Canada expels Soviet scientist

Canada ordered the deportation of Russian scientist L. G. Khvostantsev after the RCMP reported arresting him trying to buy secret information fm a National Research Council scientist. Khvostantsev was working at NRC's Montreal Road laboratories as part of a Canada-Soviet exchange begun in 1971. Twenty-three Soviet scientists, about 20 of them students, are in Canada, while 17 Canadians (14 students) arc in the USSR. - In December, Canada told the Soviet Embassy's assistant air attaché, Vladimir Vassiliev, to leave  because of activities incompatible with his diplomatic status.

Russian Scientist Arrested In Downtown Ottawa Street (Ottawa Journal)
By Jack Best, Journal Correspondent

A Russian scientist was awaiting deportation from Canada today after being arrested last night in down- town Ottawa for subversive activities. RCMP sources said that Lez Grigoryevich Khvostantsev, 39, would be flown back to Moscow from Montreal, probably tonight. He has been in Canada for 10 months under an exchange arrangement with the National Research Council. The RCMP said the Soviet scientist cultivated a friendship with an NRC scientist, and later offered him money in exchange for classified Canadian documents. He actually paid the NRC scientist, whose name was not revealed, for some unclassified documents. .

The Soviet scientist was picked up on a downtown Ottawa street and lodged In the Ottawa-CarIeton regional detention centre prior to expulsion.

Soviet Scientist Deported As Spy  (Gazette)
By JOEL RUIMY and MAURICE BIGIO of The Gazette

RCMP agents smuggled deported Soviet scientist Lez  Grigoryevlch Khvostantsev aboard an Aeroflot flight to MOSCOW last night at the abrupt culmination of Canada's second spy scandal in as many months. The  security men eluded the awaiting reporters at Mirabel International Airport,

The 39-year-old Khvostantsev, on expert in high-pressure physics, left Montreal aboard an Ilyushin-62 passenger jet at 7:45 p.m. along with 51 other passengers on the Paris-Moscow flight. Khvostantsev was arrested Wednesday night after be tried unsuccessfully to buy classified documents from a fellow scientist at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa.

The deportation order read, in part: "You have become a person who . . . there are reasonable grounds to believe . . . is likely to engage in espionage. sabotage or any other subversive activity directed against Canada and detrimental to the security of Canada." The order, signed by Immigration Minister Bud Cullen, concluded: "I hereby order you to be deported from Canada pursuant to sub-section 7.5 of the (Immigration Act, dealing with espionage)."

External Affairs Minister Don Jamieson said the incident "does not do anything to enhance either our exchange programs or our bilateral  relations" with Moscow. "A representative of the Soviet embassy in Ottawa was called in yesterday and advised of our views in very strong language, "the minister in Ottawa. The minister no classified material changed hands : ''It was possible to provide non-classified material during the investigation."

RCMP Superintendent John Bentham explained what Khvostantsev is alleged to have done: "In November, 1978, Khvostantsev actively cultivated a friendship with a National Research Council scientist."  Bentham said, explaining  the Russian was in Canada far a 10-month exchange visit., "In early February, 1977, the NRC scientist reported to the RCMP through his superiors at NRC that Mr. Khvostantsev had offered him money in ex- change for certain Canadian classified documents.

The RCMP then supplied the scientist - who was not named but was identified as a "non-Canadian" - with two unclassified documents. When Khvostantsev bought them from his colleague Wednesday night, , RCMP agents took him into custody.

It was not known what kind of documents the spy was seeking. Rene Pappone, press attach for the immigration department, under whose jurisdiction the case falls, said Khvostantsev was detained in Ottawa after his arrest. "He spent the night of Wednesday to Thursday at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Detention Centre . . . a place we usually use when the immigration department Is involved." He was removed from the centre "some time after the noon hour today (Thursday) and brought to a location which we cannot reveal."  Pappone would not say where Khvostantsev had been held between the time he left Ottawa and the time he boarded the plane for the Soviet Union.

In Ottawa yesterday. acting Soviet Ambassador Nicolai Makarov said external affairs had permitted him to speak with the scientist Wednesday night: ''Mr. Khvostantsev categorically denied the charges, he was indignant and he said he was completely innocent." Makarov said. "He maintained normal contacts with Canadian scientists (during his stay at the NRC) and he had access to usually open scientific material."

When asked if the Soviet Union would issue a diplomatic note over the incident, he replied: "We are very sad about the affair but It has been decided not to issue a note yet. "We have been speaking with Moscow and it was decided to first investigate this incident."

Makarov said that at no time did the accused spy ever have contacts with embassy staff during his stay in the country, a statement borne out by Jamieson, who said no other Russians appeared to be implicated.

