Good day, airsoft players, militarists and all concerned. Today we are starting a series of articles about various law enforcement agencies. We will talk about both Russian special units and the special forces of the rest of the civilized world. We will touch on the interesting features of a particular unit, learn about training regimes, standards and similar things that may be of interest to both airsoft players and people simply not indifferent to military topics. We decided to start with the guys who serve in the special forces of the Federal Security Service, that is, the FSB.
Naturally, complete information about the training of FSB special forces soldiers is not and will not be publicly available, which in principle is logical. However, a certain amount of knowledge has nevertheless become public knowledge and thanks to it we can at least somewhat imagine the scope of tasks and how difficult the goals are facing those who serve in the FSB special forces detachment.
The FSB special forces are not at all a single consolidated detachment. The special forces of the FSB of Russia include a fairly large number of units. In fact, the FSB special forces includes many Regional Special Purpose Departments, and has representative offices in cities such as Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Nizhny-Novgorod (the second department in Sarov), Yekaterinburg "Malachite", Novosibirsk and many others.
Of course, the most recognizable and famous are the special forces units Directorate “A” (Alpha), Directorate “B” (Vympel). The fame must be said to be well deserved - a clear confirmation of this can be considered the performance of ALPHA fighters at the international competition Super SWAT International Round-Up 2011, where the guys took two first places at once, and the title of the best international team.
In general, initially Group Alpha consisted of only 13 people, and their main task was to protect the diplomatic missions of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of Group A, taking into account regional divisions, was already about 500 people.
“Alpha” acquired celebrity and wide publicity, and even the name itself, in 1991 - by the way, the name came from an easy suggestion from journalists, and eventually stuck.
The special forces officers of Directorate “A” are tasked with a very wide range of tasks. Just look at the incomplete list of countries where the guys had to carry out combat missions. In addition to Russia, Alpha fighters managed to visit such countries as Cuba, Jordan, Afghanistan, Switzerland, USA, Israel, England, France, Canada...
FSB special forces training, as a rule, is carried out in non-standard conditions in order to prepare fighters for an adequate response, regardless of the prevailing circumstances - this includes not only various variations of kill-house and a standard set of exercises aimed at improving skills in using small arms, but also joint training with other units, and not only from Russia. Naturally, the FSB special forces also have their own developments in terms of training and tactics - the most effective things are state secrets and are not subject to disclosure.
Since the 70s, almost all the most modern models of special small arms have passed through the hands of Alpha. Pistols, rifles, machine guns - this whole wide range of weapons goes to the guys from Alpha, and the best examples remain there on an ongoing basis. The group's employees use the most technologically advanced and advanced body armor and other protective equipment with the maximum level of protection. The soldiers are trained to use in the operation not only the most modern domestic machine guns, machine guns and sniper rifles, but also samples of foreign weapons. In special cases, Alpha does not even disdain crossbows and other exotic weapons and equipment.
Despite all the secrecy in terms of training and training of special forces, some information is still available to ordinary citizens. For example, on the Internet you can stumble upon the standard standards of the FSB special forces.
Standards and requirements for combat and physical training for FSB special forces officers
- Running 100 m. (Shuttle run 10 to 10) - 12.7 s (25 sec)
- Cross 3000 m - 11.00 min
- Push-ups - 90
- Pull-up - 25
- Press (lying on your back, flexion-extension of the torso) - 100
- Bench press (your own weight, but not more than 100 kg) - 10 times
A brief summary of standards for hand-to-hand combat for FSB special forces operatives
- Demonstration of punching and kicking techniques - 2 min. On a punching bag
- Sparring according to free rules with throws and painful holds - 3 fights of 3 minutes each.
- Jumping up with changing legs - 90
Other standards for special forces soldiers of the FSB of Russia
Complex strength exercise (performed sequentially 8 times: - 10 push-ups, 10 presses, 10 times squatting, 10 jumping ups). 8 reps (no pause)
It should be noted that All exercises are performed one at a time without rest breaks!
A significant part of the Alpha group operatives know how to drive all types of cars, are familiar with operating a huge number of types of armored vehicles, and have special mountaineering and diving training. A separate category of Alpha special forces employees have serious flight training skills. All this is designed to solve the most important and important task - to neutralize and eliminate the terrorist threat and at the same time preserve the lives of people who find themselves hostages in the hands of terrorists.
Finally, I would like to say a note to the reenactors - if you are going to get used to the image of Alpha, then try to pay serious attention to physical training. Alpha is, first of all, skills and endurance, and only then equipment and weapons.
The FSB Special Purpose Center was created in 1998 to combat terrorism in Russia and beyond. Its structural units are the Alpha special unit, the Vympel special unit and the Special Operations Directorate.
The center accepts officers and warrant officers, as well as cadets from military schools as candidates for officer positions. 97% of positions in the FSB special forces are officer positions. Warrant officers are given 3%; if admitted to the TsSN, they serve as drivers or instructors.
In addition, each candidate must provide a recommendation from either a current or former employee of Alpha or Vympel. The Center is also engaged in an independent search for the most promising youth. Why do the center’s employees visit universities of the Ministry of Defense in order to study the personal files of cadets and conduct interviews with the most suitable of them for service in the FSB special forces. The most productive in this regard are the Novosibirsk Higher Combined Arms School, where there is a special forces department, and the Moscow Higher Military Command School.
There is an age limit - no older than 28 years. And also the height must be at least 175 cm so that the body armor does not hit the knees. However, these requirements are not dogma. If the candidate has any unique abilities or has combat experience, then they turn a blind eye to them.
A healthy body has a healthy spirit
Having accepted the documents required for admission from candidates, they begin to check their physical fitness. Testing is carried out within one day. Everything is done dynamically with minimal breaks between exercises. The requirements for applicants for service in Alpha are a little stricter than for candidates for Vympel. Below are the standards for Alpha.
You must run 3 kilometers at the stadium within 10 minutes 30 seconds.
After a 5-minute rest - 100 meters, control standard - 12.7 seconds.
Pull-ups on the bar - 25 times. This is followed by a 3-minute rest after each exercise.
Within 2 minutes, you need to do 90 flexions and extensions of the torso in a lying position.
90 push-ups.
After this, the candidate must perform a complex strength exercise 7 times:
15 push-ups;
15 flexions and extensions of the torso in a lying position;
15 transitions from the position “crouched” to “lying” and back;
15 jumps from a crouched position.
Each cycle is given 40 seconds. There are no rest periods between cycles.
Bench press of your own weight (but not more than 100 kg) while lying down - 10 times.
The main thing is to take the blow and move forward
Three minutes after the physical test, you must demonstrate hand-to-hand martial arts skills. In this case, the candidate performs in a helmet, gloves and protective pads on the legs and groin. He is opposed by an instructor or a CSN employee well trained in hand-to-hand combat. The fight lasts 3 rounds.
In the allotted time, it is not at all necessary to defeat the instructor. During the battle, the instructor evaluates the candidate's potential capabilities: fighting qualities, ability to take a blow, will to win, focus on attacking in conditions of physical fatigue, ability to change battle tactics depending on the prevailing circumstances, reaction speed.
