Alpha (special forces)

Education

Secret Order No. 0089 / OV (“of special importance ”) dated July 29, 1974 at the initiative of the Chairman of the USSR KGB, Yuri Andropov, in the Fifth Directorate of the USSR KGB , a special subunit “A” was created (from the word “ antiterror ”, which was secretly called the KGB Andropov ” ^{[3] [4]} ) to suppress terrorist and sabotage actions. The decision to create group A was taken after the terrorist act at the Munich Olympics in 1972, which killed eleven hostages - members of the Israeli Olympic team ^[7] , as well as after attempting to hijack the Yak-40 aircraft from the Vnukovo airport almost 4 weeks before the formation of "Alpha" - July 3, 1974. According to the veterans of Alpha, “when the bandits were disarmed, thick powder smoke was standing around the plane” ^[8] . In order to meet the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow fully armed in 1980, it became necessary to create special secret forces capable of confronting possible terrorist threats and ensuring security in the territory of the Soviet Union and, if necessary, abroad ^[5] . In Germany, after the Olympics, the GSG 9 detachment was created with the same goal of preventing repeated tragedies ^[9] .

Competitive selection in group “A” was very tough: only people who had undergone special physical training, fit for service in the Airborne Forces , had a positive reputation, as well as honest, loyal to their Homeland, psychologically resilient and conscientious could be enlisted there; they were also supposed to be KGB officers. The formation of the group was carried out exclusively on a voluntary basis ^{[5] [10]} . The first base of the new unit was placed in the wrestling hall on Novoslobodskaya Street in Moscow ^[5] . Due to the fact that for the preparation and training of detachment personnel it did not make sense to create a new base, Group A was transferred to the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR ^[11] , where there were appropriate conditions for this ^[12] . Major General Vitaly Bubenin , Hero of the Soviet Union ^{[3] [13]} was appointed the first commander of the special forces. Similar special units in the KGB of the USSR, similar in function, were also in those years Zenit and Cascade ^[14] .

Chronology of operations

1970s

• December 18, 1976 - Zurich , Switzerland . Exchange of the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Chile, Luis Corvalan, for the Soviet dissident V. K. Bukovsky . The elder is the deputy commander of Group A, Major R. P. Yvon ^[7] .
• July - August 1978 - Havana , Cuba . Ensuring safety in cooperation with the combat swimmers of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR Navy of the submarine part of the motor ships “Georgia” and “ Leonid Sobinov ”, chartered to accommodate delegates at the XI World Festival of Youth and Students . Senior - the commander of the group "A" G. N. Zaitsev ^[7] .
• March 28, 1979 - Moscow , the US Embassy . Mentally unhealthy resident of the city of KhersonYu. M. Vlasenko , accompanied by the second secretary of the US Embassy, ​​R. Pringle went to the consular department and demanded an immediate departure abroad. In case of failure, he threatened to activate an improvised explosive device. Negotiations conducted by the commander of the group “A”, G. N. Zaitsev , and then his deputy, R. P. Yvon, did not lead to a positive result. By order of the KGB chairman Yu. V. Andropov, a weapon was used — Major S. A. Golov fired a silent pistol, but the terrorist was able to activate an explosive device and soon died from his wounds ^{[15] [7] [16 ]} .
• April 27, 1979 - John F. Kennedy International Airport ^[17] , New York , USA . Exchange of two Soviet intelligence officers ( Vladimir Enger and Rudolf Chernyaev ) sentenced to long prison terms for five Soviet dissidents - E. S. Kuznetsova , M. Yu. Dymshits , A. I. Ginzburg , G. P. Vins and V. I. Frost . Senior - the commander of the group "A" G. N. Zaitsev ^[7] .
• December 7-27, 1979 - Tashkent - Bagram Air Force Base , Kabul . Providing physical protection for the future head of the PDPA and the Democratic Party of Europe Babrak Karmal and his close associates on the eve of the coup. Senior - V.I. Shergin ^[7] .
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  Alpha Reverse Bracers FSB
  December 27, 1979 - Kabul , Afghanistan . As part of the non-standard combat group “Thunder” (24 people), the unit’s employees together with the Zenit main combat troops unit of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (30 people) carried out the capture of Taj-Bek , also known as Amin’s Palace, in Dar-ul-Aman. The KGB special forces had the active support of the "Muslim battalion" of the GRU and the 9th company of paratroopers of the 345th separate airborne regiment commanded by Senior Lieutenant V.A. Vostrotin . The assault on Amin’s palace is considered the best operation of Alpha. The senior subgroups were: O. A. Balashov , S. A. Golov , V. P. Emyshev, and V. F. Karpukhin . The general management was carried out by the deputy commander of the group “A”, Major M. M. Romanov . The commander of "Zenith" - J.F. Semenov . Simultaneously with the Storm-333 operation, the special forces fighters were involved along with paratroopers to capture strategically important facilities located in different parts of the Afghan capital, Tsarandoi (MVD), the Air Force headquarters and the central telegraph. The code name of the entire operation for the change of power in Kabul is “Baikal-79” ^[7] . During the assault, Captain D. V. Volkov and Captain G. E. Zudin died ^[18] . As a result of the assault, Amin himself, his mistress, and one of his sons, were liquidated ^[9] .

