In late August 1944, World War II was clearly coming to a swift close for Romania. Having sided with Nazi Germany under the government of Ion Antonescu, Romania observed the Red Army’s August 1944 Jassy-Kishinev offensive crush the Axis front in northeastern Romania. With no realistic chance of survival, the Romanian Army declared a unilateralContinueContinue reading “1944 Romania Switches Alliances in WW2: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire”
Tag Archives: russia
1991: On the Cusp of the Fall of the Soviet Union, KGB Continues to Fret Over Radio Free Europe
Just months before the failed Soviet putsch of 1991, which is known today as having indirectly led to the collapse of the USSR, Nikolai Golushko, the chairman of the Ukrainian KGB posted a Secret report to Leonid Kravchuk, the newly anointed Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, regarding what was seen asContinueContinue reading “1991: On the Cusp of the Fall of the Soviet Union, KGB Continues to Fret Over Radio Free Europe”
1942: Nazi Propaganda School in Wustrow for Soviet POWs With Promise of Ukrainian Independence
In recent days, the FSB archives for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have declassified excerpts of documents which shed light on the operations of Nazi propaganda schools for Soviet prisoners of war. Among the papers are interrogation transcripts from 1944–1947, in which former trainees describe in detail how they were taught to hate the SovietContinueContinue reading “1942: Nazi Propaganda School in Wustrow for Soviet POWs With Promise of Ukrainian Independence”
Russian Ministry of Defense Publishes Study of Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile Tactics in War with Ukraine
Issue No. 1 (2026) of Military Thought [Voyennaya Mysl / Военная Мысль], the official magazine of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, features a noteworthy article titled “Tactics for the Employment of Long-Range Air-to-Air Missiles in the Special Military Operation.” The article is authored by Colonel A. Yu. Stepkin, Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Gvozdenko, and Yu.G.ContinueContinue reading “Russian Ministry of Defense Publishes Study of Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile Tactics in War with Ukraine”
Rosatom: Nuclear Secrets of Department K: Counterintelligence Activities in Russia’s Nuclear Industry
Earlier this week, the official website for the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation published an article on newly revealed activities of the nuclear industry’s counterintelligence organs. We’re translated the article and are happy to provide it to our readers. Nuclear Secrets of Department “K”: Counterintelligence Activities in the Development of Russia’s Nuclear Industry 1 DecemberContinueContinue reading “Rosatom: Nuclear Secrets of Department K: Counterintelligence Activities in Russia’s Nuclear Industry”
FSB Spill: Russian Anti-Soviet Saboteur Describes Training by American Agents, Quick Capture by Soviet Authorities
An earlier article from TranslatingHistory offered some details from a brief interrogation of Aleksandr Lakhno, who was trained in West Germany in the early 1950s along with several other émigrés from the Soviet Union to carry out, at best, an anti-Soviet propaganda campaign. Lakhno spent months learning tradecraft from US and British intelligence specialists inContinueContinue reading “FSB Spill: Russian Anti-Soviet Saboteur Describes Training by American Agents, Quick Capture by Soviet Authorities”
Soviet State Security Uses Family Members to Entrap Ukrainian Pair With US Intelligence Connections
On 22 August 1948, the Minister of State Security (MGB) of the Ukrainian SSR, General-Lieutenant Sergey Savchenko wrote a lengthy report to his USSR counterpart, General-Colonel Viktor Abakumov regarding efforts to entrap two young men of Jewish ancestry believed to have arrived in the Soviet Union from China attempting to gain entry into the UkrainianContinueContinue reading “Soviet State Security Uses Family Members to Entrap Ukrainian Pair With US Intelligence Connections”
Census Takers Executed by Soviet Authorities in 1938 for Unwittingly Revealing Millions of Ukrainians Were Lost to the Holdomor
Hopes were certainly high when Stalin declared a census be taken in 1937 across the entire Soviet Union. As the illustration above shows, gigantic success was anticipated for socialism in the USSR. But as the results started rolling in, Soviet leadership was in for a few surprises. One of the questions asked was whether orContinueContinue reading “Census Takers Executed by Soviet Authorities in 1938 for Unwittingly Revealing Millions of Ukrainians Were Lost to the Holdomor”
The Intrepid Four: Wrap-Up of the Soviet Propaganda Program to Exploit More US Vietnam War Deserters
This wraps up (for now, pending additional document releases) our short series of translations relating to the Intrepid Four and their handling for propaganda purposes by the Soviet Union. For further information, please refer to our first report in the series here. Document 8: Memorandum from KGB Chairman Yu.V. Andropov to the CPSU Central Committee, 26ContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: Wrap-Up of the Soviet Propaganda Program to Exploit More US Vietnam War Deserters”
The Intrepid Four: More US Servicemen Fall into the Soviet Propaganda Machine
This continues our short series of translations relating to the Intrepid Four and their handling for propaganda purposes by the Soviet Union. For further information, please refer to our first report in the series here. Additional information on the Intrepid sailors is easily found throughout the Internet. One declassified report that offers a bit of theContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: More US Servicemen Fall into the Soviet Propaganda Machine”
Translating History 