Eduard Baranov lives in Obninsk, Russia, the city where the first Russian nuclear power plant was built. It is now a center of nuclear research and training, home to seven nuclear institutes. FRONTLINE's investigation has revealed that Baranov is suspected by Russian law enforcement of playing a role in three of the major cases of weapons-grade nuclear materials smuggling in Europe.
According to the Czech detective working on the Prague case, Baranov admitted to recruiting his neighbor Alexander Scherbinin to smuggle uranium to Prague. Scherbinin had borrowed money from a bank to finance a scheme to import German sports cars into Russia. In the early years of Russia's new capitalism, it was not uncommon for banks to charge usurious interest rates of one hundred percent or higher. When Scherbinin's cars didn't sell, his debts quickly started to mount.
When Baranov became aware of Scherbinin's plight, he proposed a way Scherbinin could escape from his debt by smuggling uranium out of Russia. Scherbinin agreed and, in the summer of 1994, carried two canisters of highly enriched uranium across Eastern Europe to Prague. Scherbinin was in Prague for six months trying to sell his nuclear material before he was arrested on
December 14, 1994.
In addition, Baranov's name is listed as a suspected supplier in the Munich smuggling case in a letter sent to the German Ministry of Justice by the Russian Federal Security Service. Baranov continues to live free in his Obninsk apartment. Baranov declined to speak with FRONTLINE, indicating that he had signed a document with the Russian authorities promising not to talk about these events.
[for more information on Scherbinin and Baranov's activities, visit the timeline.]
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