1980s

• July - August 1980 - Moscow . Ensuring the security of the XXII Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. In addition to fulfilling the tasks set in the capital, combat swimmers of group “A” were sent to Tallinn and Estonia (the eldest was V. M. Pankin ). Their duties included a periodic inspection of this area, where regatta competitions were held ^[7] .
• February - July 1981 - Afghanistan . Fifteen employees of Group A (senior - V.N. Zorkin ) as part of Cascade-2 provided forceful cover for operational search activities and collected information about the troops operating in Kabul and its environs, removed weapons from caches and ensured the safety of campaigning detachments, as well as guarding the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary F. A. Tabeev ^[7] .
• October 27 - December 4, 1981 - Ordzhonikidze , North Ossetia . Ensuring the safety of citizens in connection with the riots. Senior - Deputy Commander of the group "A" P. P. Yvon ^[7] .
• December 18-19, 1981 - Sarapul , Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . Two armed deserters, A. Kolpakbayev and A. Melnikov, from the 248th motorized rifle division took 25 students of the 10th grade of secondary school No. 12 hostage. Requirement: to issue visas and send by plane to the FRG or another western country. During the actions taken, the terrorists were rendered harmless, none of the hostages were hurt. Senior - the commander of the group "A" G. N. Zaitsev ^[7] .
• November 1982 - March 1987 - Afghanistan . 125 officers and warrant officers of Group A, by order of the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.M. Chebrikov, went to Afghanistan, where they acted as part of moto-maneuverable and airborne assault groups of the 47th border detachment. The elders were in the order of priority of the business trips of V.N. Zorkin , V.I. Shergin , A.N. Saveliev , M.V. Golovatov , O.A. Balashov , S.A. Goncharov , V.N. Grishin , A. M. Lopanov , V. M. Pankin , A. N. Saveliev , O. A. Balashov , V. N. Zorkin , V. N. Zaitsev, and V. I. Shergin ^[7] .
• November 19, 1983 - Tbilisi . The Tu-134A aircraft , en route Tbilisi-Leningrad with 57 passengers on board and 7 crew members, was captured by a group of "golden youth" of 7 people. During the raid, they killed the pilots Z. Sharbatyan and A. Chedia, the stewardess V. Krutikova and two passengers. Were seriously injured and remained disabled navigator A. Plotko and flight attendant I. Khimich. The requirement of gangsters: to head for Turkey . During the skirmish in the pilot's cabin and the organization of aerodynamic overloads, the pilots managed to repel the attack of terrorists, killing one of them, and block the door. The commander of the ship A. Gardapkhadze landed the airliner at the airport of Tbilisi. On November 19, the plane was released during a combined assault undertaken by the employees of group “A” (senior - G. N. Zaitsev ). None of the passengers was injured. The capture groups were headed by M. V. Golovatov , V. V. Zabrovsky and V. N. Zaitsev ^[7] .
• 1985-1986. The forceful seizure of twelve agents recruited by foreign intelligence services ^[7] , and one employee of the US Embassy in the USSR, who worked secretly for the CIA.
• September 20, 1986 - Ufa . Three soldiers from the MVD regiment - junior sergeant N. Mantsev, private S. Yagmurzhi and corporal A. Konoval, being in the internal dress, took possession of the weapon ( AKM machine gun, RPK-74 light machine gun and Dragunov's sniper rifle ) and seized a taxi. On the way, they shot two policemen - police sergeant Z. Akhtyamov and junior police sergeant A. Galeyev. Frightened by what he had done, A. Konoval disappeared, the rest went to the airfield, where they burst into a Tu-134A aircraft with 76 passengers (among them eight women and six children) and 5 crew members following the route Lviv - Kiev - Ufa - Nizhnevartovsk . During the capture, the deserters killed the passengers of A. Yermolenko and J. Tikhansky. The requirement of terrorists: to follow to Pakistan . Directly operation was headed by G. N. Zaitsev . As a result of the assault carried out by employees of Alpha (the capture team was led by V.N. Zorkin ), N. Mantsev was killed, and S. Yagmurzhi was wounded in the leg ^[7] .
