and use robot craft to spray clouds of aerosolized pathogens over unsuspecting enemies. The team succeeded in producing an aerosolized version of the plague microbe that could survive outside a lab. This version of the organism was genetically-engineered to be resistant to antibiotics.
In the mid-1980s
, Pasechnik became increasingly dissatisfied. ("I couldn't sleep at night, thinking about what we were doing," he would tell his British handlers.) He began to plan a defection in 1988, but had never been permitted to travel abroad. His chance came in the summer of 1989, when in recognition of past performance he was allowed to travel to Toulouse
to sign the contracts of a pending deal with a French maker of chemical laboratory equipment. Rather than signing, he reported to the British Embassy in Paris
. Once revealed, the Soviet government insisted that Pasechnik’s research had been intended to defend against acts of biological warfare by an enemy and that the program had been stopped.
In early 1993, the British government permitted Pasechnik to speak publicly. The next year, writer James Adams told Pasechnik’s story in a book, The New Spies. Pasechnik lived in Wiltshire and worked at the UK Department of Health's centre for applied microbiological research at Porton Down
, before forming Regma Biotechnologies, which is involved in research into tuberculosis
and other drug resistant infections.
Pasechnik died of a stroke in 2001. He was survived by his wife, Natasha, a daughter and two sons.
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
(BW) program, known as Biopreparat
Biopreparat
Biopreparat was the Soviet Union's major biological warfare agency from the 1970s on. It was a vast network of secret laboratories, each focused on a different deadly agent...
. His revelations that the program was ten times larger than previously suspected were confirmed in 1992 with the defection to the United States of Colonel Kanatjan Alibekov, the No. 2 scientist for the program.
Biography
A native of Stalingrad, many members of Pasechnik’s family, including his parents, perished in the Nazi siege of that citySiege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
during the World War II. Pasechnik studied at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, where he was one of the institute's brightest stars, graduating at the top of his class. Pasechnik initially specialized in the study of polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
s for biological uses at the Institute of High Molecular Compounds in Leningrad. The intent was to develop new antibiotics and other treatments.
In 1974, at the age of 37, Pasechnik was invited by a general from the Soviet Ministry of Defence to start his own biotechnology institute in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and he was given “an unlimited budget” to buy equipment in the West and recruit the best staff available. The laboratory he created was in reality part of the countrywide Biopreparat program. Known as the Institute of Ultra Pure Biochemical Preparations, it was to work on a strain of plague. The laboratory actually began operating in 1981, and over the next two years Pasechnik realized that, far from running a civilian research operation dedicated to vaccine development, as he had been promised, he had become part of a vast network of laboratories and factories involved in a massive BW program.
According to Pasechnik, the Institute, which had a staff of about 400, did research on modifying cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
s to spread the plague. The weapons system was to operate by flying low to avoid early-warning systems and use robot craft to spray clouds of aerosolized pathogens over unsuspecting enemies. The team succeeded in producing an aerosolized version of the plague microbe that could survive outside a lab. This version of the organism was genetically-engineered to be resistant to antibiotics.
In the mid-1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, Pasechnik became increasingly dissatisfied. ("I couldn't sleep at night, thinking about what we were doing," he would tell his British handlers.) He began to plan a defection in 1988, but had never been permitted to travel abroad. His chance came in the summer of 1989, when in recognition of past performance he was allowed to travel to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
to sign the contracts of a pending deal with a French maker of chemical laboratory equipment. Rather than signing, he reported to the British Embassy in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Once revealed, the Soviet government insisted that Pasechnik’s research had been intended to defend against acts of biological warfare by an enemy and that the program had been stopped.
In early 1993, the British government permitted Pasechnik to speak publicly. The next year, writer James Adams told Pasechnik’s story in a book, The New Spies. Pasechnik lived in Wiltshire and worked at the UK Department of Health's centre for applied microbiological research at Porton Down
Porton Down
Porton Down is a United Kingdom government and military science park. It is situated slightly northeast of Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility which is operated by QinetiQ...
, before forming Regma Biotechnologies, which is involved in research into tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and other drug resistant infections.
Pasechnik died of a stroke in 2001. He was survived by his wife, Natasha, a daughter and two sons.