Spetsnaz GRU, formally known as Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, () is the

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

(''

spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

'') of the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

, the foreign

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

agency of the

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent comba ...

Origins

The

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

began preparing special-purpose ( OSNAZ) groups to serve in the GRU in 1937 - training personnel for special-purpose radio units at the engineering radio-technical department of the Budyonny Military Electro-Technical Academy in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. The Spetsnaz GRU, the first ''spetsnaz'' force in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, formed in 1949 as the military force of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the foreign military-intelligence agency of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

. The force was designed in the context of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

to carry out

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

against enemy targets in the form of

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...

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 The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

Modus operandi

The concept of using special forces tactics and strategies in the

was originally proposed by the military theorist Mikhail Svechnykov, who envisaged the development of

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces or actions such as subversion, diversion, sabotage, espionage, biowarfare, sanctions, propaga ...

capabilities in order to overcome the disadvantages that conventional forces faced in the field. Svechnykov was executed during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

in 1938, but practical implementation of his ideas was begun by Ilya Starinov, dubbed the "grandfather of the ''spetsnaz''".Carey Schofield, ''The Russian Elite: Inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces'', Greenhill, London, 1993, p.34 Following the entrance of the Soviet Union into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, basic forces dedicated to acts of

and

were formed under the supervision of the Second Department of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, and were subordinate to the commanders of Fronts. The primary function of Spetsnaz troops in wartime was infiltration/insertion behind enemy lines (either in uniform or civilian clothing), usually well before hostilities are scheduled to begin and, once in place, to commit acts of sabotage such as the destruction of vital communications logistics centers, as well as the assassination of key government leaders and military officers. Spetsnaz GRU training included: weapons handling, fast rappelling, explosives training, marksmanship,

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

, airborne training,

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of ranged weapons.Hunsicker, A., ''Advanced Skills in ...

, climbing (alpine rope techniques), diving, underwater combat, emergency medical training, and

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

History

Soviet era

The situation was reviewed after the war ended, and between 1947 and 1950 the whole of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) was reorganized.Carey Schofield, ''The Russian Elite: Inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces'', Greenhill, London, 1993, p.35 The first "independent reconnaissance companies of special purpose" were formed in 1949, to work for

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

and

combined-arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects—for example, using infantry and armour in an urban environment in which each supports the other. ...

armies, which were tasked to eliminate amongst others enemy

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

systems such as the MGR-3 Little John and

MGM-1 Matador The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile designed and built by the United States. It was developed after World War II, drawing upon their wartime experience with creating the Republic-Ford JB-2, a ...

. In 1957, the first Spetsnaz battalions were formed under the GRU, five to operate beyond the 150–200 km range of the reconnaissance companies. The first brigades were formed in 1962, reportedly to reach up to 750 kilometres in the rear to destroy U.S. weapons systems such as the

MGM-52 Lance The MGM-52 Lance was a mobile field artillery tactical surface-to-surface missile (tactical ballistic missile) system used to provide both W70, nuclear and conventional fire support to the United States Army. The missile's warhead was developed ...

, MGM-29 Sergeant, and

MGM-31 Pershing The MGM-31A Pershing was the missile used in the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a field artillery missile systems. It was a solid-fueled two-stage theater ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile ...

. Two 'study regiments' were established in the 1960s to train specialists and NCOs, the first in 1968 at Pechora near

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

, and the second in 1970 at Chirchik near

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. According to Vladimir Rezun, a GRU defector who used the pseudonym "

Viktor Suvorov Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun (; ; 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 ...

", there were 20 GRU Spetsnaz brigades plus 41 separate companies at the time of his defection in 1978.

