On 5 December 1991 , Senator Jesse Helms , ranking member of the Minority on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations , wrote to Yeltsin concerning U.S. servicemen who were POWs or MIAs : " The status of thousands and thousands of American servicemen who are held by Soviet and other Communist forces , and who were never repatriated after every major war this century , is of grave concern to the American people . " Yeltsin would ultimately respond with a statement made on 15 June 1992 , whilst being interviewed onboard his presidential jet en route to the United States , " Our archives have shown that it is true — some of them were transferred to the territory of the USSR and were kept in labour camps ... We can only surmise that some of them may still be alive . " On 10 December 1991 , just five days after Senator Helms had written to Yeltsin regarding American servicemen , he again wrote to Yeltsin , this time concerning Korean Air Lines Flight 007 ( KAL 007 ) requesting information concerning possible survivors , including Georgia Congressman Larry McDonald , and their whereabouts
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Boris Yeltsin