AP RF

Abbreviation of the Russian name of the  Archive of the President of the Russian Federation, or RF (Arkhiv Prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii), which is part of the Administration of the President. Established in 1991, this archive is a depository for the documents of the President of the Russian Federation and other agencies of the Executive, the list of which is determined by the Administration of the President of the RF. The archive also keeps: historical documents pertaining to activities of Communist Party leadership from 1919 to 1991 (Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR; congresses and plenums of the Communist Party); some documents of the State Committee of Defense (a World War II-period agency) and the Council of Ministers of the USSR; and documents of the President of the USSR and his staff.

This archive is not open to researchers, except for limited access for a limited number of high-priority projects. However, its staff regularly publishes some of its documents in the bulletin of AP RF – the journal Istochnik (“Source”). In recent years, some of the collections of the AP RF were partially transferred to RGASPI where they are now accessible to the public.