Definition of Ryan

RYAN is a Russian acronym for Raketno-YAdernoe Napadenie ("Nuclear Missile Attack"). It was the largest Soviet intelligence operation during the Cold War. The purpose of the operation was "to collect intelligence on the presumed, but non-existent, plans of the Reagan administration to launch a nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union - a delusion which reflected both KGB's continuing failure to penetrate the policy-making of the Main Adversary and its recurrent tendency towards conspiracy theory" . It was initiated in May 1981 by KGB director Yuri Andropov, then chairman of KGB. RYAN took on a new significance when Andropov took power in 1982, and particularly after the announcement of the planned deployment of the Pershing II missile to West Germany. These missiles were designed to be launched from road-mobile vehicles, making the launch sites very hard to find. The flight time from West Germany to European Russia was only four to six minutes, giving the Soviets little to no warning.

Ryan may refer to:

• Division of Ryan, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
• Ryan, Iowa
• Ryan, Oklahoma
• Ryan Township, Pennsylvania
• Ryan, New South Wales