Money 

Forces of special operations of the Russian Federation. The death of special forces soldiers of the SSO in Syria. "Military Surgery"

Home Encyclopedia Dictionaries More Strategic Missile Forces

Special Operations Forces (SOF)

Specially created, trained and equipped formations, units and subunits in the Armed Forces of a number of states, designed to conduct sabotage and reconnaissance operations, organize insurgent activities and armed attacks, including assisting foreign states in ensuring their internal security.

The MTR, first of all, includes the formation of "special forces", which in most states are referred to as "commandos" or "rangers"; as part of military fleets, similar tasks are performed by units of combat swimmers. MTRs are kept in constant readiness for immediate use and can solve tasks in peacetime, in conflict situations and during war, acting both as part of heterogeneous forces in the theater of operations, and independently. The operations carried out by them, as a rule, are covert and are under the direct control of the highest military leadership or commanders-in-chief of the Armed Forces in the theaters of war. MTRs are equipped with a variety of small arms and edged weapons (both in service with the Armed Forces and specially designed samples), light artillery pieces, grenade launchers, MANPADS, sets of explosive devices, optoelectronic equipment, small-sized means of radio and satellite communications, light vehicles, parachute - landing and diving equipment, technical means of propaganda, etc. Training of personnel is carried out in special training centers and schools. The program includes parachute training, training in the use of all types of weapons, including weapons of foreign armies, driving vehicles, sabotage methods of combat, mine-explosive, light diving and radio work, studying the methods of collecting intelligence information, conducting undercover work, knowledge of foreign languages, customs of countries operational purpose, methods of penetration behind enemy lines, survival in extreme conditions, etc.

The fulfillment of the tasks assigned to him in the position areas of the missile divisions will be carried out in the form of a special operation, during which intelligence will be obtained about the most important military facilities, the destruction or disabling of these facilities, as well as the organization of sabotage and sabotage and terrorist acts.

The most numerous SOFs have been created in the USA (over 45,000 people). Organizationally, they are consolidated into a joint command of special operations, to which the command of joint special operations and the command of special operations of the branches of the Armed Forces (SW, Air Force, Navy) are subordinate. The command of joint special operations does not have a permanent composition of the MTR. In fact, it is represented by the headquarters involved in the development of optimal options for the integrated use of the MTR of the types of aircraft. SSO SV include the formation of regular troops, the army reserve and the national guard. Regular formations include 5 Special Forces Groups, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta, 75th Rangers Infantry Regiment, Army Aviation Regiment, Psychological Operations Group, Civil Administration Liaison Battalion, Signal Battalions, Logistics and 5 Commands ensuring special operations in the theater. The army reserve includes 2 special forces groups, 3 group headquarters, 9 battalion headquarters and 27 psychological operations companies. The National Guard has 2 special forces groups and an army aviation battalion.

The Day of the Special Operations Forces is celebrated on February 27 among professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of Russia in accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 26, 2015.

On this day, February 27, 2014, armed men in unmarked camouflage over the building of the Supreme Council and the government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which at that time was part of Ukraine, and in the following days over the airport in Simferopol and other strategic objects on the peninsula.

In addition, they helped ensure order and security during the March 16, 2014 referendum on the annexation of Crimea to Russia. The emphasized correctness of their behavior led to the expression "polite people".

On April 17, 2014, answering questions from citizens during a "straight line", Russian President Vladimir Putin, that we are talking about Russian military personnel who "correctly, decisively and professionally" provided conditions for the free expression of the will of the Crimeans. Since then, the phrase "polite people" has become synonymous with those who serve in the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of Russia.

Under special operations as a form of employment of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation understands the coordinated actions of specially trained and equipped forces using methods and methods of combat operations that are not typical for conventional troops. These are reconnaissance and sabotage, subversive, counter-terrorist, counter-sabotage, counterintelligence, partisan and anti-partisan actions, and others.

MTRs are kept in constant readiness for immediate use and can solve tasks in peacetime, in conflict situations and during war, acting both as part of heterogeneous forces in the theater of operations, and independently. The operations carried out by them, as a rule, are covert and are under the direct control of the highest military leadership or commanders-in-chief of the Armed Forces in the theaters of war.

MTR Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Structure:

Special Operations Forces Command (KSSO)

Office (Special Operations)

Directorate (Marine Special Operations)

Office (counter-terrorism)

Special Purpose Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Senezh".

Department of Directions.


"Center for training military personnel of the military unit 01355, Moscow region, Kubinka-2"
The direction of special operations (airborne) - the main emphasis is on airborne training and other methods of penetration behind enemy lines by air. Parachute jumps are practiced, both protracted with oxygen masks, and with the opening of the parachute immediately after separation from the board. Jumps are carried out both day and night using night vision devices, in bad weather, in strong winds and fog. In addition to parachutes, fighters are also trained in the use of trikes and paragliders. Possession of such methods allows the special forces to fly tens of kilometers unnoticed by the enemy.

