Yuri. a computer engineer. met Elena. an American nurse. when she was visiting the Soviet Union in 1977. and they were married the following year. Since that time. Yuri has been denied an exit visa on 15 occasions with no reason given for his refusal. Elena has not been allowed to visit him since 1982. and even telephone contact has been severely restricted. Yuris job was taken away immediately following his first application to emigrate. forcing Elena to work two jobs in the United States in order to support him and their two daughtersthe younger of which Yuri has never even seen. To protest his treatment by the Soviet Government. Mr. Balovlenkov has undertaken two lengthy and debilitating hunger strikes. The first one. in 1982. lasted 79 days. and ended after the Soviets promised him that he would be allowed to leave the country by 1985. When that date passed and Yuri still had not been granted an exit visa. he began a second hunger strike which lasted 100 days. His health still suffers from that experience. The Balovlenkovs have withstood great hardship and deep personal anguish.
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emigrate visa