Editing Viktor Belenko (section)

==Life in the United States==
Belenko started a new life in the United States. In 1980, the [[US Congress]] enacted S. 2961, authorizing [[citizenship of the United States|citizenship]] for him, which was signed into law by President [[Jimmy Carter]] on 14 October 1980, as [[Public and private bills#Private bills|Private Law]] 96-62.<ref>96th Cong. [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:SN02961:|TOM:/bss/d096query.html S.2961] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710010711/https://www.congress.gov/bill/96th-congress/senate-bill/02961 |date=10 July 2020 }}, ''A bill for the relief of Viktor Ivanovich Belenko'', Bill Summary and Status.</ref><ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-94/STATUTE-94-Pg3599/content-detail.html ''An act for the relief of Viktor Ivanovich Belenko, 94 Stat. 3599''.] GPO's Federal Digital System.</ref> Eager to avoid attention, and reprisal from the Soviet Union, he took the surname Schmidt and moved around often, mostly living in small towns across the Midwest.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vlamis |first=Kelsey |title=This $21.7 million ranch for sale in Montana once served as a hideout for a Soviet pilot who defected in a MiG-25. Take a look. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/montana-ranch-housed-soviet-defector-viktor-belenko-on-sale-million-2024-7 |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> He worked as a consultant to aerospace companies and government agencies, and married a music teacher from [[North Dakota]], Coral Garaas. They had two sons before divorcing.

The [[Soviet Union]] repeatedly spread false stories about Belenko being killed in a car accident, returning to [[Russia]], being arrested and executed, or otherwise brought to justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pravdareport.com/history/07-11-2003/4029-pilot-0/|title=A Story Not About A Hero|first=Ольга|last=Савка|date=7 November 2003}}</ref> Russian journalists claimed that Belenko allegedly also had a son from his first marriage, never divorced his first wife, and never provided child support to her after his defection,<ref>Aleksandr Kots (26 September 2006) [http://kp.ru/daily/23779/57798 Он сел на истребитель и сбежал из СССР]. [[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]</ref> but Belenko denied this.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Risen |first=Clay |date=2023-11-18 |title=Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/world/europe/viktor-belenko-dead.html |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The journalists also claimed that his Soviet wife appealed for his return after his defection. <ref>{{Cite web|date=1976-09-29 |title=Wife and Mother of Soviet MIG Pilot Appeal for His Return|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/29/archives/wife-and-mother-of-soviet-mig-pilot-appeal-for-his-return.html |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Belenko co-wrote a 1980 autobiography, ''[[MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko]]'' with ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' writer [[John Barron (American journalist)|John Barron]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/boeing/slideshow/Skyhook-and-other-CIA-spyware-50854/photo-3601318.php |title='Skyhook' and other CIA spyware |date=16 October 2012 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> which confirmed that he had a wife and son in the USSR, although Belenko had previously told his son that this was Soviet propaganda.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theaviationgeekclub.com/viktor-belenko-who-defected-to-the-west-in-a-mig-25-foxbat-jet-fighter-has-passed-away/ |title=Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a MiG-25 Foxbat Jet Fighter, has passed away|date=22 November 2023 }}</ref>

Belenko almost never appeared in interviews during his life in the [[United States]]. He feared for his life until the day he died.  However, in a brief and informal bar interview in 2000, he said that he was happy in the United States, remarking, "[Americans] have tolerance regarding other people's opinion. In certain cultures, if you do not accept the mainstream, you would be booted out or might disappear. Here we have people—you know, who hug trees, and people who want to cut them down—and they live side by side!" In this interview he also claimed that he visited Moscow but did not provide any evidence of his trip.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chrisdixonreports.com/margaritaville/oshkosh/folioentry7.html|title=Oshkosh|website=www.chrisdixonreports.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Reedstrom |first1=Karen |title=Vikto Belenko |url=http://www.fullcontext.info/people/belenko.htm |website=Full Context |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055621/http://www.fullcontext.info/people/belenko.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |date=November 1996}}</ref>

Viktor Belenko died in a nursing home in the small town of [[Randolph County, Illinois|Red Bud, Illinois]] on September 24, 2023, at the age of 76.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Risen |first=Clay |date=2023-11-18 |title=Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/world/europe/viktor-belenko-dead.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119004403/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/world/europe/viktor-belenko-dead.html |archive-date=2023-11-19 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 
He is survived by two sons and four grandchildren. However, journalists learned about his death only at the end of November. One of his sons told the newspaper that his father had died after a short illness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eng.obozrevatel.com/section-society/news-soviet-defector-pilot-viktor-bilenko-who-hijacked-a-mig-25-dies-in-the-united-states-what-is-known-and-what-secrets-he-revealed-to-the-west-21-11-2023.html |title=Soviet defector pilot Viktor Bilenko, who hijacked a MiG-25, dies in the United States: what is known and what secrets he revealed to the West}}</ref> There was no memorial service.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/viktor-belenko-obituary?id=53291095 |title=Viktor Belenko Obituary|website=[[Legacy.com]] }}</ref>