Soviet newspapers: Which Soviet newspapers are available online?

The Library has purchased several nearly complete digital archives of some of the most prominent Soviet national-level newspapers as well as a runs of several titles from individual Soviet republics. All patrons have access to these resources in the Library via library guest wifi; UNC affiliates have remote access. OCR can be spotty, particularly for older issues, so keyword search results should be taken with a grain of salt, and the online version may need to be supplemented by print or microform holdings.

Аргументы и факты (Argumenty i fakty)

Argumenty i fakty («Аргументы и факты», also known as «АиФ», "Arguments and facts"), originally a monthly information bulletin aimed at Soviet propagandists, transformed into a full-fledged national-level weekly and a major mouthpiece of perestroika and glasnost by the late 1980s. In 1990 the newspaper became the highest circulating newspaper in the world with a print run of 33,431,100 copies and was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

• 1983-2024 online (most recent years are text-only) via UNC University Libraries.

• 1984-2001 in print (with some issues missing) and 1994, 1998-2007 on microfiche and microfilm (also with some issues missing) via UNC University Libraries.

Вісті ВУЦВК (Visti VUTsVK)

Visti VUTsVK («Вісті ВУЦВК», "News of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee"), later Visti Rad deputativ trudiashchykh URSR («Вісті Рад депутатів трудящих УРСР», "News of the Councils of Worker's Deputies of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic)" was the official newspaper of VUTsVK (ВУЦВК), the highest government body in Soviet Ukraine during the interwar period. It was published 1918-1941 in Kharkiv (the capital of Ukraine until 1934), and was a Ukrainian-language newspaper for most of its existence. The newspaper published the official decrees of VUTsVK, reported on international, Soviet, Ukrainian, and local Kharkiv news, and covered the economy, agriculture, industrialization, education, technology, science, public health, the arts, and other aspects of Soviet life in Ukraine. Additionally, in the 1920s, it served as a forum for Ukrainian authors, artists, and intellectuals, particularly through its weekly supplements "Literatura, nauka, mystetstvo" («Література, наука, мистецтво»), later called "Kul'tura i pobut" («Культура і побут»), many of which are included in this archive. Film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko (Олександр Довженко) supplied political cartoons under the pseudonym Sashko (Сашко) and served as art director; Ostap Vyshnia (Остап Вишня) and Oleksa Slisarenko (Олекса Слісаренко), under the pseudonym Omel'ka Buts (Омелька Буц) regularly contributed humorous feuilletons; Mykola Khvyl'ovyi (Микола Хвильовий) provided reviews and literary criticism promoting Ukrainian authors; Pavlo Tychyna (Павло Тичина) and Volodymyr Sosiura (Володимир Сосюра) published poetry, while the newspaper's editor Vasyl' Blakytnyi (Василь Блакитний) offered verse satire under pseudonym Valer Pronoza (Валер Проноза). Other contributors of articles, prose, and poetry associated with the "Executed Renaissance" («Розстріляне відродження») included Maik Yohansen (Майк Йогансен), Valerian Polishchuk (Валер'ян Поліщук), Mykhail' Semenko (Михайль Семенко), Petro Panch (Петро Панч), and others.

• Availability: 1922-1934, 1936-1939 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
  • Note: this is not a complete digital archive. There are many issues missing, sometimes entire months (September, November and December 1922, October 1923, March 1934, January-March 1936, July-December 1937), and all of 1918-1921 and 1935. Additionally a large number of scans are made from very poor microform copy, making whole pages and sometimes entire issues illegible. These gaps mean that, even usual OCR issues aside, keyword searches across the entire archive return a very incomplete set of results.
• Language: Ukrainian
• Frequency: daily (6 times a week)
• Editors:
  • 1922-December 4, 1925: Vasyl' Blakytnyi (Ellans'kyi) (Василь Блакитний (Елланський))
  • December 5, 1925-Jan. 17, 1931: IEvhen Kasianenko (Євген Касяненко)
  • Jan. 18, 1931- May 10, 1933: M. Tkach (М. Ткач) 
  • May 11-July 17, 1933: Z. Margolis (З. Марголіс)
  • July 18-October 11, 1933: M. Tkach (М. Ткач)
  • October 12, 1933-1937: F.P. Taran (Ф.П. Таран)
  • 1938-1939: Editorial board

