948 Chapter 7
Date(s): March 24, 1985 to September 7, 1985
Participants: 2 United States of America, 200 United Kingdom/265 German Demo-
cratic Republic, 365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: 1–25 deaths
Narrative: This dispute involves Soviet countermeasures against American and Brit-
ish reconnaissance efforts in East Germany. First, Soviet forces killed an American
soldier in East Germany on March 24, 1985. The soldier was allegedly attempting to
obtain photographic evidence of a Soviet “military installation.” The United States
protested the shooting. Then, on June 4, Soviet soldiers rammed a parked car carry-
ing three British reconnaissance officers; the Soviets held the officers for five hours.
On September 7, two American soldiers were detained by Soviet troops inside East
Germany in a similar fashion. The incident occurred when a Soviet military transport
struck an American vehicle carrying the soldiers. The Soviet soldiers surrounded the
vehicle, took photographs, and left, only to return two hours later to arrest the two
American soldiers for almost nine hours.
MID#3637
Dispute Number: 3637
Date(s): January 16, 1986
Participants: 365 Russia/2 United States of America, 666 Israel
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The Soviet Union placed three ships—an electronic intelligence-gathering
vessel and two destroyers—30 to 80 miles off the Israeli coast. Pentagon officials
reported this number as six warships and 20 auxiliary ships. This show of force came
amid confrontations between the United States and Libya.
Coding changes: Added to the dispute: 666 Israel. Start Date changed from January
7, 1986. End Date changed from January 7, 1986.
MID#2233
Dispute Number: 2233
Date(s): March 13, 1986
Participants: 2 United States of America/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention gave foreign naval vessels the right
of innocent passage through territorial waters. In 1983, the Soviet government updated
the law, limiting the areas of passage to the Baltic, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea
of Japan. On March 13, 1986, two US Navy vessels—the USS Caron and the USS
Yorktown—passed through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea. In a note of pro-
test, the Soviet Union stated that the American vessels disregarded repeated warnings
by a nearby Soviet ship about the violation and continued to traverse through Soviet
territory. The US government responded to the allegations by defending the ships’