Translating History

@translatinghistory.bsky.social

Finding and translating freshly declassified Russian-language documents, with a concentration on World War II, Cold War, and various Soviet/Russian misdeeds. translatinghistory.org

1943: A Russian Prince sides with the Nazis, fights Soviet partisans for 13 months, then surrenders to Red Army troops. His record is wiped clean and he begins a new career working for Soviet intelligence. A true change of heart, or an example of telling the interrogators what they want to hear?

1943: Prince Nikolay Gagarin Returns Home from Fighting for the Nazis

The following translation is taken from a rather lengthy interrogation of Prince Nikolay Mikhaylovich Gagarin, a former Wehrmacht officer and commander of the 3rd squadron of the 600th Cossack divi…

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Russia's been playing the information operations game for many, many years, and they're pretty damned good at it. Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation is doing its best to expose the lies, this time citing faked declassified documents (our bread and butter). A short, compelling read.

Russian FSB Using Declassified Materials and Emotion-Packed Rhetoric to Create Rift Between Ukraine, Poland

On 5 July 2026, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrainska Pravda [Ukrainian Truth] published an article blasting the Russian government’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for spreading faked “d…

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Decorated Soviet Admiral Isakov, survivor of an attack by Luftwaffe bombs, almost succumbs to the aftermath of the amputation that saved his life. Initial diagnosis suggested that the Admiral drink cognac to stave off infection. На здоровье! (Spoiler: That was a bad idea.)

December 1942: Admiral Isakov’s Life-Saving Amputation Nearly Kills Him After Luftwaffe Attack

Much has been written across the years about the much-decorated Chief of the Naval Staff, Ivan Stepanovich Isakov. Almost all of the biographies, papers, and mere anecdotes dedicated to the Hero of…

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A series of declassified Top Secret enciphered cables to Moscow during Molotiv's secret trip to the US and UK reveal differences of opinion on when the Western Allies can open a Second Front. FDR is ready to begin straight away, at the acceptable cost of 100K+ lives. Churchill is aghast.

1942: Roosevelt Willing to Sacrifice 120,000 Troops in “Second Dunkirk” to Help Soviets, Churchill Outraged

In 1942, the situation for the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany took a dramatic turn for the worse. Soviet troops suffered defeats in Crimea and near Kharkov. German forces began a rapi…

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August 1944: Romania learns the hard way that a promised armistice is worth nothing until the paper is signed. Instead of fighting the Nazis, Romanian troops are whisked away into Soviet camps while the Soviets ask about compensation. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

1944 Romania Switches Alliances in WW2: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

In late August 1944, World War II was clearly coming to a swift close for Romania. Having sided with Nazi Germany under the government of Ion Antonescu, Romania observed the Red Army’s August 1944 …

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In 1945, the UK published a lengthy Top Secret memorandum on how to deter or defeat the Soviet threat. A Soviet spy in London's intelligence ranks obtained a copy, translated it, and put it in Josef Stalin's hands. And it is every bit as compelling a read now as it was then. See for yourself.

1945: Stalin Reads Britain’s Top Secret Plans to Neutralize Worldwide Soviet Threat

When published in June 1945, the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee (JIC) paper on “British Empire Security” was the talk of the town (London, that is). The 68-page Top Secret document, w…

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Five translations of excerpts from recently declassified interrogation records of former Soviet POWs sent to propaganda school to taunt Soviet leadership with the growing concept of Ukrainian independence. An interesting read and an important set of historical artefacts.

1942: Nazi Propaganda School in Wustrow for Soviet POWs With Promise of Ukrainian Independence

In recent days, the FSB archives for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have declassified excerpts of documents which shed light on the operations of Nazi propaganda schools for Soviet p…

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2026: Russian military leadership bemoans the ineffectiveness of their newest, most expensive weapons, consistently out-duelled by the Ukrainians. An interestingly sober look at Ukraine's successes, backed by Western intelligence pitted against that of the emaciated Russian armed forces.

Russian Ministry of Defense Publishes Study of Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile Tactics in War with Ukraine

Issue No. 1 (2026) of Military Thought [Voyennaya Mysl / Военная Мысль], the official magazine of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, features a noteworthy article titled “Tactics for…

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