Known missions

The first major foreign operation of the unit came in August 1968, when Moscow decided to crack down on the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

and move the troops of

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

countries into

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. The Spetsnaz GRU was tasked with capturing the

Prague Airport Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. On the night of 21 August, a Soviet passenger plane requested an emergency landing at Prague Airport, allegedly due to engine failure.https://www.rbth.com/defence/2017/05/10/gru-alpha-vympel-russias-famous-covert-operators-759604 , date=21 Nov 2019http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-did-the-russian-special-forces/ , date=21 Nov 2019 After landing, the commandos, without firing a shot, seized the airport and took over air traffic control. At the same time, other Spetsnaz GRU units that had infiltrated into Prague a few days before the operation seized control of other key city points. Evstafiev-spetsnaz-prepare-for-mission

In December 1979, the undercover Spetsnaz GRU unit codenamed " Muslim Battalion" participated in Operation Storm-333, the successful mission to assassinate

Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Dari/; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and ...

, the President of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, and to capture Amin's residential palace which triggered the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

. Most of Spetsnaz GRU's operations remain classified even after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. It is believed the special forces had participated in operations in more than nineteen countries around the world in Africa, Asia and South America. From time to time, the men also served as military instructors and set up training camps for Soviet-backed fighters in Vietnam and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Russian Federation

Following the deactivation of the Soviet

in 1992, control of the special forces was transferred to the newly formed G.U. of Russia and were maintained to their respective assigned units as before. According to

Stanislav Lunev Stanislav Lunev (; born 1946 in Leningrad) is a former Soviet military officer, as of 1992 the highest-ranking GRU officer to defect from Russia to the United States. Biography Stanislav Lunev was born in Leningrad, to the family of a Soviet ...

, who defected to the U.S. in 1992, the GRU also commanded some 25,000 Spetsnaz troops as of 1997. Following the 2008 Russian military reform, a brand new Directorate of Special Operations was established in 2009 following studies of American and various Western special operations forces units and commands. The newly formed

Special Operations Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

which is directly subordinated to the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

, bypassing the GRU. In 2013, the Directorate became the Special Operations Forces Command with a GRU unit transferring to the command. In 2010, Spetsnaz GRU units were reassigned to the military districts of the Ground Forces and was subordinate to the operational-strategic commands until 2012, due to then

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Anatoliy Serdyukov's military reforms. This decision was reversed in 2013 and Spetsnaz GRU units were reassigned to their original GRU divisions.

Known operations

Throughout the mid-1990s to the 2000s, Spetsnaz GRU were involved in both the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

and more prominently in the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

and also the

Invasion of Dagestan The 1999 war in Dagestan, also known as the Dagestan incursions (), was an armed conflict that began when the Chechen-based Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB), an Islamist group led by Shamil Basayev, Ibn al-Khattab, Ramzan Ak ...

in August 1999. The special forces learned invaluable lessons from the first war and transformed into a better and more effective fighting force and were instrumental in Russia's and the Russian backed government's success in the second war. In 2003, during the Second Chechen War, the GRU formed the Special Battalions ''Vostok'' and ''Zapad'', two ethnic Chechen units that belonged to the Spetsnaz GRU which fought primarily in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

, and also in the 2008

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

as well as

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed w ...

operations after the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

. Spetsnaz GRU maintains an airborne unit, the Separate Spetsnaz Airborne Reconnaissance Unit (codenamed No. 48427), which participated in the 2008 Georgian War. The unit is housed at Matrosskaya Tishina 10 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. During the period of insurgency in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

region, Spetsnaz GRU along with special forces from the FSB and MVD conducted numerous special operations and counter-terrorism operations against mainly the

Caucasus Emirate The Caucasus Emirate (, IK; ), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. It ...

, Wilayat al-Qawqaz and other smaller terrorist groups. After the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

, during which some units of Spetsnaz GRU were a part of the " Little green men", and the start of the rebel insurgency by

pro-Russian Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the Russia, country, Russians, people, Russian language, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its Opposite ...

rebels, Ukraine has on numerous occasions accused various Spetsnaz forces of aiding the rebels and even fighting on the ground in

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or East Ukraine (; ) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (provinces). Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are often also regarded as ...

