GRU

Or G.R.U.

1. (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

abbreviation

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of GRU¹

< Russian, for Glávnoe razvédyvatel'noe upravlénie

Word History and Origins

Origin of GRU¹

from Russian Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye Main Intelligence Directorate

Example Sentences

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

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After the war he applied for military intelligence training, joined the GRU, and rose to the rank of full colonel.

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He gave details of how the GRU was organized.

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"We weren't the ones who sat down with Putin - we were the ones who expelled Russian diplomats!" he went on, referring to measures taken in his first term following revelations that Russia's GRU military intelligence had blown up a Czech ammunition dump in 2014.

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UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy linked the activity to the UK's continued support of Ukraine, and said GRU spies were "running a campaign to destabilise Europe".

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