GRU

GRU

Badge of the Glavnoje Razvedyvatel'noje Upravlenije
Agency overview
Formed	November 5, 1918, GRU since 1942
Preceding agency	5th Department of the Russian Imperial Chief of Staff
Jurisdiction	President of Russia
Headquarters	Khoroshevskoye shosse 76, Khodinka, Moscow 55°46′49.41″N 37°31′21.51″E / 55.7803917°N 37.5226417°E / 55.7803917; 37.5226417
Agency executive	Lieutenant General Igor Sergun, Director
Parent agency	Russian Ministry of Defense
Website	Official Page

GRU ^[1] is in the military intelligence service of the Russian Federation, (formerly the Red Army of the Soviet Union).

"GRU" is the English version of the Russian acronym ГРУ, which means Main Intelligence Directorate.

The GRU is Russia's largest foreign intelligence agency.^[2] In 1997 it had six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR (The SVR is the successor to the KGB's foreign operations directorate). The GRU commanded 25,000 Spetsnaz ('special') troops in 1997.^[3]

1. ↑ Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye: Russian: Главное разведывательное управление
2. ↑ Reuters factbox on Russian military intelligence by Dmitry Solovyov
3. ↑ The current GRU Director is Lieutenent General Igor Sergun."PRESS DIGEST – Russia – Dec 27". Reuters. 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2017.