. In December 2014, the Ukrainian military claimed that the Spetsnaz GRU was involved in attacks on an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

which was later captured by DPR in the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

. In late 2015, GRU special forces operators were reportedly involved in the Syrian Civil War, appearing in the government offensives of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

. GRU officials have also visited

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

, near the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian Spetsnaz units have been used in the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

beginning in early 2022, they were initially tasked with going after high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

in order to decapitate the Ukrainian command and control structure, with the objective being to foster chaos. Like other Russian plans during the start of the invasion, the Russian Spetsnaz failed to take out Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian leadership. The Russian military was not dissuaded by the failure, and continued to use Spetsnaz in the conflict, particularly deploying them when conventional Russian forces faced significant resistance. This caused the heavy attrition rate suffered by the Russian forces to also reach the Russian Spetsnaz, according to a Pentagon leak in April 2023, all but one of five Spetsnaz brigades that had participated in the war had suffered significant losses by late summer 2022. According to the estimate, one of the separate Spetsnaz brigades in question had only ″125 personnel active out of 900 deployed.″ The casualties were expected to have increased following the Ukrainian counteroffensive in September 2022 that liberated hundreds of square miles of territory in a few days, during this offensive, the GRU's Third Guards Spetsnaz Brigade, considered one of the most elite Russian units, was caught in the retreat and had to fight a defensive action in the town of Lyman. A report by the BBC assessed that the Spetsnaz unit lost up to 75% of its men during this action. The high amount of losses suffered in Ukraine are expected to leave a strategic capability gap, since special forces unlike conventional units cannot be ″mass-produced″, the leaked Pentagon documents estimated that it would take Russia up to ten years to reconstitute its special operations capability, and this estimate referred to outdated 2022 figures. Although there are no figures concerning Spetsnaz losses after the summer of 2022, the extremely heavy losses suffered by the entire Russian forces suggest that Spetsnaz units have continued to take significant losses in the invasion.

List of GRU special units

Below is a list of current "

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

" units in the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

that fall under GRU operational control during wartime operations: *

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

- fields 7 spetsnaz brigades of varying sizes and one spetsnaz regiment. ** 2nd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade – based in Promezhitsa,

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

***Brigade HQ **** Signals Battalion (2× Company) **** Support Company *** 70th Special Purpose Detachment *** 329th Special Purpose Detachment *** 700th Special Purpose Detachment *** Training Battalion (2× Company) ** 3rd Guards Special Purpose Brigade – based in

Tolyatti Tolyatti or Togliatti ( , ; , ), known before 1964 as Stavropol, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which is neither the administrative center of a federal subjects of Rus ...

***Brigade HQ ****Signals Company ****Special Weapons Company ****Support Company ****Logistics Company ***1st Special Purpose Detachment (1st Battalion) ***790th Special Purpose Detachment (2nd Battalion) ***791st Special Purpose Detachment (3rd Battalion) ***Training Battalion (2× Company) ** 10th Special Purpose Brigade – based in Mol'kino,

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

***Brigade HQ ****Signals Company ****Special Weapons Company ****Support Company ****Logistics Company **** K-9 Unit ***325th Special Purpose Detachment ***328th Special Purpose Detachment ***Training Battalion (2× Company) ** 14th Special Purpose Brigade – based in

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...

***Brigade HQ ****Signals Company ****Logistics Company *** 282nd Special Purpose Detachment *** 294th Special Purpose Detachment *** 308th Special Purpose Detachment **** Unknown Department for Unknown Affairs - formerly known as UDUA, currently no information is open to the public as the files regarding it were classified for 100 years and will be declassified on 17 September 2057. The department was established in 1957 by order of the former chairman of the KGB. ***Training Battalion (2× Company) ** 16th Guards Special Purpose Brigade – based in

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

, with all units deployed in Tambov except for the 664th SPD.Сергей Козлов. Спецназ ГРУ: Очерки истории. // Том 5. Новейшая история. 1999-2010 гг.. — Москва: Русская панорама, 2010. — P. 40–41, 44–50, 65, 335–336, 492–493. — 400 p. — 3 000 экз. ReconnaissanceExercise2017-01

***Brigade HQ ****EOD company ****Signals Company ****Logistics Company ***370th Special Purpose Detachment ***379th Special Purpose Detachment ***585th Special Purpose Detachment ***664th Special Purpose Detachment ***669th Special Purpose Detachment ** 22nd Guards Special Purpose Brigade – entire unit is based in Stepnoi,

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblastʹ, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast ...

