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”
Category Archives: Cold War
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”
Soviet Persecution of Family of Executed Ukrainian Writer Hnat Khotkevych
Please note: The English translation of Ukrainian names and placenames in declassified Russian-language material uses Russian spelling conventions rather than Ukrainian. This is not done with any intent to disrespect the Ukrainian language or people, but is merely a translation convention for historical documents of this sort. The following background information was translated from theContinueContinue reading “Soviet Persecution of Family of Executed Ukrainian Writer Hnat Khotkevych”
ROSCOSMOS Publishes Declassified Documents Related to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The website for the Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS published a treasure trove of unclassified documents, 36 in all, covering hundreds of pages to celebrate the 17 July 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the second celebrated Soviet-American handshake over the Elbe River, we’ll be publishing as many interesting reportsContinueContinue reading “ROSCOSMOS Publishes Declassified Documents Related to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project”
Top Secret Details for the Soviet Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan
On 1 April 1988, two weeks before the Geneva Accords were enacted, a meeting was held of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, outlining scenarios for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan – scenarios which took into consideration the official signing of the accords, as well as the refusal of theContinueContinue reading “Top Secret Details for the Soviet Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan”
Declassified KGB Report on President Jimmy Carter’s “Dangerous Game” with US-Soviet Relations
Last month saw the publication of a newly declassified report submitted by then-KGB Director Yuri Andropov to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union based on “confidential” conversations with US business and political leaders regarding the dangerous direction led by US President Jimmy Carter. The initial text below, from the FSBContinueContinue reading “Declassified KGB Report on President Jimmy Carter’s “Dangerous Game” with US-Soviet Relations”
Former WWII German Sailor Passes Classified Minesweeping Document to Soviets under British Noses
In today’s translation of an undated Russian document, Osip Borisovich Bron (1896-1988), head of the Department of Theoretical Foundations of Electrical Engineering at the Leningrad Institute of Aviation Instrumentation, related the story of the Soviet Navy’s post-war quest for a rumored instruction on how to properly sweep for German mines, and British efforts to thwartContinueContinue reading “Former WWII German Sailor Passes Classified Minesweeping Document to Soviets under British Noses”
Ukrainians React to Stalin’s Death in a Way that Attracts the Attention of State Security
Source: Istorychna Pravda, “How Ukrainians Reacted to Stalin’s Death. Declassified Special Notifications of the MGB” On Friday, 5 March 1953, the newspaper Pravda published the following sensational piece of news: “On March 5, at 9:50 in the evening, after a serious illness, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of the SSRContinueContinue reading “Ukrainians React to Stalin’s Death in a Way that Attracts the Attention of State Security”
Lithuanian KGB Hopes to Put a Stop to Wayward Airborne Weapons from Striking Local Farms, 1955
In 1955, the Chairman of the Committee of State Security under the Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, Colonel K. Lyaudis, drafted a Top Secret memo to address a number of recent incidents involving practice bombs dropped by Soviet Air Force pilots at an Air Force range in the Eišiškės region. AsContinueContinue reading “Lithuanian KGB Hopes to Put a Stop to Wayward Airborne Weapons from Striking Local Farms, 1955”
New Acquisition: Collection of Materials from the Higher School of the Dzerzhinsky KGB School of the USSR
A recent acquisition for this site is the 392-page “Materials from the Higher School of the Dzerzhinsky KGB School of the USSR,” published in 1988 under the classification of Top Secret. We’re scouring through the pages to determine which, if any, of the articles warrant translation and dissemination through these pages. There are some ratherContinueContinue reading “New Acquisition: Collection of Materials from the Higher School of the Dzerzhinsky KGB School of the USSR”
Translating History 