To mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that took their life, ROSCOSMOS recently published information about the crew of SOYUZ-11. Among the documents are the declassified conversations of the cosmonauts before their flight. The site is in its original Russian. On 30 June 1971, when the crew of the SOYUZ-11 spacecraft were returning toContinue reading "Newly Declassified Documents: ROSCOSMOS Website Publishes Declassified Transcripts from Ill-Fated SOYUZ-11 Mission"
New Declassified Soviet Documents Published Commemorating the Liberation of Prague
The Russian Federation Ministry of Defense announced on 21 May the release of a substantial cache of freshly declassified documents relating to the liberation of Prague via its multimedia website, using a number of documents from the Ministry's seemingly endless Central Archive. The website, entitled "...И Прага была спасена. Не вправе забыть, переписать, исказить" [...AndContinue reading "New Declassified Soviet Documents Published Commemorating the Liberation of Prague"
1955 Top Secret Soviet Documents on Plans to Repatriate WW2 POWs
The following set of documents wас published in the book “Военнопленные в СССР 1939-1956” [‘Prisoners of War in the USSR 1939-1956’], a joint venture of the Volgograd State Institute’s Scientific Research Institute of Problems of the Economic History of the 20th Century, the Russian Federal Archive Service, the Russian Federation State Archive, and the StorageContinue reading "1955 Top Secret Soviet Documents on Plans to Repatriate WW2 POWs"
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 37
3 November 1962 / Record of a conversation between A.I Mikoyan and Fidel Castro Record of a conversation between First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.I. Mikoyan and Prime Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Government Fidel Castro 3 November 1962 Today a two-hour conversation took place between ComradeContinue reading "Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 37"
New Declassified Documents Published Marking the Liberation of Poland
The Russian Federation Ministry of Defense announced today (7 May) that it has created a new web portal commemorating the liberation of Poland, using a number of documents from the Ministry's voluminous Central Archive. The site, entitled "Освобождение Польши: Помнит, нельзя забыть!" [The Liberation of Poland: Remember, Never Forget!], provides a multimedia walkthrough of aContinue reading "New Declassified Documents Published Marking the Liberation of Poland"
New Declassified Documents Online Commemorating the Liberation of Hungary
The Russian Federation Ministry of Defense today published a number of recently declassified documents commemorating events leading up to and involving the February 1945 liberation of Hungary by Soviet Red Army forces. The multimedia portal, titled "Hungary Remembers and Cannot Forget," appears to cover a number of events throughout the 50-day siege of Nazi-occupied Budapest.Continue reading "New Declassified Documents Online Commemorating the Liberation of Hungary"
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 36
2 November 1962 / Enciphered cable from Alekseyev on Fidel Castro’s letter TOP SECRET Reproduction prohibited Copy No. 12 5962 23/X/62 Enciphered Cable [Translator’s note: Distribution for this cable is as follows: Brezhnev, Voronov, Kirilenko, Kozlov, Kosygin, Kuusinen, Mikoyan, Podgornyy, Polyanskiy, Suslov, Khrushchev, Khrushchev, Shvernik, Grishin, Rashidov, Mazurov, Mzhavanadze, Shcherbitskiy, Demichev, Ilyevich, Ponomarev, Shelepin, Gromyko,Continue reading "Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 36"
Details of Publication of New Declassified Soviet Space Program Documents
The Roskosmos website already boasts an impressive cache of declassified documents from the earliest days of space travel research through the latter days of Soyuz. On 16 March, they revealed a new addition to this archive, one featuring information (including photographic- and video-based) on the 21+ day space flight of the Soviet dogs Veterok andContinue reading "Details of Publication of New Declassified Soviet Space Program Documents"
Details of Publication of New Collection of WW2 Documents
On 9 March 2021, Вести Тула (Tula News) reported the publication of a new volume in the series “Без срока давности” [No Statute of Limitations], part of an ongoing effort to collect and declassify records documenting crimes and atrocities committed during the Great Patriotic War against non-combatants by occupying Nazi forces and their accomplices. TheContinue reading "Details of Publication of New Collection of WW2 Documents"
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 35
Approximately 5 November 1962 / Enciphered cable from Malinovskiy to Pliyev TOP SECRET TROSTNIK to Comrade PAVLOV After conversion training for the Cubans, weapons are to be handed over to Cuba within the following time frames: MSP [motorized rifle regiment] – 3-4 months; PVO [air defense] and VMF [Navy] – 8-10 months;Continue reading "Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 35"
Translating History 