Pioneer Point, Centreville, Maryland
Coordinates: 39°4′39″N 76°8′37″W / 39.07750°N 76.14361°W / 39.07750; -76.14361
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
Area
 • Total0.07 sq mi (0.18 km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)

Pioneer Point is a house and surrounding 45-acre estate near Centreville, Maryland, on Maryland's Eastern Shore owned by the Government of Russia as a recreational place for its diplomatic staff in the United States. The estate lies on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Corsica and Chester rivers.[1]

Pioneer Point is the former estate of wealthy business executive, and builder John J. Raskob who is best known for building the Empire State Building in New York City. Raskob constructed the 19 room mansion originally known as "Hartefeld Hall" after purchasing a 1600-acre tract of land on the Eastern Shore in 1925. Raskob later built another large house nearby to accommodate his 13 children.[2]

After Raskob's death in 1950 the estate was subdivided and the mansion changed hands several times. The property was bought by the Soviet government in 1972, with subsequent Soviet additions to the property being funded by granting two properties in Moscow to the United States State Department.[1] Pioneer Point was bought by the Russian Federation for $3 million in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was likened to a dacha by Yuri Ushakov, the Russian ambassador to the United States in 2007.[1][3]

Pioneer Point was treated as state property of the Russian Federation and activities there were protected under diplomatic immunity. On December 29, 2016, Russian access to the site was commuted in the wake of the alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 United States presidential election as part of a number of sanctions taken by the United States against Russian diplomatic personnel.[4][5][6][7] President Barack Obama, in announcing the sanctions, stated that Pioneer Point and another compound in New York were "used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes."[8]

On May 31, 2017, six months after the sanctions, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump and his administration had decided to return Pioneer Point back to the Russians.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Adam Taylor, The luxurious, 45-acre compound in Maryland being shut down for alleged Russian espionage - The Washington Post, accessdate: December 31, 2016
  2. ^ "Russian compound on Md.'s Eastern Shore gathers dust, awaits its fate". 27 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Russian compound on Md.'s Eastern Shore gathers dust, awaits its fate". 27 October 2017.
  4. ^ "U.S. shuts Russian compounds in Maryland, New York over hacking". CBS News. Associated Press. December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  5. ^ "Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking". The New York Times. December 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Mark Mazzetti & Michael S. Schmidt, Two Russian Compounds, Caught Up in History's Echoes, New York Times (December 29, 2016).
  7. ^ Ian Duncan, Shut down Russian Eastern Shore retreat offers glimpse at spy battles, Baltimore Sun (December 30, 2016).
  8. ^ a b DeYoung; Entous, KarenAdam (May 31, 2017). "Trump administration moves to return Russian compounds in Maryland and New York". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
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