• December 1—4, 1988 - Ordzhonikidze - Mineralnye Vody - Tel Aviv . A gang of four people (the leader - recidivist P. Yakshiyants, V. Muravlev, G. Vishnyakov and V. Anastasov) seized the passenger bus LAZ-697 , in which, after an excursion to the printing house, the 4th "G" class of school No. 42 was returning together with the teacher N. V. Efimova. The terrorists overtook a bus to Mineralnye Vody Airport, where they were ahead of the A group that departed from Moscow. In the course of exhausting negotiations, which G. N. Zaitsev led for nearly seven hours on the radio, he was able to agree on personal contact with them Sheremetev, Evgeny Grigorievich, an employee of the KGB in the Stavropol Territory. As a result, his (Sheremetyeva) six-hour private, with the risk to life, negotiations with the gangsters, all the children (thirty people), the teacher and the driver were released, and Yevgeny Sheremetyev was left hostage, whom the gangsters also released before the very flight to Israel exchange for two million foreign currency. Once through the Foreign Ministry’s channels Israel, with which then diplomatic relations were not maintained, gave the go-ahead for the extradition of criminals, the Il-76T (RA-76519) transport plane (crew commander A. Bozhko) headed for the Middle East. Upon arrival at the Ben-Gurion Airport , the gangsters were arrested. Employees of Group A, headed by G. N. Zaitsev , who arrived after the compromise on non-use of capital punishment against terrorists (as insisted by the Israeli side) deported the Yaksiyan gang to the Soviet Union ^[7] .
• March 30–31, 1989 - Baku . A native of Kerch, S. Skok, who had previously committed large-scale embezzlement and was in the all-Union search, said that in the cabin of the Tu-134 (flight Voronezh-Astrakhan-Baku) there are allegedly two of his accomplices, and in the cargo compartment - an explosive device. IED, he threatened to bring into action by remote control, if his conditions - half a million dollars and the possibility of departure abroad - will not be met. The terrorist was disarmed by Alpha employees. The operation was led by the commander of Group A, Hero of the Soviet Union , VF Karpukhin ^[7] .
• May 10, 1989 - Saratov . During the walk, four criminals of the detention center No. 1 of the UITU ATC of the Saratov Regional Executive Committee - V. Ryzhkov, G. Semenyutin, D. Levakhin and G. Zbandut, armed with sharpeners and “grenades” (painted dummies of bread crumb), attacked the supervisors. They presented an ultimatum: two machine guns, four pistols with ammunition, grenades, 10 thousand rubles and a car. A condition was made - to ensure an unobstructed departure from prison outside the region. In the house number 20 on the street Zhukovsky terrorists took hostage the spouses Prosvirins and their two-year-old daughter. They set new conditions: a plane for departure abroad, a large amount of money, drugs and vodka. The operation to free the hostages was carried out by group “A” (the senior is the Hero of the Soviet Union V.F. Karpukhin , the deputy is M.V. Golovatov ). At 3.25 am, the fighters descended from the roof with the help of special equipment and literally flew into the windows of the apartment they had captured. In the same seconds, the door was knocked out by the second group with a ram and broke into the apartment. The gangster, armed with a Makarov pistol, managed to make two shots. Taking advantage of the surprise factor , the capture group in a few seconds defused the bandits. None of the hostages was injured ^[7] .

