50 Soviet Emigres Gather in N.Y. to Return Home

More than 50 Soviet emigres who no longer want to live in the United States gathered here Sunday to fly back to Moscow, the largest group ever to return to their homeland from this country at one time, Soviet officials said.

Many of the emigres have lived in the United States for six to eight years but decided to leave because “they could not get used to the American way of living,” said Alexei Zhvakin, vice 1668247155Washington.

As of Sunday evening, 54 returnees were expected to leave on a regularly scheduled Aeroflot flight departing for Moscow from Kennedy International Airport.

The flight was delayed to allow officials to bring in a larger aircraft to accommodate the emigres and other groups of tourists, Zhvakin said.

Aeroflot Desk Mobbed

The Aeroflot desk was mobbed by long lines of people waiting for the flight. Amid piles of luggage, returnees tearfully embraced friends and relatives who were staying behind. A few carried newly purchased electronic equipment.

Some of the emigres said they were homesick for relatives, while others said they felt they did not belong in the United States.

“Russia for Russians, America for Americans. I want to go home to see my mother,” said Vladimir Proshinsky, who lived here for eight years, working as a taxi driver and auto mechanic. He said he wanted to resume his chemical engineering studies in the Soviet Union.

The group repatriation was the third in as many months. In October and November, Soviet officials announced the return of 17 other emigres, several of whom said they were homesick and disenchanted with life in the United States.

It also came at a time when Russian theater director Yuri Lyubimov, stripped of his Soviet citizenship two years ago, was told that he would be welcomed back.

Rumors Circulate

Sunday’s flight was not publicized, but rumors that a large number of immigrants were flying back to Moscow began circulating in New York’s Russian emigre community several weeks ago. Most of those leaving were from the New York metropolitan area, with some from the Washington, D.C., area.

At least seven of the returnees are naturalized U.S. citizens, and many are Jews, said Zhvakin, who came to New York to handle the paper work. The group includes at least two families of five and some who are leaving children behind, he said.

The children staying behind “came to the U.S. at the beginning of their teens” and were able to get used to the American way of life better than their parents, Zhvakin said.