Re: Cold War Gizmology - new query

From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Fri Oct 27 2000 - 11:33:49 MDT


Damien Broderick wrote:
>
> While we're delving into Cold War history, I wonder if anyone can help me
> with a detail I need in updating a novel. I need to know if the Glavnoye
> Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie (GRU), the Main Intelligence Administration of
> the former Soviet Union, is still active under that title, or if it's now
> got a new name?
>
> I find it still being cited as GRU at
>
> http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/org.htm

The GRU was military intelligence, under the Red Army. It was not as widely
despised as the KGB after 1991, and the Army defending its own turf (besides,
what patriotic Russian would do anything to the Army?), so I would expect that
it survived handily. The GRU runs the Spetznaz special forces troops (much like
our SEALS/Delta Force, only even darker). It will probably remain well funded so
long as they keep these troops trained (i.e. so long as they have problems like
Chechnya to deal with).



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