5 Soviet Deserters Held by Afghan Guerrillas Are Taken to Canada

Five Soviet army deserters have been brought to Canada in a secret government mission after being held captive by Afghan rebels for about three years, it was reported Saturday.

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney confirmed that the five are “safe and sound” in Canada, and said further information would be released this week. Officials said Canadian officials will speak to Soviet diplomats about the mission.

The men were taken to a Canadian armed forces base in Ontario for debriefing, the Whig-Standard newspaper of Kingston, Ont., quoted unidentified sources as saying.

The soldiers were identified as Sergei Busov, 22, a driver-mechanic; Nikolai Golovin, 23, an electrician; Igor Kovalchuk, 26, an electrician; Vladislav Naumov, 24, a paratrooper, and Vadim Plotnikov, 21, a demolition expert.

The five men were flown to Canada on Thursday after being released in two groups and united in Pakistan, the Whig-Standard said. A sixth man reportedly was too far inside Afghanistan and could not be rescued.

About 115,000 Soviet troops are in Afghanistan to aid the Marxist Afghan government fight a nationwide Islamic insurgency. The Afghan rebels operate from bases in Pakistan along the Afghan border.

Efforts to bring six Soviet deserters to Canada began in July, 1984, when Toronto lawyer Serge Jusyp met several of the deserters in Afghanistan.

Jusyp, who was acting on behalf of the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Toronto, got rebel leaders to agree to release the deserters if Canada offered them asylum.