***Brigade HQ ****Signals Company ****Support Company ****Special Weapons Company ****Logistics Unit ****Engineer Unit ***108th Special Purpose Detachment ***173rd Special Purpose Detachment ***305th Special Purpose Detachment ***411th Special Purpose Detachment ** 24th Guards Special Purpose Brigade – based in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, with all units and units deployed in Irkutsk ***Brigade HQ ****Signals Company ****Special Weapons Company ****Logistics Unit ***281st Special Purpose Detachment ***297th Special Purpose Detachment ***641th Special Purpose Detachment ** 346th Special Purpose Brigade ** 25th Special Purpose Regiment * Russian Airborne Forces ** 45th Guards Special Purpose Brigade – based in

Kubinka Kubinka () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population: __TOC__ History Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named ...

45th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Regiment of VDV show

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

The navy also fields dedicated maritime sabotage and counter-sabotage diver units which are attached to the naval infantry. These units also include combat swimmers, trained to conduct underwater combat,

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and

clearance diving A clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but the term "clearance diver" was later used to include other naval under ...

. The task is to protect ships and other fleet assets from enemy frogmen and special forces. The term "combat swimmers" is correct term in relation to the staff of the OSNB PDSS. Every PDSS unit has approximately 50–60 combat swimmers. There are PDSS units in all major naval bases across Russia. The OMRP is composed of reconnaissance divers that fall under operational subordination to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). There are four OMRPs in Russia serving each fleet: Northern Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet and Pacific Fleet, with each consisting of 120–200 personnel. * Naval Special Reconnaissance (OMRP) ** 42nd Marine Reconnaissance point ( Pacific Fleet) ** 388th Marine Reconnaissance point (

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

) – reorganized from the former 431st MRP ** 420th Marine Reconnaissance point (

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

) ** 561st Marine Reconnaissance point (

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

) * Special Purpose Detachments for Combat against Underwater Diversionary Forces and Devices (OSNB PDSS) **101st SPDC PDSS - based in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located in the Far East of the country and lies along the coast of Avacha Bay by the Pacific Ocean, nearby Khalaktyrskoye Lake. As of the 202 ...

** 102nd SPDC PDSS - based in

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

** 136th SPDC PDSS - based in

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

** 137th SPDC PDSS - based in

Makhachkala Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk language, Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Dagestan, Russia. ...

** 140th SPDC PDSS - based in Vidyayevo ** 152nd SPDC PDSS - based in Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast ** 153rd SPDC PDSS - based in Ostrovnoy, Murmansk Oblast ** 159th SPDC PDSS - based in Razboynik ** 160th SPDC PDSS - based in

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

** 269th SPDC PDSS - based in Gadzhiyevo ** 311th SPDC PDSS - based in

** 313rd SPDC PDSS - based in

Baltiysk Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...

** 473rd SPDC PDSS - based in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

Special Battalion Vostok and Zapad

The Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad were two Spetsnaz units; Vostok headquartered at Eastern Chechnya and Zapad headquartered at Western Chechnya. It was subordinate to the GRU and responsible for carrying out

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

and special operations in Chechnya. A power struggle then broke out between rival pro-Russian Chechen warlords then

Head of the Chechen Republic The head of the Chechen Republic or head of Chechnya (; ; formerly president of the Chechen Republic or president of Chechnya until 5 March 2011) is the highest office within the Politics of Chechnya, political system of the Chechnya, Chechen Re ...

Kadyrov and Sulim Yamadaev which led to a series of assassinations and shootouts in the ensuing years forcing the GRU to disband the controversial battalions in November 2008.