Key Channels to Embassy in Moscow Reported Cut Off

The espionage arrests of two Marines who guarded the U.S. Embassy in Moscow have forced the State Department to cut off important communications channels with its diplomats there, according to published reports.

The reports in the current editions of Time and Newsweek magazines also say that all 28 Marine guards at the embassy will be replaced soon.

Time reported that all sensitive electronic communications with the embassy have been closed, and that U.S. diplomatic posts around the world are now transmitting Moscow-bound traffic to Frankfurt, West Germany. Couriers then carry the material to the embassy, the magazine said.

Newsweek said that communications methods not being used as a result of the arrests include written messages sent by radio and “secure” telephone calls.

Newsweek also said sources told it that far more money may have been involved in the case than previously reported.

The Marine Corps’ charge sheet says one of those arrested, Sgt. Clayton J. Lonetree, gave his alleged accomplice, Cpl. Arnold Bracy, cash “payments” of $1,000. But Newsweek said a State Department source alleged the KGB paid them tens of thousands of dollars.