The World - News from June 5, 1989

The official Soviet newspaper Izvestia said that high-frequency radio waves used to power British eavesdropping devices may have killed two Soviet citizens in London. In an article headlined “Rays Bring Death,” the newspaper said microwave radiation was used to control sophisticated listening devices implanted in the walls of the diplomatic compound in London, as well as at residences and at quarters of the Soviet trade delegation. Izvestia named the victims of the “death rays” as Yuri Sobol, 5, the son of a diplomat, and Boris Laburets, a trainee journalist with the official Novosti news agency. Both died within the past year. A senior British Foreign Office official denied any government connection with the deaths.