MOSCOW STORY

Svetlana defected to the West apparently after flying to New Delhi with the ashes of an Indian who may have been her husband, Russian sources said today, adds Reuter.

They said the Kremlin dictator’s only daughter went to India soon after Brijesh Singh, an Indian Communist, died in Moscow in December or January.

The sources said Svetlana was believed to have married Mr. Singh about two years ago, but there was no way of confirming the story.

The Soviet Foreign Ministry and the American and Indian Embassies in Moscow declined comment on reports that Svetlana had defected to the US Embassy in New Delhi and was now in Rome. The sources said Svetlana, believed to be 42, had long love affair with 49-year-old Mr. Singh, who worked as a translator with the Soviet “Progress” Publishing Organisation.

Mr. Singh, believed to have come here originally for medical treatment, was cremated in Moscow shortly before Svetlana obtained permission to visit his family in India.

The sources said it was unlikely she would have been given a travel passport unless they were legally married. Indian sources here said they were aware of Mr. Singh’s death but knew no details. They said they had no information about Svetlana’s journey except that it was “round about December”.

Svetlana was said to have left behind in Moscow two children by a former marriage, a son aged about 21 and daughter aged about 15. It was impossible to check her whereabouts.

They were believed to be the children of Grigory Marozov, a student whom she married at the age of 17 and was later forced to divorce at Stalin’s orders.