The last years of the USSR

• January 15, 1990 - Azerbaijan . “Alpha” and “ Vympel ” together with the special forces training battalion (“ Vityaz ”) were deployed in Baku. At the head of the combined group of special forces is the Hero of the Soviet Union G. N. Zaitsev . Objective: neutralization of the leaders of the NFA, preventing the overthrow of the legitimate government of the republic, stopping riots, identifying and detaining persons suspected of subversive activities. The staff of the “A” group ensured the security of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan A. Kh. Vezirov ^[7] .
• May 1990 - operation "Trap". The fighters of the group were introduced into the grouping of underground arms dealers with the aim of suppressing the channels of arms supplies to the USSR and its distribution within the country. The operation was carried out successfully, the organizers of the supplies were delayed ^[7] .
• August 1990 - Yerevan , Armenian SSR . The fighters of "Alpha" took part in the neutralization of a particularly dangerous armed group - the gang of Gray. During the operation, three criminals were killed, two injured, six detained ^[7] .
• In the 1990s, Group A participated in providing security during the visit of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II during his trips to the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and southern Russia ^[7] .
• 11–15 August 1990 - Sukhumi , Abkhaz ASSR . 22 employees of group “A” under the command of Colonel V.F. Karpukhin , as well as 31 fighters from the special forces training battalion (“the mare berets”) of the OMSDON. F.E. Dzerzhinsky was promptly transferred to Sukhumi, where 75 criminals took hostages and a temporary detention center . During the talks, the leaders put forward the requirement: to provide them with a RAF minibus so that they could go outside the ITT, to the mountains. When armed gangsters and hostages plunged into a minivan, the capture group began an operation to neutralize them. At the same time, the two groups began to storm the isolator. Within seconds, criminals in the RAF were neutralized, the hostages were released. The gangsters in the detention center after a short resistance also surrendered. During the operation, Alpha's employee I. V. Orekhov and Oleg Lebed, one of the Vityaz fighters, were slightly wounded. This special operation has no analogues in the domestic and in the world practice of using special forces units to free hostages taken hostage by criminals in the institutions of the penitentiary system ^[7] .
• January 11-13, 1991 - Vilnius , Lithuanian SSR . On the evening of January 11, 65 officers of Group A, headed by the deputy commander of Group A, M. V. Golovatov and the squad leader, Lieutenant Colonel Ye.N. Chudesnov, were sent to the capital of the Lithuanian SSR. In Vilnius, the unit received the task of taking control of the Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting, a television tower and a radio broadcasting center. The buildings were surrounded by supporters of the independence of the Lithuanian SSR. Group "A" took control of all three objects and kept them until the approach of the internal troops. During the storming of the television tower , 14 civilians were killed and at least 140 were injured ^[19] . During the seizure of the building of the Committee on Television and Radio, Lieutenant V.V. Shatskikh ^[18] , who received a fatal gunshot wound in the back ^[7], died. After the storming of the Vilnius TV Tower, the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case under art. 88, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Lithuanian SSR (attempted coup) ^[20] .
• June 7, 1991 - Moscow , Vasilyevsky Spusk . Armed with a knife, the offender captured in the excursion bus "Ikarus", left from the " Square of three stations ", 7-year-old Masha Ponomarenko. The deputy A.G. Tuleev took part in the negotiations. As a result of a lightning-fast operation, the terrorist was disarmed. Senior - Deputy Commander of the group "A" V. N. Zaitsev ^[7] .
• August 19-21, 1991 - Moscow . By order of the KGB chairman, the employees of Group A blocked the dacha in the Moscow Region settlement of Arkhangelskoye-2, in which President Boris N. Yeltsin and his entourage were located. Later, 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 VF Karpukhin , was verbally tasked: “To seize the White House , to intern the government and the leadership of Russia”. To do this, he was given a group of "Vympel" and the forces of the Interior Ministry. Without large civilian casualties, taking the White House was impossible. This was the main reason for the refusal of senior officers from Group A to take part in the assault ^[7] .