Of course, the instructor does not seek to “beat” the subject. During the fight, he gives him the initiative to better understand what he is worth. The more active a candidate is in the ring, the higher the score he receives, even in the event of significant errors in technique. Subsequently, during training, the recruit will learn all the techniques and skills necessary to conduct effective hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, the main task of the instructor is to find out whether the candidate is capable of learning.
Those who are passive in the fight are immediately rejected, going into deep defense.
Major tests ahead
At the next stage, the candidate is placed at the disposal of doctors in order to undergo in-depth studies of his health status. And here the requirements are higher than for cadets of military universities, since the future special forces officer must endure enormous physical stress. And they should not interfere with the effective execution of combat missions. At the same time, one of the primary tasks that the medical commission solves is to determine suitability for airborne training.
In parallel with these studies, a special check is carried out, during which it is revealed that the candidate has undesirable connections. And not only from him, but also from his closest relatives. Relatives are checked for criminal records.
The next stage of the competitive marathon is an examination by a psychologist. It is necessary to study the candidate’s personality - character, temperament, interests and passions, moral attitudes, reactions to certain stimuli and other characteristics important for service in the FSB special forces. All this information is entered into your personal file.
This is followed by a polygraph test of the candidate’s veracity. First of all, moments are revealed that he would like to hide, “dark spots” of his past and present: connections with crime, addiction to alcohol and drugs, corruption tendencies, an antisocial lifestyle.
Directorate “A” is a structural subdivision of the Special Operations Center of the Federal Security Service of Russia.
The main function of Alpha is to conduct urban anti-terrorist operations under direct sanctions and under the control of the political leadership of Russia.
Story
“Alpha” was created on July 28, 1974 in the First Main Directorate of the KGB on the instructions of Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, at that time the chairman of the KGB of the USSR. It was intended for counter-terrorism operations throughout the Soviet Union. However, from the very beginning the range of its tasks was much wider.
The most famous operation outside the USSR was the storming of Amin’s palace in Afghanistan on December 27, 1979. According to the recollections of Alpha employees who took part in the capture, the assault groups encountered fierce resistance, but Alpha’s losses were lower (two employees) than in other departments.
During the 1991 coup d'etat, the Alpha Group, under the command of Major General Viktor Karpukhin, was tasked with seizing the Russian Parliament building and assassinating Russian leaders. The group unanimously refused to carry out this order. According to statements made by participants in the events later, they could have completed the task in 20-25 minutes, but this would have led to hundreds, if not thousands of civilian casualties.
After the collapse of the USSR and the coming to power of Boris Yeltsin (according to some Russian and foreign military sources), the unit was completely demoralized due to political manipulation. The KGB sought to use him in the 1991 plot against Mikhail Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin also wanted to use the group as an instrument of power when attacking the Government House during the constitutional crisis of 1993. A little later, Alpha and Vympel were transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a while. It was during this period that many of the group's officers resigned.
The group continued to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union and participated in the resolution of many crisis situations, such as the release of hostages at the Dubrovka Theater Center in 2002 and at a school in Beslan in 2004. Alpha fighters are now involved in operations against separatists in Chechnya and in the North Caucasus.
Known operations
1976 - Zurich, Switzerland. Exchange of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, Luis Corvalan, for the Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky.
1978 - Havana, Cuba. Ensuring the safety (together with combat swimmers of the Black Sea Fleet) of the underwater part of the motor ships "Georgia" and "Leonid Sobinov", chartered to accommodate delegates of the XI World Festival of Youth and Students.
1979 - Moscow, US Embassy. Kherson resident Yuriy Vlasenko, accompanied by the second secretary of the US Embassy R. Pringle, went to the consular section and demanded immediate travel abroad. If he refused, he threatened to detonate an improvised explosive device. Negotiations conducted with the terrorist by the commander of group “A” G.I. Zaitsev, and then by his deputy R.P. Ivon, did not lead to a positive result. By order of KGB Chairman Yu. V. Andropov, weapons were used, but the terrorist was still able to detonate the explosive device and soon died from his wounds.
1979 - New York Airport, USA. Exchange of two Soviet intelligence officers (Vladimir Enger and Rudolf Chernyaev), sentenced to long prison terms, for five Soviet dissidents.
1979 - Tashkent - Bagram Air Force Base, Kabul. Providing physical protection for the future head of the PDPA and DRA Babrak Karmal and his closest associates on the eve of the coup d'etat.
December 27, 1979 - Kabul, Afghanistan. As part of the non-standard combat group "Thunder" (24 people), members of the unit, together with fighters of the Zenit Special Forces of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (30 people), captured the Taj Beg Palace, the residence of Hafizullah Amin, in the Dar-ul-Aman area. Active support for the KGB special forces was provided by the “Muslim battalion” of the GRU and the 9th company of paratroopers of the 345th separate airborne regiment. Simultaneously with Operation Storm-333, special forces soldiers were used to capture strategically important objects located in different parts of the Afghan capital - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Air Force headquarters and the central telegraph office.
1980 - Moscow. Ensuring the safety of the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow. In addition to completing assigned tasks in the capital, combat swimmers of the group were sent to Tallinn and Estonia. Their duties included periodic inspection of the bottom of the water area where the regatta competitions took place.
1981 - Afghanistan. 15 employees of group “A” as part of “Cascade-2” provided force cover for operational search activities and collected information about gangs operating in Kabul and its environs, seized weapons from hiding places and ensured the safety of propaganda detachments, and also guarded the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary USSR F. A. Tabeeva.
1981 - Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetia. Ensuring the safety of citizens in connection with the riots that took place.
1981 - Sarapul, Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Two armed deserters from the 248th Motorized Rifle Division took 25 10th grade students from Secondary School No. 12 as hostages. Demand: issue visas and send them by plane to Germany or another capitalist country. During the actions taken, the terrorists were neutralized and none of the hostages were injured.
1983 - Tbilisi. The Tu-134A plane, flying along the Tbilisi-Leningrad route with 57 passengers and 7 crew members, was hijacked by a group of “golden youth” of 7 people. During the hijacking, the pilots, flight attendant V. Krutikova and two passengers were killed. The navigator and flight attendant were seriously injured and left disabled. The bandits' demand: set a course for Turkey. As a result of a shootout in the pilot's cabin and the organization of overloads, the pilots managed to repel the terrorist attack, killing one of them, and block the door. The commander of the ship, A. Gardaphadze, landed the plane at Tbilisi airport. On November 19, the plane was freed during a combined assault undertaken by members of Group A. None of the passengers were injured.
1985-1986 - forceful capture of twelve agents recruited by foreign intelligence services.
1986 - Ufa. Three soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regiment took possession of weapons (AKM assault rifle, RPK-47 light machine gun and Dragunov sniper rifle) and seized a taxi. On the way they shot two policemen. Frightened by what he had done, one of them, A. Konoval, disappeared; the other two headed to the airfield, where they broke into a Tu-134A plane that was landing with 76 passengers (among them eight women and six children) and 5 crew members, flying along the route Lvov-Kiev-Ufa-Nizhnevartovsk. During the capture, deserters killed 2 passengers. Terrorists' demand: go to Pakistan. The operation itself was led by G.N. Zaitsev. As a result of the assault carried out by Alpha employees, one terrorist was killed and the second was wounded.
