Russia's Special Forces

New graduates to the Russian interior ministry special forces (OMON) hold their weapons after finishing their training during a ceremony in the southern Russian city of Stavropol July 20, 2011. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

Russia's 'Zaslon' Military Operators Are So Shadowy They Make Ninjas Look Like Amateurs -- Mark Galeotti, Business Insider/Moscow's Shadows

There is quite a cult that has grown up around Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces, with books, movies and exposes both serious and farcical alike. Names such as Alpha and Vympel have become well known. Indeed, some could almost be considered franchises: as far back as the 1990s, veterans of the Alphaspetsgruppa had set up private security firms, trading on their unit’s formidable reputation (see, for example, Tsentr-Al’fa).

The one exception appears to be Zaslon (‘Screen’), a very shadowy unit established, by what accounts we have, in 1998 as a special forces unit for the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service). Trained to operate abroad, in everything from hostage-rescue to assassination missions, it continues to shun publicity.

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My Comment: My nationality is Russian .... and Russia's special forces have always been a fascinating subject for me. But even I have had a difficult time getting info on these elite special forces. Kudos to Mark Galeotti for getting at least some intel and info on these groups, and sharing it with us.

Russia Creates A Special Operations Command

Russian Special Forces. Photo from Russian Military Photos

Russia's New Tip of the Spear -- Dmitri Trenin, Foreign Policy

What's got the Kremlin so worried that it created a Special Operations Command?

Addressing the Russian National Security Council meeting on May 8, President Vladimir Putin said that the forthcoming departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan confronts Russia with a more precarious situation on its southern borders. Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of the General Staff since November 2012, who was also present at the meeting, had announced last month the formation of a Special Operations Command -- Russia's version of SOCOM. According to Gen. Gerasimov, the new command will include a special forces brigade, a training center, and helicopter and air transportation squadrons. These forces will be used exclusively outside Russian territory, including in U.N.-mandated operations. Creation of a separate SOCOM is not a new idea; it had been presented to Anatoly Serdyukov, who retired last fall as defense minister amid allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and who rejected it. The new minister, Sergei Shoigu, decided differently. What's behind this about face?

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My Comment: The Russians have always had special forces .... the difference now is that they are structuring it along the same lines that America's Special Forces are structured under. After-all .... a big war with nuclear weapons is not what Russian forces will soon be finding themselves fighting in .... it is the smaller conflicts in the Caucasus and in Central Asian states that they will be deployed to, and they will be battling against small but determined guerrilla movements.

Torture And Murder Widely Used By Russian Special Forces In Chechnya

Picture taken 13 February 2007 shows soldiers of the Russian special forces searching a battle-ground site near the village of Ishkhoi-Yurt in Chechnya. Getty Pictures

Russian Death Squads ‘Pulverise’ Chechens -- Times Online

Elite commandos have broken their silence to reveal how they torture, execute and then blow captives to atoms to obliterate the grisly evidence.

THE hunt for a nest of female suicide bombers in Chechnya led an elite group of Russian special forces commandos to a small village deep in the countryside. There they surrounded a modest house just before dawn to be sure of catching their quarry unawares.

When the order came to storm the single-storey property, dozens of heavily armed men in masks and camouflage uniforms - unmarked to conceal their identity - had no difficulty in overwhelming the three women inside. Their captives were driven to a military base.

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My Comment: And we in the U.S. quibble over bitch slapping the planner of the 9/11 attacks to obtain more information.

Sigh .... we may gaze at our navel and argue that torture may or may not work .... but the Russians clearly believe that it does.