Structure Conversion

In 1992, "Alpha" and "Vympel" were introduced to the Main Directorate of the Protection of the Russian Federation , established on the basis of the Ninth Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, but in 1993 were removed from its composition and transferred to the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation ^[11] . In the summer of 1996, Group A became part of the Anti-Terrorist Center of the FSB of Russia ^[5] . In June 1997, Management "A" was transferred to the Department of Combating Terrorism of the FSB of Russia ^[10] . Since October 1998, Group A has been part of the Special Purpose Center of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation on the rights of one of the four operational-combat directorates ^[4] . The merger process was completed by the year 2000 ^[21] .

Operations from 1992 to 1999

• December 5, 1992 - Moscow , Vnukovo Airport . The release of 347 passengers of the flight Mineralnye Vody - Moscow, captured by a lone terrorist Zakharyev ^[7] .
• October 4, 1993 - Moscow , the White House . Employees of Group A (commander — Hero of the Soviet Union G.N. Zaitsev ), together with the “pennants”, took part in resolving the most acute political crisis that led to mass actions of disobedience and hostilities in the center of the Russian capital. Refusing to storm the White House, representatives of Alpha, on their own initiative, entered into negotiations with the leadership of the Supreme Council and the opposition, which were crowned with success, and then ensured the evacuation of people from the burning building ^[7] . Rescuing a wounded soldier at the walls of the White House , Junior Lieutenant G. N. Sergeev was fatally wounded - he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia ^[18] .
• December 23—26, 1993 - Rostov-on-Don - Krasnodar - Mineralnye Vody - Makhachkala . Four terrorists took hostage a teacher and 15 pupils of the 9th grade "B" of secondary school No. 25 of Rostov-on-Don. 53 employees of Alpha, headed by G. N. Zaitsev, commander of the Hero of the Soviet Union, flew to Rostov-on-Don on a Tu-134 plane. By the time of their arrival, the gangsters, having released three hostages, were already in the Mi-8 . In the evening the helicopter landed in Krasnodar. Following them on the An-12 landed "Alpha". At night, December 24, the helicopter took off, heading for Minvody. A helicopter with special forces took off after him, while the main part of the Alpha went there by plane An-12. On the evening of December 25, the criminals released one of the hostages. After the transfer of money, they released a teacher and seven schoolgirls. The remaining hostages - four schoolchildren, a bus driver and two pilots - the bandits refused to let go. On the evening of December 27, the gangsters freed three schoolchildren, the bus driver, and took to the air, ordering the pilots to take a course on Ichkeria. However, pilots V. Padalka and V. Stepanov, risking their lives, directed the car towards Makhachkala. A helicopter with criminals landed on the northern outskirts of Makhachkala. The bandits broke into pairs and tried to hide in the forest belt. However, the area of ​​their location was cordoned off by special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, who soon neutralized all the criminals ^[7] .
• May 26-27, 1994 - Kagaly - Bachi-Yurt . In the area of ​​the village of Dagger of the Stavropol Territory, four armed Chechens (the leader - Magomet Bitsiyev) seized the Ikarus sightseeing bus with schoolchildren, their parents and teachers. About 36 people were taken hostage - 33 bus passengers and three teenagers who were captured by the gangsters along the way. On the same day, Group A, headed by the commander, Hero of the Soviet Union, G. N. Zaitsev, received an order to fly urgently from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody. The same order was given to the Alpha Krasnodar branch. 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. S. Kulikov . On May 27, the helicopter took off and headed for Ichkeria. Behind it, six helicopters were launched, on board of which 38 Alpha fighters, 24 employees of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 20 special forces troops VV. As a result of the shortage of fuel, the flight route was changed and landing was carried out in the area of ​​the village of Bachi-Yurt. Fighters under the command of Alpha officer, Lieutenant Colonel A.Ye. Starikov began persecution. Helicopters observed the forest from the air. An hour later, the terrorists were rendered harmless. Only one gangster managed to escape, who took two machine guns and $ 47,400 - a year later he was arrested and convicted ^[7] .
• 1995-1996 - Grozny , Chechnya . Staff of Group A participated in the hostilities in Grozny, were recruited for night reinforcement as mobile anti-terror groups and additional guards of the Government House and the UFSB 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, carried out the seizures of armed bandits, accompanied the columns with ASM, ammunition and food ^[7] .
