It was reported on 20 August 2025 that the Ministry of Education prepared the first official list of patriotic literature for extracurricular reading, on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin. These books are to appear in all school libraries across Russia. The works are divided by age and topic: “About the Motherland,” “The Great PatrioticContinueContinue reading “On Putin’s Orders, Russian Ministry of Education Compiles First List of Patriotic Books for School Children”
Author Archives: misterestes
Russia’s Nuclear Industry Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Publication of Top Secret Implementation Decree
Today (20 August 2025) marks the 80th anniversary of the official establishment of the Russian (then Soviet) nuclear industry. The event was marked by an open letter to the world, signed by Rosatom’s General Director Aleksey Likhachev, the Chairman of RPRAEP [the Russian Professional Union of Atomic Energy and Industry Workers] Vladimir Kuznetsov, and theContinueContinue reading “Russia’s Nuclear Industry Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Publication of Top Secret Implementation Decree”
Russian Destroyer Severomorsk Conducts ASW Exercise in Barents Sea En Route to Arctic
A press release dated 19 August 2025 from the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense indicates that the large ASW ship (Udaloy-class destroyer) Severomorsk, on her way to the Arctic for a long deployment as part of Northern Fleet expeditionary detachment, took part in antisubmarine warfare maneuvers in the northern regions of the Barents Sea. TheContinueContinue reading “Russian Destroyer Severomorsk Conducts ASW Exercise in Barents Sea En Route to Arctic”
Russian Navy Baltic Fleet Minesweepers Conduct Exercise to Locate and Destroy Mines in the Baltic Sea
According to the Baltic Fleet Public Affairs Office on 19 August 2025, a Baltic Fleet naval minesweeper group, consisting of the offshore minesweepers Aleksandr Obukhov and Lev Chernavyn in the waters of the Baltic Sea, conducted an maneuvers to search for and neutralize mines. In the sea combat training range, the crew of the offshoreContinueContinue reading “Russian Navy Baltic Fleet Minesweepers Conduct Exercise to Locate and Destroy Mines in the Baltic Sea”
10+ Russian Navy Caspian Flotilla Ships Take to the Sea in Opposing Force Exercise
The Russian Federation Ministry of Defense Public Affairs Office reported on 19 August 2025 that more than 10 Caspian Flotilla ships put out to sea to participate in an opposing force exercise consisting of various tactical groups to practice performing assigned tasks. According to a press release, “During the exercise, the crews of guided missile,ContinueContinue reading “10+ Russian Navy Caspian Flotilla Ships Take to the Sea in Opposing Force Exercise”
Top Secret 1974 Politburo Records on the Solzhenitsyn Issue: Exile? Imprison? Expel?
By January 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was already well known throughout most of the Soviet Union as a rabble-rouser, trouble-maker, ne’er-do-well, and pretty good author. When he quietly sent his weighty manuscript for ‘Gulag Archipelago’ off to the YMCA Press to be published in Paris and New York City, many inside Kremlin circles were shocked, toContinueContinue reading “Top Secret 1974 Politburo Records on the Solzhenitsyn Issue: Exile? Imprison? Expel?”
Japan Prepares for Bacteriological Warfare Against the Soviet Union: New FSB Release
On 18 August 2025, the Russian Federal Security Service [FSB] (Omsk office) declassified and released from its archives a batch of materials related to Imperial Japan’s bacteriological warfare program and the creation of the notorious Detachment 731. Today we’ll be presenting a translation of the initial four-page ‘Special Report’ described below. Also included in theContinueContinue reading “Japan Prepares for Bacteriological Warfare Against the Soviet Union: New FSB Release”
1943 Report to Moscow on the Frank Questions Being Asked of the Liberators
Throughout 1943, as the German Army stalled and took on massive losses in Soviet territory, Red Army troops were able to eventually push them back and, in the wake of the battles, were rightly embraced as liberators of the inhabitants of those territories the Nazis had been occupying. Soldiers and citizens alike, unsurprisingly, had manyContinueContinue reading “1943 Report to Moscow on the Frank Questions Being Asked of the Liberators”
1980: KGB Keeps Nobel Prize out of Ukrainian Writer’s Grasp
During the lifetime of the USSR, Ukrainian culture and national identity were subjected to brutal oppression by the Soviet authorities, and especially by the USSR State Security Committee (KGB). This special service was the main instrument of political control and repression, carrying out large-scale operations to discredit, persecute and destroy Ukrainian patriots, intellectuals and activistsContinueContinue reading “1980: KGB Keeps Nobel Prize out of Ukrainian Writer’s Grasp”
New Russian Navy Project 22350 Frigate Launched in Northern Shipyard – Latest Ship to Carry the Hypersonic Zircon Missile
The USC Northern Shipyard held a ceremonial launch of the frigate Admiral Amelko on 14 August 2025. This is the fifth ship being built by the enterprise for the Russian Navy based on the Project 22350 design of the United Shipbuilding Corporation’s [USC] Northern Design Bureau. The arsenal of Project 22350 frigates allows them toContinueContinue reading “New Russian Navy Project 22350 Frigate Launched in Northern Shipyard – Latest Ship to Carry the Hypersonic Zircon Missile”
Translating History 