How did George Orwell acquire such detailed information about the communist system of USSR?

by filip_kozak

George Orwell was able to explain the oppresive regime of USSR in such detail. How so? Wasn’t the information about it hidden and hard to acquire?

crrpit

To clarify, are you referring to a particular non-fiction article or essay written by Orwell, or the allegorical/fictional representations in novels like Animal Farm or 1984?