Russia declassifies WW II archives

Moscow, June 14 (UNI) Russia has declassified the archives of the Red Army and the Soviet Navy dating back to the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945.

''The documents stored at the Defence Ministry Central Archive in Podolsk, the Central Naval Archive in Gatchina, and the Archive of Military Medical Documents of the Defence Ministry's Military Medical Museum in St Petersburg have been declassified, ''Ministry's Archive Service chief Colonel Sergei Ilyenkov told reporters here today at a news conference.

The order on the declassification of the archive documents was signed on May 8, 2007, Col Ilyenko said, adding that it made public all data that the Defence Ministry considered no longer sensitive.

The decision would allow researchers and other users to gain open access to the bulk of information on events during the bloodiest war in Soviet history, but some documents will remain secret, he said.

''The files on court martial decisions were not included in the order for declassification,'' Col Ilyenkov said.

According to the latest confirmed data, Russia lost about 26.6 million military personnel and civilians in WW II, he added.

The total estimated loss of life during WW II, irrespective of political alignment, was approximately 72 million people, including about 47 million civilians, he said.

UNI