“Karelian issue”: the story of the unexecuted deportation in 1944

Archival documents of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History, first introduced into scientific circulation in this publication, enable us to give a representation of the historical events of 1944 related to the “Karelian issue” raised by the war correspondent of the Pravda newspaper M. M. Shur during the offensive operation of the Karelian Front. The article covers the process of considering the national issue by the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party, with the results not recorded in protocols. The authors substantiate the statement that the solution of the “Karelian issue” was driven by a complex of external and internal factors. For the USSR political leadership the priority was to prevent the exacerbation of the military and political situation in the North to sign an armistice with Finland.