• June 14—19, 1995 - Budennovsk . A well-armed group of Shamil Basayev rushed into the city in two KamAZ vehicles. Militants seized a city hospital with medical personnel and patients, including women in labor and mothers with babies. On the morning of June 17, in extremely harsh conditions, Alpha employees stormed the hospital. The terrorists, exposing the hostages at the windows, shot from behind their backs, which nullified the success of the assault. Later, Basayev contacted by mobile phone the 1st Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Viktor Chernomyrdin . According to the agreement reached, a corridor was provided to the terrorists. The fighters of the Alpha group, who were fighting in the hospital building, were ordered to retreat. Alpha officer Konstantin Nikitin, the participant in the assault, commented on these events in the following way: “Suppose that“ Ashniki ”would have entered the hospital and entered the second floor. It is difficult to even imagine how they would carry out the task further when the space between the terrorists and the fighters of the antiterror group is packed with hostages. From whose bullets they would have suffered more, and what would have started, what panic and confusion in this meat grinder? ” ^[22] Having taken 123 hostages with them, the militants plunged into buses and headed in the direction of Chechnya. Not far from the mountain village of Zandak all the hostages were released. The action of Chechen militants in Budennovsk killed 130 civilians, 18 police officers, 18 military personnel, including three Alpha employees — Major V.V. Solovov , Lieutenants D.V. Ryabinkina and D.Yu. Burdyaev ^{[23] [18 ]} . Over 400 people were injured of varying degrees of severity. About 2 thousand people were held hostage. Senior - the commander of "Alpha", Lieutenant-General A.V. Gusev ^[7] . This operation is still considered the most unsuccessful for the unit.
• September 20, 1995 - Makhachkala , Republic of Dagestan . The terrorists seized a passenger bus heading for Makhachkala - Nalchik. Some time later, the terrorists released one woman from the bus, who reported that nine men, seven women and two children were on bail. The terrorists who held hostages were rendered harmless by the Alpha Special Forces fighters. Senior - the commander of "Alpha", Lieutenant-General A.V. Gusev ^[7] .
• October 14, 1995 - Moscow , Vasilyevsky Spusk . In the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin, a man in a mask, armed with a PM pistol, entered the Mercedes bus with 25 South Korean tourists and declared them hostages. In the event of failure to comply with the conditions, the offender threatened to blow up the bus. At 20 o'clock, FSB special forces officers took their initial positions. Senior - the commander of "Alpha", Lieutenant-General A.V. Gusev . Long negotiations were conducted with the criminal in which the Moscow Mayor Yu. M. Luzhkov participated. At about 10 pm, the terrorist released all held women and three men. At 22:38, at the command of the head of the operation of the FSB director Mikhail I. Barsukov , the assault began. The terrorist opened fire with a pistol and was killed. None of the hostages was injured ^[7] .
• January 9-18, 1996 - the village of Pervomayskoye , the Republic of Dagestan . The detachments under the leadership of Salman Raduyev , Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov and Turpal-Ali Atgeriev made a raid on the territory of Dagestan, attacking the local airfield and military town of the battalion of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The main blow was inflicted on the helicopter base of the Russian troops near the city of Kizlyar - two Mi-8 helicopters and one tanker were destroyed. Militants entered the city, where they seized a hospital and maternity ward, as well as a 9-storey residential building located nearby. About 2 thousand people were taken hostage. On January 11, the terrorists, having released most of the hostages, left for Ichkeria on the provided buses, using more than a hundred people as human shields. The column was stopped by federal forces near the village of Pervomayskoye. 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 (senior - the commander of Alpha, Lieutenant-General A.V. Gusev ), together with Vityaz, conducted reconnaissance in the south-eastern outskirts of the village, detected and suppressed enemy firing points, carried out firing cover for MVD units. , provided medical assistance and evacuated the wounded from the battlefield ^[7] . Already after the completion of the operation, two employees of Alpha, Major A.V. Kiselev and Major D.V. Golikov, died due to an accident ^[23] . Major V.M. Vorontsov ^[18] also died.
• December 19–20, 1997 - Moscow , Embassy of Sweden . The seizure by a terrorist hostage of a Swedish diplomat . A terrorist S. Kobyakov, armed with a pistol and a grenade, hijacked the Swedish sales representative Jan-Olof Njustrem in a Volvo 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 had an acute heart attack, which eventually led to death, it was decided to immediately begin the active phase of the operation. As a result of the shootout, the criminal was destroyed ^[7] . Posthumously, the Chief of Staff of the Alpha group, Colonel Anatoly Nikolaevich Savelyev, was awarded the title Hero of Russia ^[18] .
• Autumn 1999 - Dagestan . Reflection of the invasion of Islamic terrorists in the Republic of Dagestan .
• 1999-2001 - Chechnya . Participation in key operations of the Second Chechen War .