1988 - Ordzhonikidze-Mineralnye Vody-Tel Aviv. A gang of four people seized a LAZ-687 passenger bus, in which, after an excursion to the printing house, the 4th “G” class of school No. 42 was returning with a teacher. The terrorists drove the bus to the Mineralnye Vody airport, where they were ahead of Group A, which had taken off from Moscow. During grueling negotiations, which were conducted by G.N. Zaitsev over the radio for almost seven hours, all the children, the teacher and the driver were released in exchange for an AKS-74 assault rifle with two loaded magazines, four Makarov pistols with ammunition, body armor and drugs. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, with which diplomatic relations were not maintained at that time, gave the go-ahead for the extradition of the criminals, the Il-7bT transport plane (crew commander A. Bozhko) headed for the Middle East. Upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport, the bandits were arrested. The employees of group “A”, led by G.N. Zaitsev, who arrived next, after an agreement on the non-application of capital punishment against terrorists (the Israeli side insisted on this), deported the gang to the Soviet Union.
March 30-31, 1989 - Baku, A native of Kerch, who had previously committed a major theft and was on the all-Union wanted list, reported that in the cabin of the Tu-134 (flight Voronezh-Astrakhan-Baku) there were allegedly two of his accomplices, and in the cargo compartment there was an explosive device. He threatened to operate the device by remote control if his conditions - half a million dollars and the opportunity to fly abroad - were not met. The terrorist was neutralized by Alpha employees.
May 10, 1989 - Saratov. During the walk, four criminals from detention center No. 1 of the UITU Department of Internal Affairs of the Saratov Regional Executive Committee, armed with sharpening points and “grenades” (painted dummies made of bread crumb), attacked the inspectors. They presented an ultimatum: two machine guns, four pistols with ammunition, grenades, 10 thousand rubles and a car. A condition was put forward - to ensure unhindered travel from the prison outside the region. In house No. 20 on Zhukovsky Street, the terrorists took the Prosvirins and their two-year-old daughter hostage and made new demands: a plane to fly abroad, a large sum of money, drugs and vodka. The operation to free the hostages was carried out by group “A” (senior - Hero of the Soviet Union V.F. Karpukhin, deputy - M.V. Golovatov). At 3:25 a.m., the soldiers, using special equipment, descended from the roof and literally flew into the windows of the captured apartment. At the same time, the second group knocked down the door and also broke into the apartment. The bandit, armed with a Makarov pistol, managed to fire two shots. Taking advantage of the factor of surprise, the group neutralized the bandits. None of the hostages were injured. An Alpha employee was wounded.
1990 - Azerbaijan. "Alpha" and "Vympel" together with the special forces training battalion "Vityaz" were transferred to Baku. The combined group was headed by Hero of the Soviet Union G. N. Zaitsev. Objective: neutralize the leaders of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, prevent the overthrow of the legitimate government of the republic, suppress mass riots, identify and detain persons suspected of subversive activities. Employees of group “A” ensured the safety of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan A. Vizirov.
1990 - Operation "Trap". Infiltration of underground arms dealers and capture of persons involved in this criminal business.
1990 - Yerevan, Armenian SSR. Alpha fighters took part in neutralizing a particularly dangerous armed group - the Gray gang. During the operation, three criminals were killed, two were wounded, and six were detained.
1990 - Sukhumi, Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. 22 employees of group “A” under the command of V.F. Karpukhin, as well as 31 soldiers of the special forces training battalion of the separate special purpose motorized rifle division named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky were urgently transferred to Sukhumi, where 75 criminals took hostages and a temporary detention center. During the negotiations, the leaders put forward a demand: to provide them with an RAF minibus so that they could travel outside the detention center to the mountains. When the armed bandits loaded into the minibus with the hostages, the capture team began an operation to neutralize them. At the same time, two groups began storming the detention center. In a matter of seconds, the criminals in the minibus were neutralized and the hostages were freed. The bandits in the detention center also surrendered after a short resistance. During the operation, an Alpha employee and one of the Vityaz fighters were slightly wounded. This special operation has no analogues in the domestic and world practice of using special forces units to free hostages captured by bandits in institutions of the penitentiary system.
1991 - Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR. On the evening of January 11, 65 officers of group “A”, led by deputy group commander M.V. Golovatov and department commander Lieutenant Colonel E.N. Chudesnov, were sent to the capital of the Lithuanian SSR. In Vilnius, the unit was tasked with taking control of the Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting, a television tower and a radio transmission center. The buildings were surrounded by numerous supporters of the Lithuanian Sąjūdis movement. Group “A” took control of all three objects and held them until the internal troops arrived. During the seizure of the building of the Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting, Lieutenant Viktor Viktorovich Shatskikh was killed.
1991 - Moscow, Vasilyevsky Spusk. A criminal armed with a knife captured 7-year-old Masha Ponomarenko on an Ikarus excursion bus that left Komsomolskaya Square (the area of three train stations). State Duma deputy Aman Tuleyev took part in the negotiations. As a result of a lightning-fast operation, the terrorist was neutralized.
1991 - Moscow. By order of the KGB chairman, employees of group “A” blocked the dacha in the village of Arkhangelskoye-2 near Moscow, in which the President of Russia B.I. Yeltsin and people from his entourage were located. Subsequently, following the orders of the leadership, they carried out reconnaissance around the White House. On August 20, the commander of group “A”, Hero of the Soviet Union V.F. Karpukhin, was verbally tasked with seizing the White House and interning the government and leadership of Russia. For this purpose, Alpha was assigned the Vympel group and the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was impossible to take the White House without heavy casualties among the civilian population. This was the main reason for the refusal of the officers of Group A to participate in the assault.
1992 - Moscow, Vnukovo airport. The release of 347 passengers on the Mineralnye Vody-Moscow flight, captured by the lone terrorist Zakharyev.
1993 - Moscow, White House. Employees of group “A” (senior - group commander Hero of the Soviet Union G.I. Zaitsev), together with Vympel fighters, took part in resolving the most acute political crisis, which led to mass acts of disobedience and hostilities in the center of the Russian capital. Refusing to storm the White House, Alpha representatives, on their own initiative, entered into negotiations with the leadership of the Supreme Council and the opposition, which were successful, and then ensured the evacuation of people from the burning building. While rescuing a wounded soldier near the walls of the White House, junior lieutenant Gennady Nikolaevich Sergeev was mortally wounded - he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
1993 - Rostov-on-Don-Krasnodar-Mineralnye Vody-Makhachkala. Four terrorists took hostage a teacher and 15 students of the 9th grade “B” of secondary school No. 25 in Rostov-on-Don. 53 Alpha employees, led by commander Hero of the Soviet Union G.N. Zaitsev, flew to Rostov-on-Don on a Tu-134 plane. By the time they arrived, the bandits, having released three hostages, were already in the Mi-8 helicopter. In the evening the helicopter landed in Krasnodar. Following them, Alpha landed on the An-12. On the night of December 24, the helicopter took off, heading for Mineralnye Vody. Following him, a helicopter with special forces flew out, while the main part of the Alpha went there by An-12 plane. On the evening of December 25, the criminals released one of the hostages. After handing over the money, they released the teacher and seven schoolgirls. The bandits refused to release the remaining hostages - four schoolchildren, a bus driver and two pilots. On the evening of December 27, the bandits freed three schoolchildren and a bus driver and took off, ordering the pilots to head for Ichkeria. However, the pilots, risking their lives, directed the car towards Makhachkala. A helicopter carrying criminals landed on the northern outskirts of Makhachkala. The bandits split into pairs and tried to hide in the forest belt. However, the area where they were located was cordoned off by special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, who soon neutralized all the criminals.
