Recently declassified documents published to the Russian FSB website are claimed to contain information provided by the so-called 'Cambridge Five' - the notorious spy ring that provided information to the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the early 1950s. The documents deal with Poland's efforts to prepare for a post-war world in which that countryContinue reading "Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?"
Yeltsin Library Declassifies Nazi Plans to Cooperate with United States, Great Britain
On 7 April 2025, the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library published declassified information which reveals that Nazi Germany planned to cooperate with representatives of the USA and Great Britain in a war against the USSR. The relevant document can be found on the institution's website; the English translation is provided below. The declassified document is postedContinue reading "Yeltsin Library Declassifies Nazi Plans to Cooperate with United States, Great Britain"
London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941
The following is a decrypted Top Secret message from the head of the London rezidentura to the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army General Staff on work in England to create an atomic bomb. The message provides information provided by Agent "Baron" (Simon Davidovich Kremer) regarding his meeting with German physicist-turned-spy Klaus Fuchs (covername "Fuka")Continue reading "London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941"
Achilles Heel: The Stateside Soviet Spy and His Unknown Manhattan Project Source
Today we look at a March 1944 letter from the US-based GRU spy Arthur Adams, whose covername was "Akhill" (Achilles), to the Director of the GRU on American progress in efforts to create a nuclear weapon. This letter was sent via diplomatic mail, which in wartime conditions meant it would have to travel a circuitousContinue reading "Achilles Heel: The Stateside Soviet Spy and His Unknown Manhattan Project Source"
Alarmed by Nuclear Lag, Soviet Ukrainian Physicist Requests Funding for US-Built Cyclotron (1944)
In early 1944, the President of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Science Akademik A.A. Bogomolets sent a Secret letter to then-Chair of the Council of the People’s Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR Nikita Khrushchev, asking him to look into the possibility of not only procuring a cyclotron laboratory to hasten the Soviet Union's lagging explorationContinue reading "Alarmed by Nuclear Lag, Soviet Ukrainian Physicist Requests Funding for US-Built Cyclotron (1944)"
Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad
On 5 November 1944, the head of the Soviet NKVD Foreign Intelligence Directorate, Pavel Mikhaylovich Fitin, disseminated a Top Secret report on global advances in the field of nuclear weapon developments. The list of addressees for the report is not included in the material, but given the level of detail and the highly sensitive natureContinue reading "Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad"
Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb
In March 1942, Lavrentiy Beria penned a Top Secret internal report for Josef Stalin regarding recent advances by a number of non-Soviet countries (England, France, Germany, and the US) in trying to achieve nuclear fission as a new power source. These research efforts have, in turn, spawned interest in seeing how this new science couldContinue reading "Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb"
Soviet Agent in 1941 London Reports to NKVD on England’s Atomic Bomb Project
In September 1941, a Soviet rezident in London known as 'Vadim' (now known to be Anatoly Gorsky) sent an enciphered Top Secret cable to his NKVD colleagues in Moscow regarding details of a recent meeting of the "uranium committee" (presumed to be a reference to the MAUD Committee) and England's continued efforts at pursuing theContinue reading "Soviet Agent in 1941 London Reports to NKVD on England’s Atomic Bomb Project"
Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Space Industry
18 December 2024 marked the 90th birthday of Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Boris Volynov, the last of the first group of cosmonauts referred to as the “Gagarins”. In January 1969, Volynov took part in the world's first in-orbit docking of two manned spacecraft, the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5. As Volynov prepared for a solo re-entry, SoyuzContinue reading "Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Space Industry"
Freshly Declassified Documents from the Yalta Conference to be Unveiled on 4 February
The Information Center of the Government of Moscow reported today that the GRU will be handing over declassified documents concerning the Yalta Conference to the Victory Museum. The following is the translation of the Information Center's press release: On Tuesday, February 4, the Victory Museum will host an official ceremony to hand over archival documentsContinue reading "Freshly Declassified Documents from the Yalta Conference to be Unveiled on 4 February"
Translating History 