Freed Soviets Under Medical Care in Beirut

Three Soviet kidnap victims who were freed exhausted, barefoot and bearded after a monthlong captivity in Lebanon were under close medical care Thursday at the heavily-guarded Soviet Embassy.

Yuri Souslikov, the Soviet charge d’affaires, who headed intensive efforts to obtain their release, told reporters that the men wept when they walked into the embassy Wednesday night.

Asked if the releases are a triumph for Moscow, contrasting with Washington’s prolonged failure to win freedom for six Americans held by radical Muslim kidnapers, Souslikov said with a smile: “Maybe we have more friends here.”

The three men--commercial attache Valery Mirikov, press attache Oleg Spirin and embassy doctor Nikolai Svirsky--were dragged from their cars in West Beirut on Sept. 30 by gunmen belonging to the Islamic Liberation Organization, a group believed to be made up of Sunni Muslim fundamentalists.

One Diplomat Slain

A fourth Soviet official kidnaped at the same time, 32-year-old consular secretary Arkady Katkov, was killed by his captors two days later.

Mirikov, 37, and Svirsky, 40, wept when they embraced their wives, Souslikov said. The wife of Spirin, 32, is in Moscow.

“They have beards and I understand they lost some kilos (weight),” Souslikov added. “They slept very late today and the doctors say they need complete rest after this long time.”

He said that embassy officials have not yet been able to question the freed men fully about their ordeal, or about the identities of the kidnapers, because they are still under medical care and examination.

Souslikov said the three men will not meet with reporters in Beirut, and the timing of their departure for Moscow will depend upon the doctors’ findings, he said.

Meanwhile, a squadron of Israeli warplanes staged mock raids on militia positions in mountains east of Beirut on Thursday, drawing heavy anti-aircraft fire, Lebanese military sources said.

The 50-minute Israeli maneuver was centered on the town of Bhamdoun, 12 miles east of Beirut. The town is controlled by the militia of the Progressive Socialist Party, a Druze-led movement.