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Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the Soviet Union's Spetsnaz GRU, special operations units of the GRU, the main military intelligence service. It also describes task forces of other ministries (such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs' ODON and Ministry of Emergency Situations' special rescue unit) in post-Soviet countries. As ''spetsnaz'' is a Russian term, it is typically associated with the special units of Russia, but other post-Soviet states often refer to their special forces units by the term as well, since these nations also inherited their special purpose units from the now-defunct Soviet security agencies. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade of Belarus is an example of a non-Russian spetsnaz force. Etymology The Russian abbreviations ''spetsnaz'' and ''osnaz'' are syll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Forces Of The Main Directorate Of The General Staff Of The Russian Armed Forces
Spetsnaz GRU or Spetsnaz G.U. (formally known as Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces () is the special forces (''spetsnaz'') of the G.U., the foreign military-intelligence agency of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Spetsnaz GRU, the first ''spetsnaz'' force in the Soviet Union, formed in 1949 as the military force of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the foreign military-intelligence agency of the Soviet Armed Forces. The force was designed in the context of the Cold War to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage against enemy targets in the form of special reconnaissance and direct-action attacks. The Spetsnaz GRU inspired additional ''spetsnaz'' forces attached to other Soviet intelligence agencies, such as Vympel (founded in 1981) and the Alpha Group (established in 1974) - both within the KGB. Modus operandi The concept of using special forces tactics and strategies in the Soviet Union was originally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ции, r=Glavnoje upravlenije General'nyy shtab Vooruzhonnykh sil Rossiyskoy Federatsii, p=ˈɡlavnəjə rɐzˈvʲɛdɨvətʲɪlʲnəjə ʊprɐˈvlʲenʲɪjə formerly the Main Intelligence Directorate,( rus, Гла́вное разве́дывательное управле́ние, r=Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye) and still commonly known by its previous abbreviation GRU, rus, ГРУ, p=ɡiˈru is the foreign military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The GRU controls the military intelligence service and maintains its own special forces units. Unlike Russia's other security and intelligence agencies—such as the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Security Ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th Spetsnaz Brigade
The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade () is a special forces brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus, formerly part of the Soviet Spetsnaz GRU. History It was formed at Marjina Horka, Minsk Region, 1 January 1963 as the 5th Special Forces Brigade GRU. It initially had two battalions. On 3 April 1978 renamed 5th Independent Special Forces Brigade GRU. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade would be involved in the Soviet-Afghan War, Spetsnaz Forces in Afghanistan were issued AK-74s, RPKs, RPDs, AKS-74u's, Dragunovs, and were issued KS-23 riot shotguns. In the last years of the Soviet Union, the brigade had an all-professional company formation manned entirely by officers and praporshchiks. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade took the oath of allegiance to Belarus on 31 December 1992, now part of the Special Forces of Belarus along with two brigades formerly part of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division. Today On 12 September 2002, President Alexander Lukashenko presented the commander of the brigade with a new inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vympel
Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russian special forces unit, under the command of the FSB. Vympel is the sister unit of Spetsgruppa "A" (Alpha Group), an FSB unit. Origins KUOS As most of the training in the KGB academy concentrated on plainclothes operational work focused on espionage and counter-espionage, in 1955 the First Chief Directorate of the service established the Development Courses for Officer Personnel ( (), Latinized abbreviation KUOS) – a training cadre with the purpose of training general duty KGB officers in irregular warfare and combat tactics for clandestine operations overseas or as a stay-behind cadre and backbone for the formation of partisan units in case of a foreign invasion. In 1966 these courses were taken out of the structure of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpha Group
Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group (a popular English name), or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center (TsSN FSB) (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is an elite stand-alone sub-unit of Russia's special forces within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). It was created by the Soviet KGB in 1974. Although little is known about the exact nature of its primary directives, it is speculated that the unit is authorised to act under the direct control and sanction of Russia's top political leadership, similar to its sister unit, the Directorate "V" (Vympel), which is officially tasked with protecting Russia's strategic installations, as well as conducting black operations inside and outside Russia. It is also available for extended police duties, for paramilitary operations, and for covert operations, both domestically and internationally. In the Soviet Union Creation and organization On 28 July 1974, Alpha Group was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viktor Suvorov
Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun (russian: link=no, Владимир Богданович Резун; born 20 April 1947), known by his pseudonym of Viktor Suvorov () is a former Soviet GRU officer who is the author of non-fiction books about World War II, the GRU and the Soviet Army, as well as fictional books about the same and related subjects. After defecting to the United Kingdom in 1978, Suvorov began his writing career, publishing his first books in the 1980s about his own experiences and the structure of the Soviet military, intelligence, and secret police. He writes in Russian with a number of his books translated into English, including his semi-autobiographical '' The Liberators'' (1981). In the USSR, according to Suvorov and according to an interview with the former head of the GRU, he was sentenced to death in absentia. In his military history books, he offers an alternative view of the role of the USSR in World War II; the first and most well-known book on this topi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)
Main Intelligence Directorate ( rus, Главное разведывательное управление, Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye, ˈglavnəjə rɐzˈvʲɛdɨvətʲɪlʲnəjə ʊprɐˈvlʲenʲɪjə), abbreviated GRU ( rus, ГРУ, p=geeˈru), was the foreign military intelligence agency of the Soviet Army General Staff of the Soviet Union until 1991. For a few months it was also the foreign military intelligence agency of the newly established Russian Federation until 7 May 1992 when it was dissolved and the Russian GRU took over its activities. History The GRU's first predecessor in Russia formed on October 21, 1918 by secret order under the sponsorship of Leon Trotsky (then the civilian leader of the Red Army), signed by Jukums Vācietis, the first commander-in-chief of the Red Army (RKKA), and by Ephraim Sklyansky, deputy to Trotsky; it was originally known as the Registration Directorate (''Registrupravlenie'', or RU). Semyon Aralov was its first head ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SOBR
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR (russian: СОБР - Специальный Отряд Быстрого Реагирования, Spetsial'niy Otryad Bystrovo Reagirovaniya, lit. ''Special Unit of Quick Response''), from 2002 to 2011 known as OMSN (''Otryad Militsii Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya'', Special Police Unit), is a spetsnaz unit of the National Guard of Russia.With their military equipment, uniforms and training, the OMON and SOBR constitute a rapid-reaction and rapid-insertion military force available to the regular police - normally deployable at the discretion of a police local command. They serve a similar function to SWAT. Groups named "SOBR" also operate in other post-Soviet countries - such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. History SOBR was formed on February 10, 1992, and was subordinated to the "Directorate for combating the Organized Crime" under the Russian Interior Ministry ( MVD). SOBR units were composed of senior-ranking police officers, better t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated as VChK ( rus, ВЧК, p=vɛ tɕe ˈka), and commonly known as Cheka ( rus, Чека, p=tɕɪˈka; from the initialism russian: ЧК, ChK, label=none), was the first of a succession of Soviet secret-police organizations. Established on December 5 ( Old Style) 1917 by the Sovnarkom, it came under the leadership of Felix Dzerzhinsky, a Polish aristocrat-turned-Bolshevik. By late 1918, hundreds of Cheka committees had sprung up in the RSFSR at the oblast, guberniya, raion, uyezd, and volost levels. Ostensibly set up to protect the revolution from reactionary forces, i.e., "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie and members of the clergy, it soon became the repression tool against all political opponents of the communist regime. At the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OMSDON
The Separate Operational Purpose Division or ODON, formerly called OMSDON (a.k.a. '' Dzerzhinsky Division''), is a rapid deployment internal security division of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and then the Russian Federation, currently part of the National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation. ODON (russian: ОДОН) is an initialism for Отдельная дивизия оперативного назначения (''Otdel'naya diviziya operativnogo naznacheniya'', en, Separate Operational Purpose Division). USSR The precursor to the ODON was the 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment of the VTsIK (russian: автобоевой отряд) which was created in February 1918. The detachment was tasked with guarding the members of the VTsIK and the Sovnarkom and providing them with passenger cars. After the relocation of the government to Moscow in March 1918, it was assigned to guarding the Kremlin, along with the Red Latvian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Ocean, Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in Genocides in history (World War I through World War II), genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the Spanish flu, 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising French Third Republic, France, Russia, and British Empire, Britain) and the Triple A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander III Of Russia
Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary and reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II. This policy is known in Russia as "counter-reforms" ( rus, контрреформы). Under the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907), he opposed any reform that limited his autocratic rule. During his reign, Russia fought no major wars; he was therefore styled "The Peacemaker" ( rus, Миротворец, Mirotvorets, p=mʲɪrɐˈtvorʲɪt͡s). It was he who helped forge the Russo-French Alliance. Personality Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich was born on 10 March 1845 at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the second son and third child of Tsesarevich Alexander (Future Alexander II) and his first wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
