Make GRU GRU again, Putin says as intelligence agency turns 100
The Russian president suggested returning the historic name to the military intelligence agency, which is accused in the West of staging coups, tilting US elections and using chemical weapons to get rid of double agents.
On Friday, Russian military intelligence officers were celebrating their professional holiday. This year is a big date for the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The organization is best known by its Soviet-times name the GRU (Maine Intelligence Directorate), even though the agency has changed its name to simply GU years ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested the internationally-recognized old name of the agency should be returned. He was speaking during a celebration held in Moscow’s Theater of the Russian Army.
“It’s not clear where the word ‘intelligence’ disappeared [to]. Why don’t we go back to the Main Intelligence Directorate,”the Russian president suggested.
The holiday was chosen after the date when the freshly-created Red Army was ordered to centralize intelligence-collecting activities under a single department of the general staff. The military intelligence changed its name several times over the years, eventually becoming the GRU in 1953. The latest change came in 2010.