The direction of special operations (mountain) - specializes in conducting reconnaissance and combat operations in mountainous areas, training is carried out on the basis of the 54th training center for reconnaissance units, military unit 90091 (Republic of North Ossetia - Alania, Vladikavkaz) and in the mountain training center and surviving "Terskol" FAA MO RF "CSKA" (village Terskol, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria).

The direction of special operations (assault) - specializes in penetration / capture / destruction of enemy objects (headquarters, buildings, structures, bunkers, etc.).

The direction of special operations (protection of high-ranking leaders) - the tasks are clear.

Special operations department (maritime) on the territory of the 561st emergency rescue center of the Navy, military unit 00317 (Russia, Crimea, Sevastopol, Kazachya Bay). The Naval Department of Special Operations is a multi-purpose naval formation trained and equipped to perform combat missions in the waters of the seas, oceans, rivers, lakes. Basically, the personnel operate from various watercraft (boats, jet skis) or operate under water in diving equipment using special tugboats, conducting reconnaissance and performing other combat missions at sea, on the coast or in river waters.

The direction of withdrawal means - specializes in the delivery of special forces to the area of ​​​​the operation by land, air and water, their subsequent withdrawal / evacuation. It is armed with Mi-8AMTSh and Mi-35M helicopters, boats, ATVs, all-terrain vehicles and various vehicles.

Several support units (communications, radio intelligence, electronic warfare, IT, special equipment).

Several support and security units that are staffed by conscripts - a company of reinforcements, a commandant's company (guards), a material support company, a technical platoon, a communications company, a company of young replenishment.

On the territory of the Senezh military camp there is a training, airborne and fire training complex, a dog training complex, an indoor swimming pool, a sports town, a tactical town for practicing actions in populated areas, a heliport, as well as a platform for driving special equipment, medical and service premises.

Specialist training center (former 322nd training center), military unit 43292 (Moscow region, Solnechnogorsk district, Senezh township).

The main task is the training of MTR specialists, as well as the training of military personnel of other special forces of the RF Ministry of Defense.

Department of modernization, maintenance and storage of weapons, military and special equipment and military-technical property (Department of modernization, maintenance and storage of AMSE and VTI) - the tasks of this department are clear from its name.

Special Purpose Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (“Kubinka-2” or “Kuba”), military unit 01355 (Moscow Region, Odintsovsky District, Kubinka-2). Solves the same tasks as the CSN "Senezh".

Selection, combat training and personnel:

Selection in the SSO is carried out in different ways, representatives of the SSO can select themselves, study candidates with the necessary knowledge and skills, and then make them an offer. In addition, every month on the 15th at 9:00 a.m. the day of the candidate, when volunteer candidates can try to pass the entrance tests that are given at the part: physio (3km-12.00-12.30, 100m-13.0-14.0, pull-ups at least 18 times), professional selection, medical board.
Also, the military units included in the MTR periodically place announcements in the military registration and enlistment offices and selection points for contract service of the list of military registration specialties that they need.

Training is carried out at the specialist training center and directly at the points of permanent deployment, where the infrastructure necessary for this has been created and is being created.

Training of officers is carried out at the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School - RVVDKU (Faculty of Special and Military Intelligence and the Department of the Use of Special Forces Units) and the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School - NVVKU (Faculty of Special Intelligence and the Department of Special Intelligence and Airborne Training).

This article was automatically added from the community

In recent days, we have all been watching the events taking place in the Crimea. And all of us are attracted by “little green men” without identification marks, who seem to be peacefully present everywhere and do not seem to do anything special. Well, except that they take pictures with girls, children and grandmothers. Who are they?


Here are quotes from a year ago from various media:

Special Operations Forces have been created in the Russian Armed Forces, units are being trained. This was announced on March 23 by Chief of the General Staff General of the Army Valery Gerasimov.

“Having studied the practice of formation, training and use of special operations forces of the leading states of the world, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense also began to create them”

“We have created the Special Operations Forces and are preparing them for use not only on the territory of the country, but also abroad. The course of their combat training is continuously monitored by the duty shift of the Center, ”Gerasimov told reporters, RIA Novosti reports. On March 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Center for Operational Control of the Russian Armed Forces. The Chinese leader became the first head of a foreign state to visit this Center. The visit took place during his meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

On March 6, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said that the Russian Ministry of Defense had begun to create the Special Operations Forces and that the corresponding structure and command had already been formed. The created special operations forces (SOF) are specially trained and equipped formations of the Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, designed to solve specific tasks in the interests of achieving military, political, economic and psychological goals.

Do you get it? It can be seen from these guys that they are not at all young recruits, but high-level fighters, whose mere presence inspires peace in others.