1994 - Makhachkala-Bachi-Yurt. In the area of the village of Kinzhal, Stavropol Territory, four armed bandits seized an Ikarus excursion bus with schoolchildren, their parents and teachers. The hostages were 33 bus passengers and three teenagers who were captured by bandits on the way. On the same day, Group A, led by commander Hero of the Soviet Union G.N. Zaitsev, received an order to urgently fly from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody. The same order was given to the Krasnodar branch of Alpha. In the evening, 64 special forces soldiers were flown to Minvody. The general management of the operation was carried out by the commander of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Colonel General A. Kulikov. On May 27, the helicopter took off and headed for Ichkeria. Following him, six helicopters took off, carrying 38 Alpha fighters, 24 employees of the GUOP Ministry of Internal Affairs and 20 special forces soldiers. As a result of a lack of fuel, the flight route was changed and a landing was made in the area of the village of Bachi-Yurt. The fighters under the command of Alpha officer Lieutenant Colonel A.E. Starikov began pursuit. Helicopters monitored the forest area from the air. An hour later the terrorists were neutralized. Only one bandit managed to escape, taking away two machine guns and $47,400; a year later he was arrested and convicted.
1995-1996 - Chechnya. Employees of group “A” took part in the fighting in Grozny, and were recruited for night reinforcement as mobile anti-terrorism groups and additional security for the Government House and the FSB building in the Chechen capital. They also ensured the personal safety of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation O.I. Lobov, who was in the combat zone, captured armed bandits, and accompanied convoys with classified communications equipment, ammunition and food.
1995 - Budennovsk. A well-armed gang of Sh. Basayev burst into the city in two KamAZ trucks. The militants captured the city hospital with medical staff and patients, including women in labor and mothers with infants. On the morning of June 17, Alpha employees stormed the hospital. Despite the difficult conditions, the assault was successful; the terrorists suffered heavy losses, which forced them to change their plans. Sh. Basayev contacted the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation V. Chernomyrdin by mobile phone. Taking with them more than two hundred people, the militants boarded buses and headed towards Chechnya in a column. Not far from the mountain village of Zandak, all the hostages were freed. As a result of the bandit action in Budennovsk, 130 civilians, 18 police officers, 18 military personnel were killed, including three Alpha employees - Major Vladimir Vladimirovich Solovov, lieutenants Dmitry Valerievich Ryabinkin and Dmitry Yuryevich Burdyaev. Over 400 people were injured of varying degrees of severity. About 2,000 people were held hostage.
1995 - Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan. Terrorists hijacked a passenger bus heading along the Makhachkala-Nalchik route. Some time later, the terrorists released one woman from the bus, who said that nine men, seven women and two children were on bail. The terrorists holding the hostages were neutralized by special forces. The eldest is the commander of Alpha, Lieutenant General A. V. Gusev.
1995 - Moscow, Vasilyevsky Spusk. Just outside the Kremlin, a masked man armed with a Makarov pistol entered a bus carrying 25 South Korean tourists and declared them hostages. If the conditions were not met, the criminal threatened to blow up the bus. At 20:00, FSB special forces officers took up their starting positions. The eldest is the commander of Alpha, Lieutenant General A.V. Gusev. Lengthy negotiations were held with the criminal, in which Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov participated. At about 10 p.m., the terrorist released all the detained women and three men. At 22.38, at the command of the head of the operation, FSB Director M.I. Barsukov, the assault began. The terrorist opened fire with a pistol and was killed. None of the hostages were injured.
1996 - village of Pervomaiskoye, Republic of Dagestan. Detachments led by Satshan Raduev, Khunkar Pasha Israpilov and Turpal-Ali Atgeriev made a foray into the territory of Dagestan, attacking the local Airfield and the military camp of the battalion of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The main blow was inflicted on the helicopter base of Russian troops near the city of Kizlyar - two Mi-8 helicopters and one tanker were destroyed. The militants entered the city, where they captured a hospital and maternity ward, as well as a nearby 9-story residential building. About 2,000 people were taken hostage. On January 11, the terrorists, having released most of the hostages, left for Ichkeria on provided buses, using more than a hundred people as human shields. The column was stopped by federal forces near the village of Pervomaiskoye. On January 13-15, special forces, using artillery and helicopters, stormed the village, trying to free the hostages. The operation to destroy the terrorists was completed on January 18, but most of the bandits broke out of the encirclement and went to Chechnya. In Pervomaisky, fighters of group “A” (the senior commander of “Alpha”, Lieutenant General A.V. Gusev), together with “Vityaz”, carried out reconnaissance in force on the south-eastern outskirts of the village, identified and suppressed enemy firing points, and provided fire cover for units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs , provided medical assistance and evacuated the wounded from the battlefield. After the completion of the mine clearance operation, two Alpha employees died - Major Andrei Viktorovich Kiselev and Major Viktor Mikhailovich Vorontsov.
1997 - Moscow, Swedish Embassy. A terrorist armed with a pistol and a grenade captured Swedish trade representative Jan-Olof Nuström in his car. As a result of negotiations, he was released, and his place was taken by Colonel A.N. Savelyev, who offered himself as a hostage. After he suffered an acute heart attack, which ultimately led to death, it was decided to immediately begin the active phase of the operation. As a result of the shootout, the criminal was killed. Posthumously, the chief of staff of the Alpha group, Colonel Anatoly Nikolaevich Savelyev, was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
2000 - Novogroznensky, Chechnya. The capture of Salman Raduev, the leader of the “army of Dzhokhar Dudayev”, was carried out by employees of group “A” as part of the combined operational-combat group of the FSB Special Purpose Center. Thanks to the coordinated actions of intelligence and special forces, the guards of “terrorist No. 2” were disarmed, and he himself was arrested.
2001 -Alkhan-Kala, Chechnya. Alpha employees participated in a full-scale special operation to destroy the gang of one of the bloodiest field commanders, Arbi Barayev, who was distinguished by manic cruelty and specialized in kidnapping and slave trading. Price employees, intelligence officers from the 46th brigade of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and units of the Ministry of Defense were involved in the operation. As a result of a short but brutal battle, the bandit and his guards were destroyed. In this case, Private Evgeny Zolotukhin died (posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia).
July 11, 2001 - Mayrtup, Chechnya. The destruction of one of Khattab's closest henchmen - the field commander Abu Umar, who led in the 1990s. a training camp for training saboteurs and bombers on the outskirts of Serzhen-Yurt at the so-called Caucasus Institute. The victim was one of the organizers of the explosions of residential buildings in September 1999 in Moscow and Volgodonsk and many other terrorist attacks. The initial search of the house where the terrorist was hiding yielded nothing. The Alpha fighters were already ready to move to another courtyard, when one of them glanced at the step of a wooden staircase that seemed suspicious to him. The special forces took up positions around the house. When one of the officers tore off the floorboard, machine gun fire came from under the stairs. An Alpha employee was wounded, but his comrades destroyed Abu Umar, who had holed up in a hideout. A big role in the success of the operation was played by the fighters of the “Rus” detachment, who in two groups landed in a village in the immediate vicinity of the place where the bandit was located and did not allow him to escape into the mountains.
