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.

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

Alexeyev's boss, GRU head Adm Igor Kostyukov, has been leading the Russian delegation at recent trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 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

He gave details of how the GRU was organized.

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