Recall that the project for the creation of the MTR was submitted for consideration by the military department back in October 2012, however, Anatoly Serdyukov, who at that time served as Minister of Defense, considered the creation of the MTR inappropriate. However, over time, the situation has changed. And the very news about the creation of the MTR Command has become one of the most important military-political news in Russia. Many experts immediately called it strategic.

In the United States, such a command has existed for more than a quarter of a century. The Americans have long understood the obvious - the activities of special forces and intelligence have now moved from the category of a secondary direction to a completely autonomous way of conducting combat operations. The thing is that the war in its classical version assumed the existence of special forces as a preventive method of the initial stage of the war, often even when hostilities are far from the beginning. The enemy rear was supposed to be saturated with special forces, which were transferred to enemy territory by air or water, or by other available methods and means. Then these special units began a large-scale sabotage war, putting out of action strategic facilities, in particular, control centers and nodes for nuclear forces, strategic forces, and headquarters. At the same time, it was very important that the special forces had time to fulfill the functions assigned to them a few days before the start of active hostilities, because the enemy, instead of attacking, would be forced to restore order in his own rear, putting in order important objects and communications. According to this principle, the special operations forces of most countries of the world were created.

Special operations forces also existed in the Soviet Union. Then they included eleven special forces brigades. As a rule, they were land-based and designed for the deep rear of the enemy. In addition, there was also naval special forces, which operated in coastal zones, and also committed sabotage at military facilities and naval bases.

Soon the understanding came that the capabilities of the special forces are much greater than is commonly believed. Unfortunately, the first to come to such conclusions were the Americans, who fought a huge number of local armed conflicts.

Watch video:

The Special Operations Forces (SOF) is a relatively new formation in the structure of the Russian Armed Forces. Its formation began in 2009, during the army reform, and was completed in 2013. Over the past five years, the SOF took part in the Crimean operation and military operations in Syria.

Experts and journalists call this date "the day of polite people" - it was on the night of February 27, 2014 that the transfer of Russian units to Crimea began.

The servicemen blocked the facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the peninsula and occupied the administrative buildings.

The operation involved, in addition to units of the MTR, marines, paratroopers and motorized rifles. The professional work of "polite people" made it possible to disarm the 30,000-strong group of Ukrainian troops almost without a single shot.

Meanwhile, the activities of the SSO are secret. The state has the right not to disclose information about the number and armament of the Special Operations Forces, and is also not obliged to report on the results of operations and losses incurred.

"Asymmetric Actions"

The special operations forces are a single structure, which includes units of the army special forces of various types and branches of the Armed Forces. The tasks of the MTR include conducting operations both on the territory of the Russian Federation and abroad.

The main governing body of the Special Operations Forces - Command - is directly subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (since November 9, 2012 - Valery Gerasimov).

  • Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov
  • RIA News

Colossal interest in the activities of the SSO is shown by Western think tanks. Foreign experts believe that Russia has created the Special Operations Forces for more efficient conduct of foreign expeditionary missions.

According to the West, the greatest contribution to the development of the MTR was made by Valery Gerasimov, who was assigned the image of a “hybrid war” strategist.

Foreign experts base similar conclusions on the article by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation “The value of science in foresight”, which was published in the Military Industrial Courier magazine at the end of February 2013.

In his material, Gerasimov said that the Russian General Staff studied the organization of military operations of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US experience, according to Gerasimov, has demonstrated the need to change "existing models of operations and combat operations."

“Asymmetric actions have become widespread, making it possible to neutralize the superiority of the enemy in armed struggle. These include the use of special operations forces and internal opposition to create a permanent front... The ongoing changes are reflected in the doctrinal views of the leading countries of the world and are being tested in military conflicts," Gerasimov wrote.

View from the outside

Sarah Feinberg, lecturer at the National Security Institute in Tel Aviv, argues in her article “Russian Expeditionary Forces in the Syrian Operation” that the idea of ​​uniting “mobile intervention forces” arose during the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989). Then the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the USSR Ministry of Defense opposed the creation of the MTR. However, this idea reappeared on the agenda after two Chechen campaigns.

According to Feinberg, the use of the GRU special forces and other elite units in the North Caucasus was successful and made it possible to level the shortcomings in the combat training of combined arms units.

At the same time, Russian special forces experienced problems in planning and conducting operations due to insufficient coordination between the security agencies to which they were subordinate. In this regard, the need was realized to unite the units of the army special forces into a single command structure under the control of the chief of the General Staff.

  • Russian special forces on tactical exercises
  • Press Service of the Ministry of Defense

The consulting division of the US Army Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) in the report "Manual for the Russian Army of the New Generation" reports that the MTR appeared as a result of optimizing the size and structure of the Russian Armed Forces during the period when the Ministry of Defense was headed by Anatoly Serdyukov (2007-2012).