Известия (Izvestiia)

Izvestiia («Известия», "Announcements", "Reports" or, simply, "News") was a national-level daily (issued 6 times a week) and the official mouthpiece of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR. The newspaper was founded in March 1917 as the official newspaper of the Petrograd Soviet, later of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union, then of the Council of the People's Deputies. By the late 1960s its print run was over 8 million copies, and by 1990, over 10 million. The newspaper had a national and a Moscow edition, and, after 1960, a Sunday supplement called «Неделя» (Nedelia, "The Week"), not included in the digital archive.

• 1917-2010 online via UNC University Libraries. Contains a mix of national and Moscow edition issues and does not contain the Sunday supplement Неделя (Nedelia).
• 1953-1959 in print and 1972-1977, 1977-1991 on microfilm via UNC University Libraries.
• 1959 and Jul-Dec 1975 online via the Center for Research Libraries.
• 1917-1999 on microfilm via Duke University Libraries.

Литературная газета (Literaturnaia gazeta)

Literaturnaia gazeta («Литературная газета», "The Literary Newspaper") was a national-level weekly of the Writer's Union of the USSR, published since 1929. After 1947 the newspaper began to cover politics and social issues in addition to literature and the arts.

• 1929-2011 online via UNC University Libraries.
• 1955-2007 on microfilm via UNC University Libraries.
• 1989-1999 on microfilm via Duke University Libraries.

Правда (Pravda)

Pravda («Правда», "The Truth") was Soviet Union's leading national daily and the official publication of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the pre-revolutionary period, it was a Bolshevik newspaper that changed its name multiple times to evade censorship, thus «Правда труда» (Pravda truda), «Пролетарская правда» (Proletarskaia pravda), «Рабочая правда» (Rabochaia pravda), «Трудовая правда» (Trudovaia pravda), «Северная правда» (Severnaia pravda), «Рабочий» (Rabochii), «Рабочий путь» (Rabochii put'), «За правду» (Za pravdu), «Рабочий и солдат» (Rabochii i soldat) and «Путь правды» (Put' pravdy) were all published intermittently in Saint Petersburg between 1912 and 1918.

• 1912-2009 online via UNC University Libraries.
• 1917-1999 on microfilm (with some gaps) via UNC University Libraries.
• 1917; 1921-1938; 1940-2001; 2002-2010 on microfilm (with some gaps) via Duke University Libraries.

Правда Украины (Pravda Ukrainy)

Pravda Ukrainy («Правда Украины», "The Truth of Ukraine") -- originally called Sovetskaia Ukraina («Советская Украина», "Soviet Ukraine") from 1938 to 1943 -- was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Ukraine until 1991. In the 1990s, the newspaper evolved into a popular independent outlet, reporting on corruption and social problems of the post-communist transition. During this period, the newspaper also had a Ukrainian language version, which is, unfortunately, omitted from this archive. Due to its opposition to Leonid Kuchma's administration, the newspaper was shut down in 1998, its office raided, and its editor-in-chief Aleksandr Gorobets (Александр Горобец) arrested (Gorobets recounted the experience in his 2003 memoir). 1998 was probably the newspaper's peak, with circulation topping half a million copies. The paper was relaunched in 1999 under a new leadership loyal to the ruling party, but having lost most of its readership, with its circulation dropping under 20K during this period. Beginning with 2004, under a new editor, the newspaper experienced a brief period of a revival, not the least bit due to its criticism of Viktor Yanukovych and support for the Orange Revolution. It's circulation climbed to over 180K, and it even opted to include some content in Ukrainian. By 2010s the newspaper once again began to decline, both in readership and in quality, ceasing due to bankruptcy in 2014. As with many other Ukrainian newspapers from the 90s and 2000s, a rather large portion of the paper was taken up by TV listings. The paper also included a sports and humor section, celebrity gossip, crossword puzzles and horoscopes, and cartoons by Aleksandr Monastyrskii (Александр Монастырский), Viktor Popov (Виктор Попов), Leonid Teliatnikov (Леонид Телятников), Vladimir Adamovich Владимир Адамович) and others.

