GRU

Glossary, References

GRU Breastplate

GRU stands for Glavnoe razvedyvatel’noe upravlenie, or Main Intelligence Directorate. Since 1942, except for a few brief periods, GRU has been the acronym for the Soviet (now Russian) military intelligence service. Since its inception in 1918, this service has had a series of names, the best-known of which are listed here:

  • Razvedupr [Razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie shtaba RKKA - The Intelligence Directorate of the Staff of the Worker and Peasant Red Army], 1921-1924;
  • IV upravlenie [Chetvertoe upravlenie shtaba RKKA - IV Directorate of the Staff of the Worker and Peasant Red Army], 1926-1934;
  • Razvedupr [Razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie RKKA - The Intelligence Directorate of the Worker and Peasant Red Army), 1934-1939;
  • Pyatoe upravlenie [5-e upravlenie NKO - The Fifth Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense], 1939-1940;
  • RU GSh [Razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie General'nogo shtaba KA - The Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army], 1940-February 1942; 1943-June 1945;
  • GRU [Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie General'nogo shtaba krasnoi armii - The Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army], February-September, 1942; June 1945-1946;
  • GRU VS [Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie vooruzhennykh sil - The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces], 1946-1947; 1949-1950;
  • From 1947 to early 1949, military intelligence was part of the short-lived Committee of Information (KI) at the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
  • GRU GSh SA [Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie General'nogo shtaba Sovetskoi Armii - The Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Soviet Army], 1950-1955;
  • GRU VS SSSR [Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie vooruzhennykh sil SSSR - The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of the USSR], 1955-1991;
  • GRU VS RF [Glavnoe razvedyvatel'noe upravlenie vooruzhennykh sil Rossiiskoi Federatsii - The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation], 1991 – present.

[Cit. The History of Military Intelligence, Agencies of the military intelligence, at: http://www.agentura.ru/dossier/russia/gru/story/ ]