Daniloff Recounts Grim, Grimy Life in a KGB Prison

As Nicholas Daniloff tells it, the KGB’s Lefortovo prison is a place where prisoners sleep with the lights on and get a shower once a week, whether they need it or not.

Daniloff, the American journalist accused of spying by the Soviet Union who became an international figure, spent nearly two weeks in an 8-by-10-foot cell with another prisoner.

After his release to the custody of the U.S. Embassy, he told his wife, Ruth, and colleagues from the U.S. News & World Report about the grimy details of life at Lefortovo.

“He did have a shower (after getting out) but it didn’t help too much,” his wife told reporters. “He needs a new set of clothes.” Prison rules require one shower and allow two shaves a week, she said. The cots are “very hard” and prisoners generally sleep with a handkerchief over their eyes because the overhead lights are not turned off at night, she added.

Guards check on prisoners every 15 minutes or so during the night, she added, and the prison day begins at 6 a.m.

The food was mostly kasha, or barley cereal, soup and potatoes until Daniloff complained. Then he was given meals with meat and provided two glasses of milk a day for his final days in jail.

‘Clothes Just Hanging’

“He’s lost a lot of weight,” she said. “His clothes are just hanging on him.” His first post-prison meal--Russian blinis, or small pancakes--may put back some of the lost pounds.

Daniloff, who suffers from high blood pressure, got some special medicine from the prison hospital. In general, he was treated like a VIP, with four visits from the warden to check on his well-being.

But the daily interrogation, lasting four hours, and the psychological pressure of being a prisoner took its toll on Daniloff, who will be 52 years old next Dec. 30.

‘Nervously Exhausted’

“I think he’s nervously exhausted,” his wife said.

Henry Trewhitt, deputy managing editor of U.S. News & World Report, arrived in Moscow on Friday night just in time to greet Daniloff as he left the prison.

Explaining why the correspondent decided to cancel plans to hold a news conference Saturday, Trewhitt said:

Staying in Apartment

“He’s fine, and he’s OK. He was flying pretty high last night. He didn’t sleep much, though, and his blood pressure rose and he didn’t feel up to a news conference.” For the time being, the Daniloffs will be staying in an apartment inside the embassy compound, provided by the government for their convenience.

Daniloff’s successor, Jeff Trimble, is occupying their old apartment on Lenin Avenue, since Daniloff was about to leave for the United States after reporting from Moscow for 5 1/2 years.

When he left the prison, Daniloff was given back his personal belongings, including his shoelaces and watch. He declined a last request by his cellmate, whom the reporter suspected of being a KGB plant.

“He suggested that Nick take some documents out of there--some mathematical formulas,” Ruth Daniloff said with a laugh.