COME ON YOUR REDS; Revealed: Soviet plan to invade Manchester.Byline: MATT BLAKE THE Red Army knew the quickest route to Old Trafford Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:
This detailed map, compiled by the Soviet Union in 1974 at the height of the Cold War, reveals their plans to invade Britain's industrial heartland. It details the main arteries into Manchester and the roads wide enough for tanks - all in Russian script. Colours are used to denote targets, black for industrial sites, green for military ones and purple for public buildings. Nikolai Podgorny was head of state at the time that this eerily meticulous city street guide was compiled for Red Army high command using information from spy planes, satellites and KGB KGB: see secret police. KGB Russian Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (“Committee for State Security”) Soviet agency responsible for intelligence, counterintelligence, and internal security. spies. It has been revealed for the first time in an exhibition maps at Manchester University. Curator Chris Perkins said: "This and other maps in our exhibition called Mapping Manchester reveal a very different side to this city. "It shows the roads which the Soviets felt were wide enough for tanks, including Washway Road, the Mancunian Way and Princess Road. "They even transliterated place names - such as Urmston, Salford and Stretford - into Russian. Quite unnerving un·nerve tr.v. un·nerved, un·nerv·ing, un·nerves 1. To deprive of fortitude, strength, or firmness of purpose. 2. To make nervous or upset. as it's only 35 years old. "It's incredible how detailed their information was. The Soviet military used spy planes to supplement information from UK Ordnance Survey maps and atlases. "But there's so much extra information, it's fair to assume that they gathered a considerable amount of intelligence on the ground. "No doubt Nato were doing similar things in Russian cities." The exhibition runs until January. CAPTION(S): PLANS USSR USSR: see Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. head of state Podgorny |
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