"Greatness of Motherland in your glorious deeds"
The Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye (Main Intelligence Directorate) is the second Russian intelligence agency. Though overshadowed by the KGB, the GRU, the Russian military intelligence (as opposed to the KGB, which represented the Communist Party and Soviet Government) has conducted much of Russia's espionage in the 20th century. Besides conducting regular espionage operations, it has several thousand Spetznaz troops under its direct command. Unlike the KGB, the GRU still exists as a part of the modern Russian state.
Not to be confused with Felonius Gru, the Villain Protagonist of the Despicable Me films.
Appearances in fiction:
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Film
- Briefly referenced in The Hunt for Red October.
Literature
- Aquarium.
- Colonel Sun has James Bond teaming up with a Greek GRU agent to put a stop on an evil plot by the Red China to cause a war between Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.
- In Last of the Breed, the main character, US Air Force pilot and Sioux warrior Joe Makatozi, is kidnapped by the GRU and imprisoned in the Gulag. He soon escapes, with the plot driven by a GRU officer's attempt to recapture him.
Tabletop Games
- Delta Green has GRU SV-8, a secret division inside GRU dedicated to investigate the occult and paranormal. Both in Soviet Union and The New Russia.
Video Games
- Battle Field 3 features GRU agent Dmitri Mayakovsky as a playable character for two missions.
- The Archives stage of GoldenEye (1997) takes place in a GRU office where James Bond and Natalya had been taken for interrogation.
- Despite the name KGB has you playing as Captain Maksim Rukov of the fictional "Department P" of the GRU, tasked with ferreting out corruption.
- Plays a role in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The main villain is a Colonel at the GRU, with Revolver Ocelot working under him.
- Team Fortress 2 has the Gloves of Running Urgently for the Heavy, who is Russian.
Web Original
- SCP Foundation has GRU Division "P", a division of the GRU dedicated to the study of the paranormal. It existed throughout the Cold War, but was severely weakened following the Soviet collapse, after which several members defected to other paranormal-related groups and the Foundation seized many of their anomalous items.
Western Animation
- Resident The Venture Brothers Russian femme-fatale Molotov Cocktease attempts to train Hank and Dean so that Brock Sampson will no longer suffer the indignity of being the Venture family bodyguard. Their textbook: a GRU Spetznaz field manual.
