U.S. Warns Travelers to Soviet Union

WASHINGTON — The State Department issued a warning Friday to American travelers to the Soviet Union to be on guard against the downside of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s program of reforms: street crime, violence from ethnic clashes and deteriorating health care.

The unusual travel advisory urged “tourists in frail health not to visit the Soviet Union.” It said there is a severe shortage of medical supplies, including disposable hypodermic needles, antibiotics and anesthetics, as well as a shortage of diagnostic equipment.

It warned the ill tourist not to expect any help from Intourist, the official guide.

The travel advisory also warned, “Crime is a very real threat in the Soviet Union.” It said there has been “a substantial increase in violent street crime in the Soviet Union in the past year.”

Tourists were warned that U.S. authorities in Moscow “have received increasing numbers of reports of muggings, robberies and pickpocketing, burglaries, sexual assaults and beatings of American citizens.”