I know a lot about World War II era tanks, and a good favorite of mine is the Maus super-heavy German tank. It was captured by the Russians semi-intact, but I am curious when and how it was revealed to the public. If you could find a newspaper article, preferably in English, or anything within those lines, that would be perfect.
The Maus was not captured "semi-intact", far from it. One vehicle became stuck in front of the attacking Soviets, in a position where it was not possible to even use it as a bunker. To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, the tank was loaded with explosives and destroyed. The explosion made minced meat of all the internals and threw off the tank's turret.
The second tank did not receive a turret or a gun, and the turret was replaced with a dummy. This tank was not demolished, but it was missing components as well. Because of this, study of the Maus tanks proved complicated, and a lot of the information about it had to be obtained from interrogations, which led to some mistakes.
Both tanks were disassembled for study, and it eventually became clear that it would not be possible to restore either one. Components that proved interesting were sent to Leningrad, and the hull of the turretless prototype and turret of the blown up one were sent to Kubinka. Limited trials, namely of the suspension and armour, were performed, but the tank was in no shape to do much else. There are photos of the current state of the vehicle online today: the tank is basically an empty shell. Even the suspension is not complete.
Despite such a small amount of materials to study, information about the tank was soon published in Soviet military publications. For example, issues #10 and 11 of Vestnik tankovoy promyshlennosti (Tank production herald) contained detailed results of the investigations, including diagrams of armour layout and components, description of their function, etc.
While the actual Maus was left in Kubinka, a closed military installation at the time, its existence was not much of a secret. The book Tank, a general introduction to the history and mechanics of armoured warfare, describes (albeit briefly) the Maus and the story of its capture near Berlin, providing photographs.
Sources:
Y. Pasholok Superheavy trophy
I. Zheltov, Y. Pasholok, Panzerkampfwagen Maus, Tactical Press, Moscow, 2012
A.S. Antonov et al Tank, Voyenizdat, Moscow, 1954