Since 1973. Khvostantsev had published two scientific articles a year in Soviet journals, and he was a member of the Institute of High-Pressure Physics at Moscow's Akadem Gorod. Among his works are "Superconducting Properties of certain Compounds . . . under High Temperature and Pressure" and "Magnetic properties of Metals and Semi-Conductors under Quasi Hydro-Static Pressure." A librarian at McGill's Engineering Faculty said the accused spy's works had been translated and made available to English-speaking colleagues.

Makarov described the scientist as a "well-respected man in Western scientific circles, Twenty-three Russians now are visiting Canada under an exchange program similar to the one that brought Khvostantsev here. Seventeen Canadians. including 14 students, are in the U.S.S.R. Jamieson said no action would be taken against the other Soviet scientists here, "and that speaks for itself."

The Soviet scientist's expulsion comes about a month after five Cubans, including three diplomats, were expelled or told to stay out of Canada for their participation In a spy school at Cuba's consulate in Montreal. Three of the Cubans were unnamed Montreal-based officials kicked out for ''conduct incompatible with their status in Canada," an external affairs official had said. The other two - identified as McGill University post-graduate student Hector Arazoza and businessman Santo Hernandez Cuesta - were ordered out under articles of the Immigration act dealing with espionage.

Suspected Spy Hustled Home, Jamieson Angry (Ottawa Journal)

The third Communist espionage case in less than three months has been broken with the arrest and immediate expulsion of a Russian scientist accused of trying to bribe another scientist to supply him with classified Canadian documents. As reported exclusively in The Journal's metro edition Thursday, the Soviet exchange scientist was arrested on a downtown Ottawa street and put into the Ottawa- Carleton regional detention centre. Last night he was expelled from the country. RCMP agents escorted Lev, Griforeyvich Khvostantsev aboard an Aeroflot flight which left Mirabel Airport for Moscow at 9: 45 p.m. Khvostantsev, a solid physics expert, was in Canada under an exchange agreement between the National Research Council and the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He arrived Nov. 17 on a 10-month visa. Security men managed to keep the 39-year-oldphysicist out of sight of reporters and photographers as he was hustled onto the plane. Khvostantsev is the second Russian to be expelled from Canada in three months.

In Ottawa, External Affairs Minister Don Jamieson said the scientist, who came to Canada Nov. 17, was arrested Wednesday night after he tried unsuccessfully to buy classified documents from an identified NRC scientist. The foreign-born scientist reported Khvostantsev's actions to RCMP. Mr. Jamieson told reporters had been that a strong protest had been lodged with the Soviet embassy and warned that this kind of action might endanger relations between the two countries. The deportation order said Khvostantsev had "become a person who. are reasonable grounds to believe, is likely to engage in espionage, sabotage or any subversive activity  directed against Canada and detriment to the security of Canada."

Soviet ambassador Nikolai Makarov said from his Ottawa office Thursday that the external affairs department had allowed him to confer with the scientist Wednesday night and that Khvostantsev had categorically denied the charges." "He maintained normal contacts with Canadian scientists daring his stay at the National Research Council and he had access to documents usually upon scientific material," the ambassador said. . Asked if the Soviet Union in- tended to issue a diplomatic note regarding the affair, he said be had spoken to Moscow and "it was decided to first investigate the incident." RCMP Supt. John Bentham refused to say what kind of classified information Khvostantsev bad tried to buy and what amount of money he had offered the NRC scientist. Supt. Bentham said in Ottawa the physicist had made two pay- ments to the NRC scientist in exchange for unclassified documents pertaining to thermo-electricity. He would not say bow much money was involved, but stressed that Khvostantsev had not obtained any classified information, Khvostantsvev was arrested by an immigration department officer, accompanied by at least one RCMP officer, while on his way to work at the NRC Wednesday morning. The arrest order had been signed by Immigration Minister Bud Cullen the previous night. The action bad been well plotted. An immigration source said the "game plan was to pick up Khvostantsev at a particular place. . Later Wednesday the Russian scientist was visited in his room at the detention centre by an official from the embassy. The expulsion comes about a month after five Cubans, including three diplomats, were ordered out of Canada for allegedly operating a spy school at the Cuban consulate here, It was also revealed last month that another Cuban was asked to  leave the country last year for intelligence activities- In December, Vladimir Vassiliev, assistant air attache in the Soviet embassy, was expelled for activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. A spokesman for the external affairs department said the Khvostantsev affair was the first incident of this sort under the scientific exchange program. He said 23 Russian scientists now are visiting various Canadian institutes under the program and 17 Canadians are in the U.S.S.R