Kremlin comments on death of ‘traitor’ pilot

It is unlikely that late Soviet-era defector Viktor Belenko led a happy life in the US, Dmitry Peskov has suggested

Committing treason is the “greatest tribulation” which can happen to someone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said concerning the recent death of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet-era fighter pilot who defected to the US in the 1970s.

Peskov made the remarks in an interview with TASS published on Tuesday, stating that Belenko is unlikely to have led a “happy life” in the US.

“A traitor can never live a happy life. It is always the greatest tribulation for a person to become a traitor,” Peskov suggested.

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Belenko had passed away in September at a nursing home in Illinois. The defector was 76 years old.

Belenko got into the international media spotlight in 1976, when he flew a MiG-25P (NATO reporting name ‘Foxbat’) to Japan. At the time, the plane was one of the most modern Soviet fighter jets. The aircraft was ultimately returned to the USSR, but not before being dismantled by US specialists to study its structure and onboard equipment. It was described as an “intelligence bonanza” by then CIA director and future US president, George H. W. Bush.

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While the reasons for Belenko’s defection have long remained a subject for debate, the pilot himself insisted he was merely seeking “freedom” in the US, as he told Japanese authorities after touching down on the northern island of Hokkaido. He was ultimately granted US citizenship in 1980, changing his surname to ‘Schmidt’, getting married and fathering two sons, before ultimately ending up divorced.

Belenko largely avoided media attention while living in the states, keeping his life private and working as a consultant for American aerospace companies and government agencies.

“He lived the most private life,” his son Paul told NYT. “He flew under the radar, literally and figuratively.”