2001 - Mineralnye Vody. Terrorist Sultan Said Ediev, a Chechen by nationality, seized the Ikarus bus en route Nevinno-Myssk-Stavropol. The terrorist demanded the release of more than thirty passengers in exchange for five criminals convicted in 1994 of hijacking a passenger plane in Mineralnye Vody. In the breast pocket of his shirt, the terrorist placed a glass with an F-1 live grenade with the pin pulled out and inserted with the fuse down. In addition, wires were seen leading to a belt on his stomach. As it turned out, there was one and a half kilograms of cast TNT. As a result of a flawlessly executed sniper attack, the terrorist was destroyed. During the storming of the bus, none of the hostages were injured.
October 23-26, 2002 - Moscow, Dubrovka Theater Center. A group of terrorists led by M. Barayev, having gathered in Moscow, took about 800 spectators, actors and workers of the Dubrovka Theater Center hostage. The bandits demanded an end to hostilities in Chechnya and threatened to bring down the building using powerful explosive devices placed in the hall. Thanks to the actions taken, even before the active phase, several dozen people from among the hostages were rescued by FSB special forces. The criminals behaved extremely aggressively, and several people in the hall died at their hands. In order to avoid mass casualties, it was decided to conduct a special operation using the FSB Special Purpose Center. As a result of the operation, 41 terrorists were killed, including the leader of the group, Movsar Barayev, and more than 750 hostages, including 60 foreigners, were freed. More than 120 people could not be saved.
April 8, 2004 - Shelkovskaya village, Chechnya. Elimination of Khattab's student and one of Sh. Basayev's closest henchmen - Abu-Bakar Visimbaev. Among other things, this field commander was responsible for recruiting “black widows” to carry out the action on Dubrovka. During the operation, Alpha employee Major Yuri Nikolaevich Danilin died. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
2004 - Beslan. Well-armed terrorists of “Colonel” Ortskhoev, on the orders of the terrorist leaders, captured over 1,300 hostages in the building of school No. 1 on September 1 and shot some of them. In total, as a result of this monstrous terrorist attack, about 350 people died, half of them were children. Over five hundred were wounded. During the assault by Alpha fighters (senior - head of department "A" V.N. Vinokurov) 31 terrorists were destroyed and one bandit was captured alive. On September 3 at 13:05 two powerful explosions were heard in the school building. Showing exceptional courage and heroism, the price employees began to save the hostages under bullets, covering them with themselves, and only then began to methodically destroy the terrorists who had settled in the school, who offered fierce resistance.
As a result of the battle, all the bandits were destroyed on the spot. While rescuing the hostages, three Alpha employees died - Major Alexander Valentinovich Perov, Major Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Malyarov, warrant officer Oleg Vyacheslavovich Loskov, as well as seven Vympel fighters.
2005 - Tolstoy-Yurt, Chechnya. Destruction of the leader of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov. The operation to detain the separatist leader, as well as his inner circle, was planned long and carefully. At the beginning of March 2005, information was received that made it possible to determine the address where the terrorist and his guards were hiding. Despite all the tricks, the bunker with the terrorist leader was discovered. The terrorists inside were asked to surrender, to which they responded with a categorical refusal. After which the operational combat groups carried out an event to detain them.
2006 - Khasavyurt, Republic of Dagestan. Elimination of the representative of Al-Qaeda and the leader of all foreign fighters, one of the leaders and financiers of the “jihad” in Chechnya and adjacent regions, Abu Haws. Four militants were killed along with him. The force phase of the operation began with the fact that at dawn one of the groups deliberately revealed itself. The two militants were immediately killed by snipers. A shot was fired at the gate from a grenade launcher, and after this an assault group burst in in an armored KamAZ vehicle. The surviving bandits took up defensive positions. They rejected the offer to surrender. Half an hour later it was all over.
Organization
Initially the group consisted of 30 people.
From November 10, 1977 - 52, from January 10, 1980 - 122, from December 21, 1981 - 222 people.
On June 30, 1984, by order of the KGB chairman No. 0085, the first regional division of group “A” was formed - the 7th department in Khabarovsk (21 employees). On March 3, 1990, by order No. 0031 it was deployed to the 7th group, and the 10th group (Kiev), 11th group (Minsk), 12th group (Alma-Ata), 13th group were created (Krasnodar) and 14th group (Sverdlovsk). The regional group had a staff of 45 people.
After the collapse of the USSR, the 10th, 11th and 12th groups went to Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, respectively, and served as the basis for the formation of national special forces units.
Currently, Directorate “A” is part of the Special Purpose Center of the FSB of Russia and includes:
- headquarters;
- five departments (one department is constantly on a business trip to Chechnya);
- regional departments and special forces;
- organizational group.
Losses
Volkov Dmitry Vasilievich, captain. He died on December 27, 1979 during the operation to storm Amin’s palace. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner (posthumously).
Zudin Gennady Egorovich, captain. He died on December 27, 1979 during the operation to storm Amin’s palace. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner (posthumously).
Shatskikh Viktor Viktorovich, lieutenant, Died on January 13, 1991 during a combat operation in Vilnius. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner (posthumously).
Kravchuk Viktor Dmitrievich, senior lieutenant. Employee of the regional division (Ekaterinburg). Died on August 1, 1993, guarding the head of the Provisional Administration in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. Victor Polyanichko. Awarded the Order "For Personal Courage" (posthumously).
Sergeev Gennady Nikolaevich, junior lieutenant. Died on October 4, 1993 during an operation near the building of the Supreme Soviet of Russia in Moscow. Awarded the title of Hero of Russia (posthumously).
Solovov Vladimir Viktorovich, major. Died on June 17, 1995 during an operation in Budennovsk. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Burdyaev Dmitry Yuryevich, lieutenant. Died on June 17, 1995 during an operation in Budennovsk. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Ryabinkin Dmitry Valerievich, lieutenant. Died on June 17, 1995 during an operation in Budennovsk. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Kiselev Andrey Viktorovich, major. Died on January 18, 1996 during an operation in the village of Pervomaisky. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Vorontsov Viktor Mikhailovich, major. Died on January 18, 1996 during an operation in the village of Pervomaisky. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Demin Alexander Vladimirovich, warrant officer. Employee of the regional division (Krasnodar). Died on May 29, 1997 during an operation to apprehend a particularly dangerous criminal. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Savelyev Anatoly Nikolaevich, colonel, chief of staff of department “A”. Died on December 19, 1997 during the operation to free a Swedish diplomat. Awarded the title of Hero of Russia (posthumously).
Shchekochikhin Nikolai Nikolaevich, captain. Died on March 30, 2000 in Chechnya during a special operation. Awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).
Kurdibansky Boris Borisovich, major. Died on February 12, 2002 in the village of Starye Atagi in the North Caucasus.
Perov, Alexander Valentinovich, major. Died on September 3, 2004 during a special operation in Beslan. Awarded the title of Hero of Russia (posthumously).
Malyarov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, major. Died on September 3, 2004 during a special operation in Beslan. Presented to the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, fourth degree (posthumously).
Loskov Oleg Vyacheslavovich, warrant officer. Died on September 3, 2004 during a special operation in Beslan.
