Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
GRU
*** Shopping-Tip: GRU
{{otheruses}}
Image:Gerb GRU.jpg thumb|Emblem of GRU [[spetsnaz]]
'''''GRU''''' is the
English language English Transliteration of Russian into English transliteration of the
Russian language Russian acronym '''ГРУ''', which stands for "Гла́вное Разве́дывательное Управле́ние" (''Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie''), meaning '''Main Intelligence Directorate'''. The full name is GRU GSh (GRU GenShtaba, i.e. "GRU of the
General Staff". )The GRU was created in
1918 by
Lenin, and given the task of handling all
military intelligence. It operated residencies all over the world, along with the
SIGINT (signal intelligence) station, in
Lourdes (Cuba) Lourdes,
Cuba, and throughout the former
Soviet Union Soviet bloc countries, especially in
Lithuania,
Latvia, and
Estonia.
The GRU was totally independent of most other power centers in the
Soviet Union, most famously the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPSU and
KGB. At the time of the GRU's creation, Lenin ordered the
Cheka (predecessor of the KGB) not to interfere with the GRU's operations. The rivalry between the GRU and KGB was even more intense than the rivalry between the
FBI and
CIA.
The existence of the GRU was not publicized during the Soviet era. It became widely known in Russia, and the
Western world West outside the narrow confines of the
intelligence community, during
perestroika, in part thanks to the writings of "
Viktor Suvorov" (
Vladimir Rezun), a GRU agent who defected to Britain in
1978, and wrote about his experiences in the Soviet military and intelligence services. According to Suvorov, even the Communist Party general secretary couldn't enter GRU headquarters without going through a security screening.
The GRU still remains to this day a very important part of the Russian Federation's intelligence services, especially since it was never split up like the KGB was. The KGB was dissolved after aiding a failed coup against then Premier Gorbachev. It has since been divided into the
SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service) and the
Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation FSB (Federal Security Service).
According to the
Federation of American Scientists: "...Though sometimes compared to the US Defense Intelligence Agency, [the GRU's] activities encompass those performed by nearly all joint US military intelligence agencies as well as other national US organizations. The GRU gathers
HUMINT through military attaches and foreign agents. It also maintains significant signals intelligence (SIGINT) and imagery reconnaissance and satellite imagery (IMINT) capabilities." [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/ops.htm]
In
2002, Bill Powell wrote ''Treason,'' an account of the experiences of former GRU colonel
Vyacheslav Baranov. Baranov had been recruited by the CIA, but was betrayed by a
mole (espionage) mole in either the FBI or CIA and spent five years in prison before being released. The identity of the mole remains unknown to this day, though some speculation mounted that it could have been
Robert Hanssen.
See also
*
Farewell Dossier
External links
-
History of military intelligence GRU website (in English)
-
GRU Info from FAS.org
-
GRU High Command and Leading GRU Officers
-
Ivan Ilyichev - chief of GRU
Category:Espionage
Category:Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies
de:Glawnoje Raswedywatelnoje Uprawlenije
es:GRU
fr:Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie
it:GRU
he:GRU
lt:GRU
ja:ãƒã‚·ã‚¢é€£é‚¦è»?å?‚è¬€æœ¬éƒ¨æƒ…å ±ç·?å±€
pl:GRU
ru:Главное разведывательное управление
sl:GRU
fi:GRU
sv:GRU
*** Shopping-Tip: GRU
