GRU

American

Or G.R.U.

(in the Soviet Union) the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet General Staff, a military intelligence organization founded in 1920 and functioning as a complement to the KGB.

GRU British

abbreviation

(formerly) the Soviet military intelligence service; the military counterpart of the KGB

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of GRU

< Russian, for Glávnoe razvédyvatel'noe upravlénie

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

GRU

The Africa Corps is overseen by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, with its operations run by Maj-Gen Andrey Averyanov, a key figure in the GRU military intelligence service.

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026

Then there’s the upstart GRU Space, created just last year with the goal of building hotels on the moon.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

The delegation was led by the deputy head of Russia's GRU military intelligence, Andrei Averyanov, the National Assembly president told AFP.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

His boss at the GRU, Igor Kostyukov, has been in charge of Russia's negotiating team at peace talks with Ukrainian and US teams in Abu Dhabi.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

A known member of the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence agency.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023