The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986

RussiaRSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

Soviet authorities arrested Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, on August 30, 1986, days after the United States arrested a Soviet United Nations employee on espionage charges. Daniloff was held for two weeks before being moved to United States Embassy custody and left the Soviet Union on September 29, 1986.12

What happened

Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for the magazine U.S. News & World Report, was arrested by Soviet authorities on August 30, 1986, days after the United States arrested Gennadi Zakharov, a Soviet employee of the United Nations, on espionage charges in New York. President Ronald Reagan told the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 1986, that an American correspondent in Moscow had been made the subject of what he called fabricated accusations and trumped-up charges, arrested and jailed in disregard of due process, and in effect held as a hostage. The White House said Secretary of State George Shultz would raise Daniloff's case as the first item at his meeting that week with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. On September 12, 1986, Daniloff was transferred from Soviet custody to the United States Ambassador in Moscow, ending confinement Reagan described as an 8-by-10-foot cell shared with a suspected informant and daily interrogation. Daniloff left the Soviet Union for the West on September 29, 1986. The Committee to Protect Journalists later named his case among "meritless espionage cases brought against journalists."123456789

What reason was given

Stated justification

Soviet officials' own account of the espionage accusation does not appear among the sources reviewed here; President Reagan told the United Nations General Assembly that Daniloff had been made the subject of "fabricated accusations and trumped-up charges."39

What changed for reporting

Daniloff was held, in Reagan's description, in an 8-by-10-foot cell shared with a suspected informant and subjected to hours of interrogation before he was transferred to United States Ambassador custody on September 12, 1986.46

Timeline

1986

30 August 1986
Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986

Outlets and journalists

NameKindRelation
U.S. News & World Reportoutletaffected

Sources

  1. Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the Arrest and Detention of Nicholas Daniloff in the Soviet UnionThe American Presidency Project, 1986-09-16, primary. Source record
  2. Address to the 41st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New YorkThe American Presidency Project, 1986-09-22, primary. Source record
  3. Remarks at a White House Ceremony for the Elementary School Recognition Program HonoreesThe American Presidency Project, 1986-09-12, primary. Source record
  4. Remarks at a Senate Campaign Rally for Christopher S. Bond in Kansas City, MissouriThe American Presidency Project, 1986-09-29, primary. Source record
  5. The President's News ConferenceThe American Presidency Project, 1986-11-19, primary. Source record
  6. CPJ Background Paper Describes Legal Issues in Saberi CaseCommittee to Protect Journalists, 2009-05-09, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. Daniloff, the U.S. News & World Report Moscow correspondent, was arrested on August 30, 1986.Mr. Daniloff, the U.S. News & World Report Moscow correspondent, was arrested on August 30.Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the Arrest and Detention of Nicholas Daniloff in the Soviet Union, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-16.Claim 788, checked 2026-09-26.
  2. The White House said Secretary of State Shultz would raise the Daniloff case as the first item in his meeting with the Soviet foreign minister.Secretary [of State] Shultz will be meeting this weekend with [Soviet] Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, and we will raise the issue as the first item on the agenda.Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the Arrest and Detention of Nicholas Daniloff in the Soviet Union, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-16.Claim 789, checked 2026-09-26.
  3. President Reagan told the United Nations the correspondent had been made the subject of fabricated, trumped-up charges.an American correspondent in Moscow was made the subject of fabricated accusations and trumped-up charges.Address to the 41st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-22.Claim 790, checked 2026-09-26.
  4. Reagan said the journalist had been arrested and jailed in disregard of due process and human rights conventions, and in effect held as a hostage.He was arrested and jailed in a callous disregard of due process and numerous human rights conventions.Address to the 41st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-22.Claim 791, checked 2026-09-26.
  5. Daniloff was moved from Soviet custody to the custody of the United States Ambassador in Moscow.our hostage in Moscow, Mr. Daniloff, has been transferred to the custody of our Ambassador and will be in the Embassy there.Remarks at a White House Ceremony for the Elementary School Recognition Program Honorees, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-12.Claim 792, checked 2026-09-26.
  6. Daniloff had been held in an 8-by-10-foot cell shared with a suspected informant and subjected to daily interrogation.Mr. Daniloff is out of the 8-by 10-foot cell, which he was sharing with someone we think was an informant, and that he won't be subjected to 4 hours of interrogation every day.Remarks at a White House Ceremony for the Elementary School Recognition Program Honorees, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-12.Claim 793, checked 2026-09-26.
  7. Daniloff departed Moscow by air for the West on September 29, 1986.a Lufthansa airliner left Moscow bound for Frankfurt, West Germany, and on board are Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Daniloff.Remarks at a Senate Campaign Rally for Christopher S. Bond in Kansas City, Missouri, The American Presidency Project, 1986-09-29.Claim 794, checked 2026-09-26.
  8. President Reagan denied that Daniloff's release and Zakharov's release amounted to a trade.I know some persist in saying that we traded Zakharov for Daniloff. We did not.The President's News Conference, The American Presidency Project, 1986-11-19.Claim 795, checked 2026-09-26.
  9. The Committee to Protect Journalists later described Daniloff's prosecution as one of several meritless espionage cases against journalists.Nicholas Daniloff in the former Soviet Union are other examples of meritless espionage cases brought against journalistsCPJ Background Paper Describes Legal Issues in Saberi Case, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2009-05-09.Claim 796, checked 2026-09-26.