Russian Grad Student Granted Asylum in U.S.

A Russian exchange student, who sought political asylum in the United States before he jumped from the third story of a Cambridge apartment last Thursday, has been given assurances that he may remain permanently in the country, the State Department said Saturday.

Yuri Alekseyevitch Asseyev, 35, learned of the decision in his Cambridge City Hospital room where he is recovering from injuries sustained in the fall. According to standard procedure, he met with representatives of the Soviet government in the presence of U.S. officials before the State Department granted his request.

During that interview Asseyev, who had been studying in the Social Relations department since September, reportedly said he had jumped head first from a window in the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Platt at 369 Harvard St.

No clear motive for the jump has been given by either Asseyev or the State Department. Robert Owen, an officer in the Russian Affairs Division who talked to Asseyev, said "It is a complex matter. This had been a hard and difficult decision to make: to desert your own country and choose another country over it. Naturally it must 'have been followed by mixed emotions."

Decided by Himself

Robert J. McCloskey, State Department press officer, said Asseyev had told Soviet representatives that "he had thought this decision over carefully and that it was taken on his own volition without any encouragement from anyone else." Reliable sources here said yesterday that Asseyev had told University officials of his desire to stay in the United States, and that they had put him in touch with the State Department.

The State Department informed the Russian Embassy of Asseyev's request on Dec. 31, two days after it had been received. McCloskey said the delay was "normal," as the Department always makes an effort to "ascertain that such requests are genuine."

Can Write Home

McCloskey said that Asseyev has not asked the Department to grant visas for his wife and child, although he did ask and receive permission from the Soviet Government to write to them. Owen would not speculate on whether the Soviets would permit Asseyev's family to leave, but said "fortunately, things are not what they were a few years ago."

On Danger List

Asseyev is in "satisfactory condition," according to the Cambridge City Hospital, but is still on the danger list. He suffered a ruptured spleen and a severe scalp cut during his fall when he struck the limb of a tree. The doctor who removed the spleen in an operation Friday reported that Asseyev "has a very strong will to live."

Asseyev is the first of approximately 150 Russians who have studied in the United States under the exchange program, started in 1953, to ask for asylum. Negotiations to continue the program open tomorrow in Moscow.