Kholban Ruslan Konstantinovich, captain. Died on May 13, 2009 on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan. Awarded the Suvorov and Zhukov medals, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th degree with swords (posthumously).
Shatunov Maxim Yurievich, major. Died on July 7, 2009 in the Chechen Republic. Awarded the Order of Courage, Suvorov medals, “For saving the dead.”
Unit commanders
1974-1977 - Bubenin Vitaly Dmitrievich (retired major general. Hero of the Soviet Union). The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded for courage and heroism shown in defending the USSR border on Damansky Island in March 1969.
1977 - Yvon Robert Petrovich (retired colonel).
1977-1988 - Zaitsev Gennady Nikolaevich (retired major general. Hero of the Soviet Union).
1988-1991 - Karpukhin Viktor Fedorovich (reserve major general. Hero of the Soviet Union).
1991-1992 - Mikhail Vasilievich Golovatov (reserve colonel).
1992-1995 - Zaitsev Gennady Nikolaevich.
1995-1998 - Alexander Vladimirovich Gusev (reserve lieutenant general).
1998-1999 - Miroshnichenko Alexander Ivanovich (Lieutenant General).
1999-2003 - Andreev Valentin Grigorievich.
Since 2003 - Major General Vladimir Nikolaevich Vinokurov.
The center is part of the Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and Combating Terrorism.
The head is Lieutenant General Alexander Tikhonov, before him - Major General Valery Andreev.
Structure:
- Control "A"
- Control "B"
- Directorate (formerly Service) of Special Operations (MTR)
The base of the Special Forces Center is located in Balashikha-2, military unit No. 35690. Contact numbers: 523-63-43, 523-90-60. The Alpha group training center has been called “Priboy” for twenty-five years. ().
Below is brief information about the losses, problems and combat path of all three Directorates.
From a letter that came to Shchekochikhin’s department in Novaya Gazeta from the fighters of group “A” (March 2004):
- “At the end of last year, the chief of staff of the TsSN, Lieutenant General A. M., was forced to retire from the center - a legendary personality, a man who went through the path from ensign to general in group “A”, through Afghanistan and Chechnya. One of the last operations , which he led - the capture of Salman Raduev. By the way, after the capture of Raduev, the headquarters colonel, who was the first to report by telephone to Moscow about the successful completion of the operation, received the star of the Hero of Russia, and M., the man who personally carried out the capture, was awarded a medal.
Many of our military officers, whose contracts expire this year, are leaving for civilian life, not wanting to serve under the command of “parquet” generals. With the arrival of Colonel V. (the current commander of group “A” - Ed.), his former colleagues, their children, and relatives followed him to us.
And due to the fact that professionals began to leave the TsSN, they began to take us according to the limit.
For this purpose, a third dormitory is already being built on the basis of the center in B. After signing the contract, soldiers are awarded the rank of ensign and are first temporarily and then permanently registered in Moscow. For the guys from the provinces, this is the ultimate dream. For our leadership, such people are very convenient; they look their bosses in the mouth and carry out the most ridiculous, illiterate orders.”
From a letter sent to Yu. Shchekochikhin in Novaya Gazeta from the fighters of group “A” (TsSN) (July 2003):
- “At the headquarters of the FSB TsSN, led by General Tikhonov, there is a legendary figure in the center - Colonel S. By profession, this gentleman is the main sniper of the center. With a modest officer’s salary, while still a captain, he managed to build a three-story cottage outside the city with a whole fleet of luxury foreign cars , in his garage there are about five cars and several motorcycles from the best Japanese companies. Calculate how much just one motorcycle can cost. Together with members of one of the criminal groups, he owns his own car service center and restaurant in the center of Moscow. At some point, the prosecutor's office had questions, but thanks to the patronage of higher powers in the leadership of the FSB, all problems were resolved.
Now - about one of the sponsors of the FSB TsSN. Once upon a time, a modest officer Eduard Bendersky served in the center. He retired with the rank of senior lieutenant. In civilian life, he created a private security company (private security company) “Vympel-A” under the “roof” of our center. It is personally supervised by our General Tikhonov.
Bendersky drives a Gelendvagen jeep and has both a special ticket and a cover certificate. Almost all banquets, concerts, and competitions are paid for by his private security company. Mr. Bendersky himself regularly comes to the sauna to take a steam bath, despite the fact that this sauna is located on the territory of a special security facility of the Central Social Security Center. He prefers to steam in the company of the center's management.
Now let’s talk about something more painful.
Taking advantage of the fact that we are a secret agency, all appointments to leadership positions are made in secret from everyone, including us.
Recently, Colonel V. was appointed commander of the "Alpha" group. "Alpha" is a combat unit, one hundred percent of our personnel went through Chechnya, many went through Afghanistan, participated in combat operations, and our commander became a man who spent his entire life in various positions in the department personnel, is a professional clerk. His last position was the head of the personnel department of the Center for Social Security. This is a person who has no experience of combat operations, not even simple experience of operational work.
And this is already the second commander imposed on us from the outside. His predecessor was also a personnel officer. He came to us as a colonel, received a general - and rushed higher.
A similar situation is in the Vympel group. Group commander U. spent his entire service in the personnel department.
All these appointments only lead to an even greater outflow of truly competent military officers from the bodies. What remains are mostly opportunists who look their bosses in the face.”
See also on "Agentura":
Special forces: Special forces of the security agencies of the USSR and Russia Interview with the deputy head of the operational-combat department of Directorate "B" of the Special Purpose Center (the famous "Vympel") S.I. Shavrina. During the storming of the theater on Dubrovka, he commanded one of the assault groupsDirectorate "A" TsSN FSB of Russia (Alpha Group)
Chief - Major General Vladimir Vinokurov, assistant - participant in the liquidation of the terrorist attack on Dubrovka, captain 1st rank - O. Pilshchikov ()Created on July 29, 1974 on the initiative of the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yu. Andropov and the Head of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR General Alexei Beschastny. Until 1985, the top-secret Alpha unit was under the personal subordination of the General Secretary and the KGB leadership. The full name of the unit until August 1991 was Group “A” of the ODP service of the 7th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. Initially, the number of employees did not exceed 40 people. It was staffed mainly by USSR KGB officers who had undergone special training and were fit for health reasons to serve in the Airborne Forces.
The intended purpose of group "A" is the fight against terrorism and other "extremist" actions that are associated with the taking of hostages, vehicles, and government facilities on the territory of the USSR and abroad.
By the time the USSR collapsed, there were about 500 officers. (Branches in Kyiv, Minsk, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Alma-Ata). At the moment, about 250 people serve in Moscow, not counting three regional divisions (Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Khabarovsk).
After the collapse of the USSR, group "A" was part of the Main Directorate of Security (GUO) of the Russian Federation. Among other tasks, "A" until 1993 provided security for the President of the Russian Federation. In 1993, Alpha refused to storm the White House. In August 1995, after M. Barsukov headed the FSB of the Russian Federation, the Alpha group was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate of the Russian Federation to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.