• Availability: 1938-2014 (with some missing issues, primarily in the 1940s) via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Language: Russian, occasional articles in Ukrainian in the 1990s-2000s
• Frequency: varies
• Editors: 
  • 1992-1998: Aleksandr Gorobets (Александр Горобец)
  • 1999-2003: Ol'ga Pronina (Ольга Пронина) 
  • 2004-2008: Nikolai Kriskovets (Николай Крисковец)
  • 2009-2014: Viktoriia IAsnopol'skaia (Виктория Яснопольская)

Советская Киргизия (Sovetskaia Kirgiziia)

Sovetskaia Kirgiziia («Советская Киргизия», "Soviet Kighizia") was a Russian-language republic-level daily (issued 6 times a week) and the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Kirghiz Communist Party, published since 1925. It was preceded by «Батрацкая правда» (Batratskaia pravda) and «Крестьянский путь» (Krestianskii put').

•  1925-2020 online via UNC University Libraries. Including the paper's post-Soviet incarnation as «Слово Кыргызстана» (Slovo Kyrgyzstana).
• 1961-1969, 1988-1990 on microfilm via Duke University Libraries.

Советская культура (Sovetskaia kul'tura)

Sovetskaia kul'tura («Советская культура», "Soviet Culture") was a national culture and arts weekly and the official publication of the Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Workers Labor Union, published since 1953. It was preceded by «Рабочий и искусство»

• 1929-2013 online via UNC University Libraries.
• 1974-1991 on microfilm via UNC University Libraries.

Туркменская искра (Turkmenskaia iskra)

Turkmenskaia iskra («Туркменская искра», "Turkmen spark") was a Russian language republic-level daily and the official newspaper of Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR, published in Ashgabat since 1924. It was succeeded by «Нейтральный Туркменистан» (Neitral'nyi Turkmenistan).

• 1943-1995 online via UNC University Libraries.
• 1988-1990 on microfilm via Duke University Libraries.

Moscow News

Moscow News was Soviet Union's English-language weekly aimed at readers abroad and ex-pats in the Soviet Union, published since 1930.

• 1930-2014 online via UNC University Libraries. Includes sister publication Moscow Daily News (1932-1938).
• 1976-1999, 2002-2007 on microfilm via UNC University Libraries.
• 1932-1933 online via the Center for Research Libraries.

Collections/portals:

Календарь оцифрованных газет

Russian National Library's newspaper discovery tool that allows you to see which newspapers have been digitized for a given day in history.

Государственная публичная историческая библиотека России

Collection of scattered issues of late 1910s-early 1920s newspapers from the Russian State Public Historical Library.

Президентская Библиотека им. Б.Н. Ельцина

Selections of digitized newspapers from various years from the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.

Новосибирская областная научная библиотека

Novosibirsk Oblast Scientific Library collection of digitized Siberian newspapers and other periodicals. Coverage varies. The collection is organized into two sections:

• Сибирская периодика (Siberian periodicals): newspapers and journals, including the major regional daily Советская Сибирь (Sovetskaia Sibir')
• Районные газеты Новосибирской области (Raion-level newspapers of the Novosibirsk Oblast): local newspapers

Newspapers of the October Revolution : January 3, 1917 through December 31, 1917

Center for Research Libraries digital collection of scattered or single issues from 70 scare newspapers, primarily from St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also from a number of cities in Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, and Siberia.

Старые газеты

Defunct portal (archived via Wayback Machine) hosting scattered digitized issues of different newspapers from different years. Not a consistent research tool, but a way to get a taste for some of the content.

Individual titles:

За индустриализацию (Za industrializatsiiu)

March 1932 and March 1937 issues (the end of first two five-year plans) via the History Department of Moscow State University.