Operation Priboi took place between March 25-29 simultaneously in the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian SSRs. A year later, 35,000 Moldovans were also deported from their homeland.

The documents – top secret memos – from Moldova's July 1949 deportation, Operation Yug ("South"), were translated from Russian to English and published by the Internal Security Service (ISS) in its annual review today.

Evidence suggests the deportation organized in Moldova mirrored the tactics used in Operation Priboi in Estonia just a few months earlier, the ISS writes.

"Thus, documents preserved in Moldova may contribute to the research on the March deportations carried out in Estonia and fill gaps in the source material."

The memos were for the operational group leader and the loading point commander and featured a set of guidelines stating how the deportations should be carried out in Moldova.

These include the group leader explaining to families they are being sent to "more distant regions of the Soviet Union," that they will face "prosecution" if they resist, to take a bucket, saws and axes, interviewing every person over 15 years old to make sure the correct person has been identified, and "in the case of armed resistance or incidents, take measures to eliminate them."

The loading point commander, who oversaw people being loaded into cattle wagons at local stations, was told to "organize the swift and correct loading of deportees" and to make sure the correct families had been identified.

Evidence also shows Estonian SSR operation leaders were in control of the situation in Moldova and blueprint plans were drawn up from Estonian documents.

You can see the documents in the newly published 2023-2024 annual review below and here.

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