The GRU: Russia's Foreign Military Intelligence Agency

The provided source offers a comprehensive historical and operational analysis of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Russia's oldest and largest foreign intelligence agency, tracing its evolution from its founding during the Bolshevik Revolution to its contemporary role in hybrid warfare. It highlights the GRU's enduring rivalry with other Russian security organs, particularly the KGB and its successors, which fostered its unique culture of secrecy, independence, and focus on military, scientific, and technical intelligence. The text details the agency's periodic decline, especially during the 1990s, and its aggressive resurgence under Vladimir Putin, who transformed it into a key instrument for "New Generation Warfare." The source extensively covers the GRU's modern asymmetric and covert operations, including cyberattacks, political interference, and assassinations, culminating in its involvement and challenges during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, the analysis concludes that despite setbacks, the GRU remains a critical and adaptive tool for projecting Russian power and pursuing its global ambitions, continuously evolving its tactics and capabilities.

Research done with the help of artificial intelligence, and presented by two AI-generated hosts.