“A Chronicle of Current Events” (CCE) was published in Moscow from 1968 to 1982 (issues 1-64). It dispassionately and objectively presented information on human rights violations by the authorities in various Soviet republics in chronological order. It also contained a chronicle of the political camps, which was written and smuggled out to freedom under very difficult conditions. Once outside, the information was passed along a chain, where each person knew only the person who gave them the information and the person to whom it was to be passed. Despite these precautions, the editors were periodically thrown behind bars. At the editorial office, all facts were verified (as much as was possible).
The first editor, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, was arrested in December 1969 and was succeeded by Anatoly Yakobson (until 1972). From 1973, the renewed editorial team was headed by V. Chalidze. In 1981, the 59th issue was seized, but a new editorial team continued to publish the CCE. By 1983, 65 issues had been prepared, but the last one never made it into samizdat or abroad. Thus, a total of 63 issues were published (not counting the seized issue No. 59 and the undistributed No. 65).
Of course, the CCE contains errors, but in the author’s opinion, it remains one of the principal and most objective sources on the history of the dissident movement in the USSR.
The lion’s share of information in the CCE pertains to Ukraine, but from this source, one can not only extract facts concerning Ukraine but also trace the history and determine the role of Ukrainian dissidence in the all-union anti-totalitarian movement.
The full collection of the CCE is available on the website of the International “Memorial” Society: http://www.memo.ru/history/diss/chr/index.htm.