On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary commemorating the end of World War II in Europe and in memory of Russian and American soldiers who fought against a common enemy -- Fascism in all its forms --the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (the Commission) submits this interim report on more than three years of joint effort.
The American and Russian members of the Commission are united by the noble, humanitarian nature of their mission. Since March 1992, their work has been carried out under the aegis of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States of America. The members of the Commission have developed cordial working relationships reminiscent of the alliance both countries shared with Allied nations fifty years ago.
Ambassador Malcolm Toon was appointed by President George Bush, and re-confirmed by President William J. Clinton, to serve as the American co-Chairman. General-Colonel Dmitrii Volkogonov was appointed by President Boris Yeltsin to serve as the Russian co-Chairman.
The Commission has benefited from the service of numerous American and Russian members.
Archivists, military historians, analysts, linguists, and professional military personnel from both sides have participated in the Commission's work.
The Commission's work includes a number of positive results. The Commission has had three objectives. The first and primary one has been to determine whether any American POW/MIAs are still being held in the former Soviet Union against their will. After thorough searches, General Volkogonov has reported to President Yeltsin and the latter has officially stated that no American citizens, either military or civilian, are being held against their will on the territory of Russia today. Similar statements have been provided by representatives of the Russian Federation's Federal Security Service and Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Commission has conducted extensive archival research, interviews of hundreds of Russian citizens, frequent media appeals, and many " live sighting " investigations. However, to date, none of these efforts has produced any data which provide a basis to dispute these official statements. The work is continuing. The Commission is dedicated to following up on any new information which should arise concerning possible live American POWs, MIAs or their remains.
The Commission's second objective has been to determine the fate of members of the U.S. Armed Forces who were located on the territory of the former Soviet Union, either during or after World War II or about whom the Russian government may have information.
The third objective the Commission has set for itself has been to clarify the facts pertaining to the loss of Soviet military personnel and so-called " displaced persons " about whom no information has been available since World War II, as well as MIAs from the Cold War period and the war in Afghanistan.
The work of the Commission has fostered unprecedented cooperation between Moscow and Washington. It has met in Plenary session eleven times -- nine in Moscow and two in Washington. Commission members have also traveled throughout Russia, as well as to Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In each country the Commission has sought assistance in obtaining information about U.S. POW/MIAs, both in meetings with high-ranking government officials and in appeals to citizens over television, over radio and in print.
The Russian side of the Commission has provided more than 10,000 pages of documents, many of which were once highly classified, bearing on U.S. POWs. The Commission has interviewed hundreds of witnesses ranging from Russian Ministers and Ambassadors to the actual participants in aircraft incidents during the height of the Cold War. American representatives in Russia have been provided access to Russian archives, psychiatric hospitals, prisons, prison camps, and military installations in their relentless pursuit of information regarding missing Americans. Opportunities to pursue similar research in the United States have also been extended to Russian representatives.
The Commission is grateful to the citizens of Russia, the United States, and other nations they have visited who have helped in their mission. In these travels they have spoken with hundreds of people who have put past antagonisms behind. Soldiers, sailors, intelligence officials, journalists, pilots, prisoners and members of the MVD, have all openly shared their recollections and musty secrets as well as photographs, diaries, and mementos that are decades old. On behalf of the families of missing servicemen and on behalf of the Russian and American people, the Commission thanks them. The Russian side of the Commission thanks the State Department, the Department of Defense, and other U.S. organizations for providing data about missing Soviet military personnel, aircraft and ships, about which information had previously been incomplete.
The initial plenary sessions of the Commission were general in nature. Both sides spent several months defining the scope of the issue and the best methods for finding new and definitive information on missing Americans. To facilitate its work the Commission has established permanent working groups on World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the war in Vietnam. The co-Chairmen of each of these working groups have prepared interim reports on the progress achieved to date in each area, and these are attached to this preliminary statement.
The World War II Working Group is working to clarify what happened to more than 22,000 American POWs who were held in Soviet-liberated territories and to determine the number of Soviet citizens and servicemen in displaced persons camps in Europe at the end of the war.
The American side has provided the Russian side nearly 6,000 pages of documents on Allied policy and procedures for handling displaced persons and Soviet military personnel in Allied zones during and after the war.
The Korean War Working Group has further clarified the fates of about 20 American servicemen who were previously unaccounted for. Despite the fact that, to date, no conclusive evidence has been discovered that American POWs were transferred into the former Soviet Union, the working group continues its search for new data which could substantiate such a hypothesis.
The Cold War Working Group has done extensive work to resolve questions related to ten U.S. aircraft losses during the Cold War period. One of its most significant accomplishments has been the repatriation of the remains of U.S. Air Force Captain John Dunham after exhaustive archival searches, witness interviews, and field investigation. It also has provided extensive information on Soviet Cold War losses, including a lost Soviet submarine, Soviet aircraft incidents, and Soviet servicemen unaccounted for from Afghanistan and elsewhere.
In its wide-ranging investigation of the many contentious questions concerning Soviet involvement with American POWs in Southeast Asia, the Vietnam War Working Group has gained insight into specific loss incidents and Vietnamese policies toward U.S. POWs through the unique perspective of Soviet military veterans and formerly classified Soviet sources. As of this writing, no information has surfaced with regard to the participation by Soviet personnel in the interrogation of American POWs or regarding any transfer of American POWs to the territory of the former Soviet Union.
As proud as the Commission is of what has been achieved, both sides acknowledge that a great deal more work remains to be done. The American and Russian Commission representatives in Moscow have numerous leads to pursue. Archival searches continue in both countries, with much archival work yet to be done. The Commission will continue its work until both sides are convinced that they know everything that can be known about their missing military personnel and other citizens whose fate is still unknown.
The Commission must continue its work until every lead is exhausted, leaving no stone left unturned. Those whom the Commission serves --the families of the missing, the American and Russian people, and all past, present, and future military service members who put their lives at risk -- deserve no less.
The Commission believes that it also serves a higher purpose: that of deepening the Russian-American partnership. It has demonstrated the ability to forge a working alliance that can weather any changes in bilateral relations. The Commission hopes it will serve as a model or honest exchange between governmental and private organizations in both of our countries.
It is fitting that on the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, a Commission built on the finest traditions of our friendship and respected works to resolve unanswered questions on the fates of our missing.
Ambassador Malcolm Toon
General Dmitriy Volkogonov