US secret services suffer another heavy loss: a drug-addicted spy stands trial in Voronezh

Court proceedings start today in Voronezh, Central Russia, in connection with the case of John Edward Tobbin, a US national detained February 1st this year on charges of illegal possession of drugs. Mr. Tobbin, 24, a post-graduate student of the Voronezh State University, has been preparing his thesis on the “changing of the political priorities in Russians over the last decade.” The American’s record looks fairly impressive. It includes training at the US Defence Ministry Institute (majoring in the Russian language), training at the Military Intelligence School at Fort Huachuk (interrogations diploma). Besides, he is a laureate of the Fulbright Foundation. When entering the Voronezh University, Mr. Tobbin had along a reference from the US State Department. Apparently, Mr. Tobbin has been passing in Russia one of the stages in security training, that is, linguistic and social “run-in.” It cannot be ruled out that, given time, Mr. Tobbin could become a fixed-post spy, for he seems to have got by now all necessary expertise, including fluent speaking a number of Russian patois. His prospects could be considered quite good, if it were not for his addiction to drugs. His apartment is said to have virtually been turned into a den. All in all, to fail such a skilled officer is a major setback for the America intelligence. Mr. Tobbin wil hardly take up high posts, anyway.