A group of Russian scientists have sounded the alarm over what they said were attempts by the head of the security service to openly justify Stalin's mass purges, the first such attempt in decades.
In an open letter published by Kommersant broadsheet, more than 30 academics slammed Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB security service -- the successor toRead more
It’s a flat, landlocked country most known for its chilly winters. It was famously dubbed the “last dictatorship” in Europe — a place where even the country’s leader, in place for the past 22 years, has described his politics as authoritarian. It’s a former Soviet republic where the KGB is still called the KGB, and where people still work onRead more
The KGB major was on vacation in the Russian countryside in August 1991 when he woke up to a radio broadcast announcing a state of national emergency. The bulletin contained something else: a secret code phrase for intelligence officers, summoning them back to their posts immediately.
On Aug. 19, 1991, a group of eight senior hard-line Communist leaders, including theRead more