The army reform was aimed at disaggregating formations (transition to a brigade system) and at creating so-called battalion tactical groups.

According to AWG specialists, "battalion tactical groups" are mobile, well-trained units that can be deployed hundreds of kilometers from the state border in a short time.

It follows from the AWG report that "battalion tactical groups" form the backbone of the SOF. According to analysts, these units were first used for the “annexation” of Crimea, then they were allegedly transferred to the Donbass, and since 2015 they have been operating in Syria.

Asymmetric Warfare Group believes that in the formation of the MTR, Russia was based on the experience of foreign countries. However, the decision to create the Special Operations Forces was made after the South Ossetian conflict (August 2008).

In 2009, on the basis of the Senezh Special Purpose Center (Moscow Region, military unit No. 92154), the Directorate of Special Operations Forces was formed. The formation of the SSO as a single well-functioning organism was completed in March 2013.

Consistency and professionalism

Tor Bukvoll, senior researcher at the Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Norway, in materials devoted to the elite units of the RF Armed Forces, notes that the GRU employees form the basis of the MTR. Of the 14 thousand fighters of the Special Operations Forces, 12 thousand are military intelligence officers.

Foreign analysts agree that the MTR arsenal includes the most modern weapons, uniforms and the latest military equipment, including communications systems and drones. Russian special forces can perform tasks at any time of the day and in any natural and climatic conditions.

  • Soldier of the diving unit of the Special Operations Forces
  • Press Service of the Ministry of Defense

Sara Feinberg believes that Syria has become the main "military training camp" for the Russian SOF. The tasks of the special forces in the SAR include collecting intelligence, directing artillery and air force fire, eliminating the leaders of gangs, conducting assault operations and sabotage activities.

“Syria really represents the first territory in which Russia has deployed and organized control over the contingent of expeditionary forces, including the Special Operations Forces (SOF) and various categories of special forces, in a coordinated and large-scale manner,” Fainberg notes in the article “Russian Expeditionary Forces in the Syrian Operation.”

As the expert explained, the Syrian operation allows the MTR of the Russian Federation to hone their skills "without additional burden on the military budget." Feinberg estimates the size of the Russian special forces group in the SAR at 230-250 people. According to her, the successful work of the MTR in Syria testifies to the "revival of Russian military art."

The presence of Russian special forces in Syria was first announced by Alexander Dvornikov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Central Military District, on March 23, 2016. Nevertheless, Russian and foreign experts are sure that the MTR has been operating in Syria from the very beginning of the operation (September 30, 2015) or since the summer of 2015.

“I will not hide the fact that units of our Special Operations Forces are also operating in Syria. They carry out additional reconnaissance of objects for Russian aviation strikes, are engaged in guiding aircraft at targets in remote areas, and solve other special tasks, ”Dvornikov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

On December 11, 2016, the Rossiya 24 TV channel showed footage of the participation of Special Forces military personnel in the battles in Syrian Aleppo. It is also known from the media that the MTR fighters participated in the liberation of Palmyra.

According to official data, during the entire period of the operation in the SAR, two special forces gunners were killed - Captain Fyodor Zhuravlev (November 9, 2015) and Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko (March 17, 2016). By order of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Zhuravlev was awarded the Order of Kutuzov posthumously, Prokhorenko was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, also posthumously.

In May 2017, information about the feat of the MTR group in the province of Aleppo was partially declassified.

16 Russian special forces, who were engaged in directing aviation fire, entered the battle against 300 Jabhat-an-Nusra militants *.

The commandos acted in coordination with government troops. However, the Syrians retreated in confusion and left the detachment without cover. The Russian servicemen repelled several attacks and, when it got dark, mined the approaches to their positions.

“The density of the fire was high. But it was scary only in the first minutes, and then a banal routine begins, ”said one of the officers.

  • MTR mortar crew firing at terrorists
  • Frame: RUPTLY video

The fighters held their positions for two days and were able to get out without loss. During the battle, the special forces destroyed several armored vehicles and a tank. The group commander Danila (surname not named), who received the title of Hero of Russia, noted that the well-coordinated professional actions of his subordinates became the key to success.

A participant in counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus, Alexei Golubev, in an interview with RT, said that the MTR of Russia is rightfully called the most trained elite formation in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In his opinion, the success of the operation in Syria would not have been possible without the Special Operations Forces.

“The secret nature of the activities of the MTR is due to the fact that the fighters work outside of Russia. In Syria, special forces are thrown behind enemy lines for target designation of the VKS. In my opinion, this is the most difficult and dangerous work. And, as far as I can tell, our guys are coping with it, ”Golubev emphasized.

*Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Al-Nusra Front, Jabhat al-Nusra) is an organization recognized as a terrorist organization by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.