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79th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany

Russian military intel declassifies WWII documents, hands them over to Victory Museum

"This is the first time in history that reports of the heads of military intelligence and cipher telegrams from foreign hubs in Germany on preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union are shown here," Igor Kostyukov said

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry handed over to the Victory Museum declassified documents on the activities of Soviet military intelligence leading up to and during the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945.

Igor Kostyukov, the chief of the Main Directorate (GU, formerly the Main Intelligence Directorate, GRU) of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, handed over the declassified documents to Alexander Shkolnik, the director general of the Victory Museum.

"Three days before our country’s celebrations, the 79th anniversary of our Great Victory - a symbol of unsurpassed steadfastness and courage, military glory and hard work of the Soviet people!" Kostyukov stated.

"It is the memory of the terrible tragedy of war, which lives on in the hearts of our country’s citizens," he continued.

"On the eve of this sacred holiday here, at the Victory Memorial complex on Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill, on the day of St. George the Victorious - the patron saint of military intelligence - the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation hand over to the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War relics of military intelligence - not previously publicized documents revealing the heroic exploits of the fighters of the invisible front in the pre-war period and during the difficult years of the Soviet people's struggle against the Nazi invaders," Kostyukov stated.

"This is the first time in history that reports of the heads of military intelligence and cipher telegrams from foreign hubs in Germany on preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, intelligence reports on the international situation and the situation at the battlefront, as well as personal files, pictures and belongings of outstanding intelligence officers are shown here," he said.

"Visitors to the museum will have an opportunity to view for themselves the effectiveness of military intelligence and its contribution to the overall victory," Kostykov added.

Earlier in the day, the FSB office in the Ivanovo Region declassified testimony from Hitler's former personal adjutant illustrating how the Soviet Union hurried to the rescue of Anglo-American troops in dire straits during the Battle of the Bulge, the bloodiest battle for the Western Allies in World War II.

The testimony was uploaded to the FSB website on the eve of the anniversary of Berlin’s fall in May 1945.

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