In October 1940, two young Soviet physicists named Viktor Maslov and Vladimir Shpinel, working at the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UFTI) in Kharkiv, submitted a revolutionary invention claim titled “On the Use of Uranium as an Explosive and Toxic Agent.” This proposal would come to be recognized as the first valid technical designContinueContinue reading “October 1940: Soviet Patent on Creation of Atomic Bomb Mocked and Rejected by Soviet Defense Engineers”
Tag Archives: Ukrainian SSR
1980: KGB Keeps Nobel Prize out of Ukrainian Writer’s Grasp
During the lifetime of the USSR, Ukrainian culture and national identity were subjected to brutal oppression by the Soviet authorities, and especially by the USSR State Security Committee (KGB). This special service was the main instrument of political control and repression, carrying out large-scale operations to discredit, persecute and destroy Ukrainian patriots, intellectuals and activistsContinueContinue reading “1980: KGB Keeps Nobel Prize out of Ukrainian Writer’s Grasp”
Casting Blame for the Chernobyl Disaster: Foreign Students in Ukraine Chime In
On 30 April 1986, less than four full days after the explosion that rocked the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, an official with the 5th Directorate of the Ukrainian KGB penned a Secret report based on human intelligence sources regarding wild rumors on the source of the catastrophe that had been already been spreading throughout theContinueContinue reading “Casting Blame for the Chernobyl Disaster: Foreign Students in Ukraine Chime In”
Ukrainian KGB Tries to Keep Track of Panicky Foreigners Days After the Chernobyl Disaster
On 26 April 1986, the landscape of Pripyat, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, would change forever. Pripyat was home to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, whose Number 4 reactor exploded that day, setting off a chain of horrific events that would cause insurmountable damage and impact tens of thousands of innocent lives. Never oneContinueContinue reading “Ukrainian KGB Tries to Keep Track of Panicky Foreigners Days After the Chernobyl Disaster”
Translating History 