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Obituaries

Vitaly V. Fedorchuk | Soviet spymaster, 89

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Vitaly V. Fedorchuk, 89, who rose through the Soviet intelligence and police services to become the leader of the KGB and then the country's hard-nosed chief law enforcement officer, died Feb. 29 in Moscow.

The Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, announced the death.

From late 1982 to early 1986, Fedorchuk was interior minister, making him the Soviet Union's top police officer, in charge of uniformed officers from detectives to game wardens. The job's high visibility contrasted with his covert past.

The barrel-chested, blunt-speaking minister arrested corrupt officials and thieves in fields ranging from trucking to finance, attacked chronic drunkenness as a cause of crime with puritanical relish, and purged his forces of "dull" chiefs, ideological laggards and "strange people."

- N.Y. Times News Service

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