07.03 Young British Girl’s Ice-Skating Plea to Gorbachev Returns to Sender

MOSCOW, March 7 (by Kevin O’Flynn, RIA Novosti) – One item was very different from the others at a recent exhibit on Soviet participation in the Winter Olympic Games. Amid Central Committee documents and photos of gold medal-winning athletes was a letter written in a child's scrawl.

The letter, dating back to 1987, begins "To dear Mr Gorbachov." In red ink with drawings in the margins, it told of a small girl's love for Russian ice skaters. Fiona Zaldua had seen them performing on television, and wrote to the leader of the Soviet Union to tell him that "they were the best I have ever seen. I love ice skating and I skate at Slough ice rink in England."

The letter ends with a request from Zaldua: "I am nine years old and would love to skate in Russia. Please could you ask some of your champion skaters to teach me." In the bottom left hand corner, she has written her name and address, complete with the postal code for a speedy reply.