In 1998, Putin, when he was director of the FSB, remembered Alpha. He issued an order on the “reorganization of departments “A” and “B”. According to it, “in order to reduce redundant structures” in “Alpha” and “Vympel” the headquarters and management were disbanded, as well as support units - snipers, explosives, communications. The remaining ones alone, the combat groups were consolidated into an “anti-terrorist center”, the brainchild of Savostyanov, renamed the department for combating terrorism. At the same time, reports emerged that as a result of the reorganization, about a third of the officers of the Alpha and Vympel special groups were forced to leave the service because the state did not have funds for the maintenance of highly qualified specialists in the fight against terrorism.
Leaders:
- From 1974 to 1978, the leader of the group was Hero of the Soviet Union (for Damansky Island), Colonel Vitaly Bubenin. (From border guards. In 1978 he returned to PoV)
- From 1978 to 1988, the commander of group “A” was Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union Gennady Nikolaevich Zaitsev.
- From 1988 to August 1991 - Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Fedorovich Karpukhin
- From 1991 to 1992 - Colonel Mikhail Golovatov.
- From 1992 to March 1995 - again Gennady Zaitsev.
- From March 1995 to 1999, the group was headed by Major General Alexander Gusev
- From 1999 to 2000 - Major General Alexander Miroshnichenko
- Currently - Vladimir Vinokurov
Stock:
- December 1979 - "A" employees take part in the storming of the Presidential Palace of Afghan President Hafizullah Amin. In three columns, in armored personnel carriers, the attackers broke through to the palace along a bombarded road. Then the attackers burst into the palace under heavy fire. Result - Afghan President H. Amin was killed. Four attackers were killed, including two Alpha employees: Dmitry Zudin and Gennady Volkov.
- 12/18/1981-Sarapul-hostage-taking at school. Two armed criminals kidnapped twenty-five students.
- 02.031982 - neutralization of gr. Ushakova on the territory of the US Embassy, armed with an improvised explosive device
- November 18-19, 1983 - hijacking of a Tu-134 aircraft in Tbilisi.
- 09/20/1988 - release of passengers of the Tu-134 aircraft captured by internal troops
- 1988 - Yakshiyants’ group seizes a bus with schoolchildren in Mineralnye Vody. Group "A" conducts Operation "Thunder": at the invitation of the Israeli government, "A" "met" the terrorists in Tel Aviv and "returned" them to Moscow.
- 08/13/1990 - operation to free hostages captured in the detention center in Sukhumi
- January 1991 - Group "A" takes part in the capture of the Vilnius television center. Employee “A” Viktor Shatskikh died during the capture. According to the former deputy head of "A" Sergei Goncharov, Shatskikh was shot in the back "from the crowd."
- August 1991 - during the coup d'etat, an unofficial meeting of Alpha fighters took place, at which they decided not to participate in the storming of the RSFSR parliament. Major General Viktor Karpukhin, commander of Group A, denied versions of the participation of his subordinates in the events in Moscow and Foros. He stated that “he personally did not receive any orders from Kryuchkov and, accordingly, did not carry them out. The group worked as usual.”
- October 4, 1993 - the Alpha group receives an order to storm the House of Soviets of the Russian Federation ("White House"). "Alpha" arrived at the White House and entered into negotiations with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces and the defenders of the database. “Senior Lieutenant Seryozha,” who arrived at the meeting with the deputies, promised to take out all the people sitting in the DB and ensure their safety. He also stated that “it is not their place to deal with the political aspects of what is happening.” During the assault, employee “A” Gennady Sergeev, who was carrying a wounded man out of the building, was killed. According to the Alpha fighters, the bullet that hit the Alpha fighter between his helmet and body armor was fired from the building opposite the White House.
- June 17, 1995 - Group A takes part in the storming of the city hospital in Budenovsk, in which terrorists led by Sh. Basayev held more than 1 thousand people. During the storming of the hospital building, employees of “A”, officers Dmitry Burdyaev, Dmitry Ryabinkin and Vladimir Solovov, were killed, fifteen Alpha fighters were wounded. Commander “A” A. Gusev regards the actions of his unit as a victory over the terrorists, because after the actions of the unit, Basayev “released 300 hostages without any negotiations, in fact, a turning point came in the situation, peace negotiations became possible” (MN, N44, June 25 - July 2, 1995). According to Gusev, the enemy lost approx. during the operation. 20 people killed.
- September 20, 1995 - operation to free hostages captured on a bus. The terrorists demanded a helicopter to Makhachkala.
- October 1995 - fighters from Group A neutralized a terrorist who had seized a bus with passengers on Vasilyevsky Spusk in Moscow. The terrorist was killed during the assault.
The group's veterans' association is headed by former deputy group commander Sergei Goncharov. Press Secretary of the Association - Dmitry Lysenkov.
Alpha traditions:
- Goncharov: “Every year on December 27, we all come to the graves of all our fallen guys and celebrate Remembrance Day. The unit suffered the greatest losses in Budennovsk and Kizlyar. Five officers died there.”
Directorate "B" (formerly "Vympel")
The most famous foreign intelligence force of the USSR KGB was the Vympel group. Created on August 19, 1981 for special operations, the Vympel group was part of the “S” directorate (illegal intelligence) of the First Main Directorate (PGU) of the KGB of the USSR. Organizationally, Vympel was divided into squads (in combat conditions - groups) of 10 to 20 people.
The predecessors of Vympel were the Zenit and Cascade detachments. The official name is “Separate training center of the KGB of the USSR”. Over the 20 years (completion this year) of the unit’s history, Vympel fighters carried out special operations outside the USSR (Afghanistan) and accumulated unique experience in reconnaissance and sabotage work, fought terrorists and freed hostages .
By order of the chairman of the KGB of the USSR, the group was created by the head of department “C”, Major General Drozdov Yuri Ivanovich. He was also her mentor. The first commander of the "Vympel" was the Hero of the Soviet Union (for Amin's palace) Kozlov Evald Grigorievich. Vympel consisted of about a thousand people. The fighter knew at least one foreign language and the peculiarities of the country where he was to work.
Vympel fighters mastered light diving training at the 17th Special Forces brigade in Ochakov, studied shooting with Nicaraguan instructors, and underwent training in Cuba. We learned mountain training, trained in flying SLLA (ultra-light aircraft) and learned a lot more. According to Yu.I. Drozdov, previously training one Vympel fighter cost 100,000 rubles a year. It took up to five years to prepare. “Vympel” was given a small territory on the twenty-fifth kilometer of the Gorky Highway, on the territory of the 101st intelligence school of the KGB of the USSR near Balashikha near Moscow in 1981. Now this is the territory of the FSO.
The training of the first groups was completed by the beginning of 1982. And “Vympel” received its baptism of fire in Afghanistan.
According to the deputy head of the Department for Combating Terrorism, Lieutenant General Vladimir Kozlov (former Vympelovka), at that time the unit’s work was carried out in three directions: operational (obtaining intelligence information), operational-combat (implementation of the received intelligence information and training of special forces from the Afghan army) for joint participation in combat operations) and conducting “operational games” with the aim of pitting the leaders of enemy armed formations against each other.
In peacetime, the unit was used to find weak points in the protection of strategic facilities. Saboteurs were sent to nuclear power plants and military factories with the aim of “seizing objects and carrying out sabotage.” At the same time, the security of the facilities was notified in advance about “the possible penetration of saboteurs for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks.” Some of the fighters were specially “exposed” so that the rest would carry out the task in the absence of group members or any links of the operation.