Activity since 2000

• March 13, 2000 - pos. Novogroznensky , Chechnya . The capture of Salman Raduyev, the leader of the "army of Dzhokhar Dudayev", carried out by the employees of group "A" as part of the combined operational-combat group of the Special Purpose Center of the FSB. Thanks to the filigree actions of intelligence and special forces, the guards of “terrorist number 2” were disarmed, and he himself was captured in bed ^[7] .
• June 19—22, 2001 - the village of Yermolovskaya (Alkhan-Kala) , Chechnya . Employees of Alpha participated in a full-scale special operation to destroy the gang of one of the most ferocious warlords - Arbi Barayev (nicknamed “Emir Tarzan”), distinguished by maniacal cruelty and specialized in kidnapping and slave trade. The operation involved CPS personnel, intelligence officers from the 46th brigade of the Interior Ministry troops, and units of the Ministry of Defense. The confrontation, in which Barayev was located, was found on the evening of June 21 by the soldiers of the “ Rus ” detachment. As a result of the fleeting but cruel battle, the gangster and his guards were destroyed. At the same time, private E. V. Zolotukhin died (he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia) ^[7] .
• July 11, 2001 - Mayrtup village, Kurchaloevsky district, Chechnya . The destruction of one of Khattab 's closest henchmen - field commander Abu Umar (full name is Mohammed Al-Sayyaf), who led a training camp in the 1990s to train saboteurs of demolition men on the outskirts of Serzhen-Yurt in the so-called Caucasus Institute. The victim was one of the organizers of the apartment bombings in September 1999 in Moscow and Volgodonsk and many other terrorist acts. The initial inspection of the house where the Arab was hiding did not give anything. The Alpha fighters were already ready to go to another courtyard, as one of them glanced at the suspicious step of the wooden staircase that seemed to him. Special Forces took positions around the house. When one of the officers tore off the floorboard, then from under the stairs they hit the gunfire. A staff member of the Alpha was injured, but his comrades destroyed Abu Umar, who was sitting in the shelter. A large role in the success of the operation was played by the soldiers of the “Rus” detachment, who in two groups landed in the village in the immediate vicinity of the place where the gangster was located, and did not let him go to the mountains ^[7] .
• July 31, 2001 - Mineral Waters . Terrorist Sultan-Said Ediyev, a Chechen by nationality, seized the Ikarus bus on the Nevinnomyssk-Stavropol flight. The terrorist made the demand for the release of more than thirty passengers in exchange for five criminals convicted in 1994 of hijacking a passenger plane in Minvody. The terrorist placed a glass with an F-1 combat grenade with a torn-out check inserted in the breast pocket of his shirt, which was inserted downwards. Were also recorded wires running to the belt on his stomach. As it turned out, there was a half kilogram of cast TNT. As a result of a filigree sniper assault, the terrorist was destroyed. During the storming of the bus, none of the hostages was hurt. Senior - the head of the Department "A" V. G. Andreev ^[7] .
• February 12, 2002 - Old Atagi , Chechnya . In the area of ​​the village, during the reconnaissance, a battle ensued, two Alpha operatives ^[23] , Major MP Marchenko and Major B. B. Kurdibansky, were killed ^[18] .
• October 23—26, 2002 - Moscow , Dubrovka Theater Center . A group of terrorists led by Movsar Barayev , gathered in Moscow, took hostage up to 800 spectators of the musical “Nord-Ost”, actors and employees of the Theater Center on Dubrovka. The gangsters demanded an end to the fighting in Chechnya and threatened to blow up the building with the help of powerful explosive devices placed in the hall. Thanks to the actions taken by the FSB special forces, before the start of the active phase of the counter-terrorist operation, several dozen people from among the hostages were rescued. The criminals behaved extremely aggressively, several people were killed in their hands in the hall. In order to avoid mass casualties, it was decided to conduct a special operation by the special purpose center of the FSB. As a result of the operation, 41 terrorists, including the leader of the group Movsar Barayev, were killed, more than 750 hostages were freed, 60 of them foreigners. 120 people could not be saved ^[7] .
