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"
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. TheContinue 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 oneContinue reading "Genesis of COSMOS 110: Exposing 4-Legged Cosmonauts in Space to Radiation Belts for 22 Days"
Translating History 