On July 15, 1975, within a few hours of each other, manned spacecraft – the Soviet Soyuz-19 and the American Apollo – took off into the sky to conduct an experiment in docking and creating the first-ever unified international orbital complex. Two days later, Soviet cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov met American astronauts ThomasContinue reading "Top Secret: Months Before Apollo-Soyuz Launch, Leak Detected in Soviet Docking System"
Oil and Reputation: Russia’s Wins and Losses from the Israeli-Iranian Conflict – Carnegie Politika
Another in our series of translations of the latest Carnegie Politika articles. Oil and Reputation: What a New War in the Middle East Means for Russia Russian leadership tends to value tactical gains over long-term planning, so it may well believe that a new crisis in the Middle East is more likely to play intoContinue reading "Oil and Reputation: Russia’s Wins and Losses from the Israeli-Iranian Conflict – Carnegie Politika"
Soviets Learn of 1944 Peace Proposal to US from Prominent German Officers – Lets Germany Continue Fighting the USSR
On 14 June 1944, an unidentified Soviet human intelligence agent in Washington intercepted information that Allen Dulles, at the time the Swiss Director of the Office of Strategic Services, had been approached by German General Walther von Brauchitsch in Switzerland to meet at the US Embassy in Bern to discuss a peace proposal. The German,Continue reading "Soviets Learn of 1944 Peace Proposal to US from Prominent German Officers – Lets Germany Continue Fighting the USSR"
Weidling Announces Hitler’s Suicide, Orders German Army to Lay Down Arms
On 1 May 1945, amidst fierce fighting in Berlin and with both Hitler and Goebbels having committed suicide in the span of 36 hours, the Commander of the Berlin Defense Area Helmut Weidling clearly saw the writing on the wall. Soviet troops were certainly just days away from taking the city, and Weidling recognized thatContinue reading "Weidling Announces Hitler’s Suicide, Orders German Army to Lay Down Arms"
Moldova Announces Complete Declassified Deportation Archive to be Made Public in July
The popular Moldovan news website Point.md today cited reporting from tv8.md on the declassification of tens of thousands of files on Moldovan citizens deported, most significantly from the Stalin era. Because the website's report is currently only available in Romanian and Russian, we have taken it upon ourselves to provide an English translation for thoseContinue reading "Moldova Announces Complete Declassified Deportation Archive to be Made Public in July"
Declassified Russian Documents Spell Out Europe Campaign to Disrupt Trump’s Ukrainian Peace Efforts
On 5 June 2025, the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR) published two declassified human intelligence reports on European efforts to stifle the peace-building process being explored by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to "resolve "resolve the Ukraine crisis." The first report, supposedly received by the SVR in late March 2025, stating thatContinue reading "Declassified Russian Documents Spell Out Europe Campaign to Disrupt Trump’s Ukrainian Peace Efforts"
Executed for Cowardice in 1941, Exonerated in 1957: The Curious Tale of Frolov and Ivanov
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 LakeContinue reading "Executed for Cowardice in 1941, Exonerated in 1957: The Curious Tale of Frolov and Ivanov"
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 peopleContinue 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 himselfContinue 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 isContinue reading "Report on Effect of Blast from First Soviet Nuclear Bomb on Animals"
Translating History 