Comments on: Author POV – Viktor Belenko, Hero or Traitor?

By: Igor Shutov

Igor Shutov — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:40:57 +0000

Actually Mig Pilot was killed in a small plane crash about 10 years ago. He used to attend EAA Oshkosh where he made presentations about soviet military aviation.

By: DrWMPottenger

DrWMPottenger — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:42:59 +0000

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Mr. Belenko? I just read John Barron’s book, and realized that Mr. Belenko is about 63 years old now and probably still living.

By: Pete Markov

Pete Markov — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:58:36 +0000

“Komsomolskaya Pravda is the KGB propaganda machine. Only an idiot will believe in its stories/interviews. Belenko’s relatives live in Canada. Only God knows how many wives and children he have had during his life time. New York Times is claiming that he worked for the CIA since 1974. The Russian cosmonavt Igor Volk does support this claim. John Barron wrote “Mig Pilot”. But he did not give any credit to Viktor Belenko regarding to the contribution to this book. Perhaps it is another fiction. But it is John Barron’s book.
Interview with Victor Belenko is pure fabrication . It has being done to support the sale of Barron’s books. For the legal protection from potential law suits the first name Victor was used with the letter “C”. The real first name Belenko is Viktor with letter “K”. The big question is this, ‘WHY DIDN’T VIKTOR BELENKO WRITE HIS OWN BOOK?”

By: Miguel Vargas-Caba

Miguel Vargas-Caba — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:53:14 +0000

In response to Mr. Coffin’s request about Viktor Belenko’s wife, Lyudmila, I found an interview made to her by the Russian newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” on 09-26-2006. She today works as manager of a children’s nursery in the Kuban Region of Russia. Neither her nor Dmitry ever got in touch again with Viktor after his defection. He did get married to an American music teacher, with whom he had 2 children, but later the couple divorced.

By: Dave Coffin

Dave Coffin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:10:11 +0000

Shortly before he defected, Viktor’s wife Ludmila demanded a divorce and planned to take their 4-year-old son Dmitri to live with her parents in Magadan, and Viktor figured that her Party connections would protect the family from what he was about to do. Does anyone know what became of them? Did Dmitri ever get in touch with his father? Did Viktor marry and start another family in the US?

By: Gray Champion

Gray Champion — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:09:05 +0000

Hero

He was being true to higher principles of honesty. He figured out
that he and millions of Russians was being lied to and enslaved.
He began to hate the system that strips personal initiative and
individual and group exceptionalism. He hated Slavery. (The
Russian mafia ruled the place and still does.)

His defection caused a strategic re-alignment within the Soviet
Union that cost them billions. By the 1980’s the United States was
able to negotiate against the Soviet Union from a position of
strength. Eventually the Soviet Union collapsed.

By his act of defection and gift of the Mig 25, Viktor Belinko was
ultimately and in part instrumental in freeing many of his
countrymen and ending The Cold War.

Living conditions in Russia have not turned better for the masses
today, but the old Soviet Bloc countries, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, East Germany, Ukrane, Georgia, and Eastern
Europe — are all much better off without the Soviet Union being
able to completely dominate them. Totalitarian Communism
suffered a great blow when the USSR failed.

Unfortunately, America has become more comfortable with
Socialism and Communism. It appears America is beginning by
incrementalizm to adopt policies that also strip personal initiative
and individual and group exceptionalism. I believe the next four
to eight years will be very telling. Will America become
Communist? If so, it will be ONE PARTY and will eventually
become Totalitarian.

For the sake and hope of all humanity all Americans and
soveriegn people should root out the false principals and
propaganda s of Socialism and Communism, find the best in our
system and help the whole world to do the same.

By: Gerald P. Illies

Gerald P. Illies — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:53:16 +0000

The stigma of traitorous activity really only has meaning depending on the side with which you place your own allegiance. The Russians no doubt cursed Belenko’s name (although they tried to keep up a front that he had lost his way, and some did turn him into a hero for a time), but to America he had become a “friend” and advisor, working in the Military Academy for several years. Having been given a life which probably suited him quite well, he would have no reason to defect back to Russia, or any other country.
A classic example of the mixed nature of the concept of treachery would be the character of Benedict Arnold during our own American Rebellion. He was a traitor to the British Crown when he fought for the rebellion, greatly aiding in the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga. He then went back to the British side and became a traitor to the Colonial cause. The British never really took him seriously, but how could they when he had so gallantly worked in favor of Colonial independence, besides the fact that he was not a very likeable fellow. However, they did give him a command and he ravaged Virginia for a time.
I believe the feature of Russian pilots defecting from their government is a statement of the unsatisfying system that they are forced to endure. Belenko writes, “It has always been a hard task in Russia to find tasty tinned goods. But in the USA I bought different tinned foods every day, and they were all very good. Once I bought a tin where was written Dinner and fried its content with potatoes, onions and garlic – it was delicious. Next morning my friends told me that I had eaten tinned chicken for cats. But it was delicious!” I don’t remember any point in history where the West Berliners were excited to jump the wall and enter the luxury of Eastern Germany. Belenko was exposing his dislike for Russian government, and risking death in the process, to gain for himself what he felt would be far better, and which turned out to be just that. The Russian ambassador in Japan, upon meeting with Belenko, informed him that they “knew he had lost his way and was forced to land on the island” (and with only seconds of fuel remaining in his MIG), but Belenko would not play the game, and the ambassador ensured him they would find him, no matter where he tried to hide.
The concept of treachery really only has meaning depending on the side upon which you stand. Indeed our entire national character is founded upon such “treacherous” circumstances. After all, was General George Washington a traitor, or a hero?

By: Mike Higgins

Mike Higgins — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:05:39 +0000

I suppose that by definition, Belenko is a traitor. An abstract question that I would ask of Mr. Belenko is; given the opportunity, would you defect from the U.S.? Regardless of what label is put on him,he is a human being. He was an opportunist, he had an advantage not many other Russians had and he had access to something that he knew the west wanted and were willing to pay for. He used it for personal gain and a new life. This story is similar to Lt. Kim of North Korea who defected with a Mig during the Korean War, is he a traitor? By definition, yes? Have either of these men behaved other than honorably since their defection? Did America benefit from the action of these two men and their membership in our society?
Viktor Belenko, as with Mr. Kim, believed, but wasn’t quite sure of what he was getting himself into, if he succeeded. He was absolutely certain, however, of what lay in store should he fail. Whatever the lable, it took an exceptional amount of courage.