First, here are the “facts” as Russian historians know them, or believe them to be: Winter is coming in 1941, the first year of the tragic siege of Leningrad. German and Finnish forces are doing their best to completely encircle the city, and are finally able to do so when the Wehrmacht troops reached LakeContinueContinue reading “Executed for Cowardice in 1941, Exonerated in 1957: The Curious Tale of Frolov and Ivanov”
Author Archives: misterestes
Here’s Why LGBT+ is Russia’s Main Domestic Enemy – Carnegie Politika
Photo: Getty Images Another in our series of translations of the latest Carnegie Politika articles. Resolving the Gay Question. Why was LGBT+ designated the main domestic enemy in Russia during the era of the Special Military Operation? Unlike the Soviet approach, Putin’s neo-Victorianism is not directed against same-sex relations as such, or even the peopleContinueContinue reading “Here’s Why LGBT+ is Russia’s Main Domestic Enemy – Carnegie Politika”
Gorbachev’s First Lesson as General Secretary: How to Talk to Reagan
On March 10, 1985, Konstantin Chernenko, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) passed away after a short stint as the Soviet leader. Less than 24 hours later, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected at the Central Committee session as Chernenko’s successor. And less than 24 hours after that, he found himselfContinueContinue reading “Gorbachev’s First Lesson as General Secretary: How to Talk to Reagan”
Report on Effect of Blast from First Soviet Nuclear Bomb on Animals
On 30 August 1949, one day after the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first nuclear bomb, Avetik Ignatyevich Burnazyan, Deputy Minister of Health of the USSR, filed a report to Lavrentiy Beria on preliminary findings from data retrieved on more than 1500 animals purposely exposed to the explosion and radiation. As expected, the reading isContinueContinue reading “Report on Effect of Blast from First Soviet Nuclear Bomb on Animals”
1971 KGB Memo Alerts CPSU to Planned Western Anti-Soviet Campaign
On 13 January, 1971, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov issued a memorandum to the Central Committee of the CPSU on the intensification of the activities of Moscow correspondents of foreign media to collect information from “antisocial elements” (Andrei Sakharov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in particular) during preparations for the 24th Congress of the CPSU. TheContinueContinue reading “1971 KGB Memo Alerts CPSU to Planned Western Anti-Soviet Campaign”
Genesis of COSMOS 110: Exposing 4-Legged Cosmonauts in Space to Radiation Belts for 22 Days
Today’s document is actually a packet of documents, written 60 years ago on the cusp of a Soviet space experiment to study the effects of long-term radiation exposure of one-cell organisms and “biochemically and biologically important matter.” The experiment would take place as part of the Cosmos 110 flight program, to be launched approximately oneContinueContinue reading “Genesis of COSMOS 110: Exposing 4-Legged Cosmonauts in Space to Radiation Belts for 22 Days”
Russia and Serbia: After the Parade and Beyond – Carnegie Politika
Photo: Getty Images Another in our series of translations of the latest Carnegie Politika articles. After the Parade. Why Russia Accused Serbia of Betrayal. Considering that Serbian shells for Ukraine became public knowledge back in early 2023, Moscow had no reason to lose its temper and punish Vucic. In fact, it did not punish him,ContinueContinue reading “Russia and Serbia: After the Parade and Beyond – Carnegie Politika”
Chernobyl: KGB Inexplicably Seeks to Prevent Departure of Foreign Students, Downplays Radiation Threat, 30 April 1986
The following is a translated special report from the head of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR for Kyiv and Kyiv region L. Bykhov to the first secretary of the Kyiv City Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Yu. Yelchenko regarding the growing panic among visiting British students in connection with the Chernobyl accident.ContinueContinue reading “Chernobyl: KGB Inexplicably Seeks to Prevent Departure of Foreign Students, Downplays Radiation Threat, 30 April 1986”
Russia’s Precarious Dance with Yemen – Carnegie Politika
Another in our series of translations of the latest Carnegie Politika articles. Their War and Ours: What Russia is Counting on in the Yemen Conflict Russia, along with Iran, has become one of the few countries actively interacting with the Houthis, including at the diplomatic level. This closeness makes contacts with Russia important for otherContinueContinue reading “Russia’s Precarious Dance with Yemen – Carnegie Politika”
Rust on Red Square: Celebrating the Anniversary of the Day a Cessna Buzzed the Soviet Kremlin
It’s always an interesting exercise to reflect on just what happened to plant an 18-year-old West German lad in the cockpit of a Cessna to attempt to land on Kremlin grounds on this day in 1987, when the Cold War was still at its height. Was it a test of Gorbachev’s will amid a growingContinueContinue reading “Rust on Red Square: Celebrating the Anniversary of the Day a Cessna Buzzed the Soviet Kremlin”
Translating History 