But nevertheless, all the tasks without exception were completed by the Vympelov team with a “5”. They managed to penetrate the Arzamas-16 nuclear facility, where nuclear weapons were produced and stored. They were able to determine the schedule and time of passage of a railway missile complex with nuclear warheads near one of the largest Russian cities.
When performing all these operations, the Vympelovites simulated the laying of demolition charges in the most vulnerable places of the “attacked” objects. With the beginning of the collapse of the USSR, Vympel began to be used on its territory. The fighters visited all the hot spots of the former Union: Baku, Yerevan, Nakhichevan, Karabakh, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Chechnya, Moscow.
In 1991, after the putsch, Vympel came under the control of the Russian Ministry of Security. Since May 1991, the group was headed by Boris Petrovich Beskov (in the KGB system from the age of 12 - from the moment of enrollment in the Suvorov School at the USSR Ministry of State Security in 1952, he served in the 9th Directorate of the KGB, in the First Main Directorate, worked abroad. Fought in Afghanistan, in the "Cascade" group, has military awards).
In 1993, the group became part of the Presidential Security Service. Vympel was reoriented to new tasks: liberating nuclear facilities from terrorists, fighting drug trafficking, armed criminal groups or illegal armed groups. The Vympelov team had to work out options for various operations to liberate Russian nuclear power plants, ships with nuclear power plants, and nuclear weapons production centers from terrorists.
In July 1993, the nuclear icebreaker "Siberia", conditionally captured by terrorists, was attacked by Vympelov's team of 25 people from three directions simultaneously: from land, from under water and from the air. Within seven minutes after the start of the operation, the command was informed of its successful completion. The destruction of terrorists was practiced at the Beloyarsk, Kalinin and Kursk nuclear power plants, the Novopolotsk petrochemical plant and in Arzamas-16.
During the October events, Vympel, like Alpha, refused to storm parliament. At this time, the unit was headed by Lieutenant General Dmitry Gerasimov. As a result, the unit was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There "Vympel" received the name "Vega". Out of several hundred people, fifty agreed to wear police stripes. Having learned about the collapse of Vympel, representatives of the largest security agency in the United States came to Moscow and offered a job. The special forces refused and decided that they could find a use for themselves here too. Some went to the foreign intelligence service, helping to smuggle our people out of hot spots in Africa. Five work for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Twenty returned to the FSK, to the newly created Directorate of Special Operations (now TsSN FSB).
Only in August 1995, by presidential decree, Vympel was returned to the Department for Combating Terrorism under the FSB of Russia. Today the legal successor of Vympel is Directorate B of the FSB Department for Combating Terrorism.
During the existence of Vympel, several dozen people died: mainly in Afghanistan, and then in operations inside the USSR. During the events near the White House in 1993, a sniper killed Gennady Sergeev, an Alpha fighter who had previously served in Vympel. The last person killed, Andrei Chirikhin, died in Chechnya in 2000. Meanwhile, Vladimir Kozlov, at a press conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Vympel, said “in the entire history of its existence, the unit has lost only four employees. One died in Afghanistan in Kandahar, one died in August 1996 while defending a FSB dormitory in Chechnya, and another two were lost in this Chechen campaign."
Currently, the bulk of the Vympel group, according to its former chief Anatoly Isaikin, consists of people from counterintelligence who were previously involved in intelligence. They are all well trained, but each has a specialization. On average, training a fighter in an anti-terrorism group takes five years. Vladimir Kozlov also noted that the salary of employees of the special unit is higher than that of ordinary FSB employees - six thousand rubles plus bonuses for special operations.
Video on the topic
Special purpose units of the Russian Federation- special units and units of various special bodies (special services) of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces and the police (militia), as well as anti-terrorist units designed to neutralize and destroy terrorist organizations, conduct special events deep behind enemy lines, sabotage and perform other complex combat missions .
Article 2., Section I., Law of the USSR “On Compulsory Military Service”, Approved by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, August 13, 1930, No. 42/253b
On October 24, 1950, Directive No. ORG/2/395/832 of the USSR Minister of War was signed, marked “Secret”. It marked the beginning of the creation of special purpose units (SP) ( deep reconnaissance or special-purpose reconnaissance) for operations deep behind enemy lines. In the autumn of the same year, 46 separate Special Forces companies of 120 people each (units) were created in all military districts. Later, special forces formations were created (a brigade for each military district or fleet and a centrally subordinate brigade). If NATO countries begin military operations against the USSR, units of special forces units and formations will be the first to come to the defense. The reconnaissance groups were to appear in close proximity to command posts and other strategic objects of the armed forces. Their task was to: conduct reconnaissance, and, if necessary, destroy control posts, missile launchers, strategic aircraft, nuclear submarines, disrupt communications, energy supplies, destroy transport communications, sow panic and bring chaos to the military and government administration of the aggressor countries . Units of units and formations of the GRU Special Forces played a huge role in the Afghan war, in Tajikistan and in operations on the territory of the Chechen Republic.
Special forces of the Russian Armed Forces
- 42nd naval reconnaissance point (Russky Island, Novy Dzhigit Bay, near Vladivostok, Pacific Fleet);
- 420th naval reconnaissance point (Zverosovkhoz settlement, near Murmansk, Northern Fleet);
- 431st naval reconnaissance point (Tuapse, Black Sea Fleet);
- 561st naval reconnaissance point (Parusnoye village, near Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region, Baltic Fleet).
Airborne special forces
- 45th Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov Order of Alexander Nevsky Special Purpose Brigade. Sf. military unit 28337 Cuban.
Special forces of the FSB of Russia
- Directorate “A” “Alpha” TsSN FSB of Russia
- Directorate “B” “Vympel” TsSN FSB of Russia
- Directorate “S” “Sigma” TsSN FSB of Russia
- Special Forces (SSN) TsSN FSB of Russia in Essentuki
- Special Forces (SSN) TsSN FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea - two units
Regional Special Purpose Departments (ROSN):
Initially, in the 1990s, ROSN were created as 12 units throughout Russia called Regional Special Operations Departments (ROSO). The tasks are the fight against terrorism, the release of hostages and the power support of counterintelligence operations of the FSB.
- Appointments (ROSN) "GRAD" St. Petersburg
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Khabarovsk
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Vladivostok
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Irkutsk
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN) Nizhny-Novgorod (second department in Sarov)
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Yekaterinburg “Malachite”
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Novosibirsk
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN) “Voron”, Voronezh
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN) “Kasatka”, Murmansk
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN), Krasnoyarsk
- Regional Special Purpose Department (ROSN) Krasnodar (Departments in Krasnodar, Sochi, Novorossiysk)
- Operational Activities Support Service (OSOM) “Caspian” of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan.
- Operational Activities Support Service (OSOM) “Granit” of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Chechen Republic
- Department for Support of Operational Activities (OSOM) of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Ingushetia
- Department for Support of Operational Activities (OSOM) of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
- Department for Support of Operational Activities (OSOM) of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Bashkiria
- Department for Support of Operational Activities (OSOM) of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Tatarstan
- Operational Activities Support Department (OSOM) “Wolverine” of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Karelia
- Operational Activities Support Groups (OMS) in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation
Special forces of FSUE "COMMUNICATION-SAFETY"
- OSN "Mars"
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