Three Russian Jews who have relatives in Israel were arrested in Kinshasa, Zaire last week for allegedly spying for the Soviet Union. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has instructed its embassy in Kinshasa to look into the case.
Yediot Achronot identified the three as Leonid Treunanovsky, Khorgim Gnadi Livyatin and Yuri Smoller, the two latter said to be brothers. They had reportedly immigrated to Israel some years ago but left and are now permanent residents of West Berlin. For a number of years they have been operating a business in Zaire, trading in gold and other precious metals, Yediot Achronot reported.
The newspaper quoted relatives as saying they were arrested because a former partner with whom they had quarreled implicated them in a series of terrorist attacks in Kinshasa. The relatives appealed to the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli and world media to help secure their release.
Lina Truyanovsky, described as the wife of one of the suspects, told Yediot Achronot that it was ridiculous to assume her husband was a spy for the Soviet Union, “a country he could hardly wait to get out of.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