• April 8, 2004 - Shelkovskaya stanitsa, Chechnya . Liquidation of Khattab's student and one of Shamil Basayev’s closest henchmen - Abubakar Vishimbayev (nicknames “Bakr”, “One-Eyed”) ^{[24] [25]} . Among other things, this field commander was responsible for recruiting "black widows" to carry out the terrorist attack on Dubrovka. During the operation, an employee of Alpha Major Yu. N. Danilin was killed; he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia ^{[26] [18] [7]} .
• September 1-3, 2004 - Beslan , North Ossetia . A group of well-armed terrorists under the command of Ruslan Khuchbarov, on Basayev’s orders, took more than 1,100 hostages in the building of school No. 1; on the very first day they shot over 20 hostages. In total, as a result of this monstrous act of terrorism, 334 people died, 186 of them children, and over 800 people were injured. On September 3, at 1305, two powerful explosions sounded in the school building. Having shown exceptional courage and heroism, the staff of the TsNS carried out an operation lasting many hours to free the hostages and destroy the terrorists, who put up fierce resistance. During the assault, 28 terrorists were killed (three participants of the seizure, including one of the suicide bombers, were killed from September 1 to 2 ^{[27] [28]} ), one thug was captured alive. Rescuing the hostages, three employees of Alpha were killed - Major A.V. Perov (posthumously the Hero of Russia ), Major V.V. Malyarov , Warrant Officer O.V. Loskov ^[18] , and seven Vympel fighters ^[7] .
• March 8, 2005 - Tolstoy-Yurt , Chechnya . Liquidation of the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov . The operation to detain the separatist leader, as well as his inner circle, was planned for a long time and carefully. In early March 2005, information was obtained that allowed the address to be identified where the CRI leader was hiding with his guards. Despite all the tricks of the militants, the bunker with the separatist leader was discovered. The militants who were in it were asked to surrender, to which they responded with a categorical refusal. The operational-combat groups of the TsSN neutralized the bandits, while Maskhadov was shot dead by his own nephew ^{[29] [7]} .
• November 26, 2006 - Khasavyurt , Republic of Dagestan . Elimination of the representative of Al-Qaida and the leader of all foreign fighters in the North Caucasus, one of the leaders and financiers of the Jihad in Chechnya and in the neighboring regions of Abu Hafs (his real name is Faris Yuseif Umeirat). Together with him were destroyed four militants. The power phase of the operation began at dawn with the destruction of two militants by snipers who had defended a private house. Then a shot from a grenade launcher was fired at the gate, and after this, an assault group burst through an armored KamAZ vehicle into the courtyard of the house. The surviving gangsters refused to surrender and put up stubborn resistance. During the half-hour battle, all the militants were destroyed ^{[30] [7]} .
• May 13, 2009 - Khasavyurt , Republic of Dagestan . The destruction of the “amir” of the Khasavyurt gang of Arsen Asulbegov in the area of ​​the mountain village of Endyrei. As a result of the operation, Captain R. K. Holban ^{[31] [18]} died.
• From May 2009 to the present - the North Caucasus . Conducting special operations in the North Caucasus as part of the operational-combat groups of the Special Purpose Center of the Federal Security Service of Russia.
• April 19, 2015 - Buynaksk , Republic of Dagestan . Special operation to eliminate Aliaskhab Kebekov , leader of the terrorist movement " Imarat Kavkaz " .

Commanders

•   Bubenin, Vitaly Dmitrievich (September 5, 1974 - April 29, 1977), retired Major General , Hero of the Soviet Union ^[32] .
• Ivon, Robert Petrovich (April 29 - November 10, 1977), retired colonel ^[32] .
•   Zaitsev, Gennady Nikolaevich (November 10, 1977 - November 4, 1988), retired Major General , Hero of the Soviet Union ^{[32] [33]} .
•   Karpukhin, Viktor Fedorovich (November 4, 1988 - August 23, 1991), Major General , Hero of the Soviet Union ^{[32] [33]} .
• Golovatov, Mikhail Vasilyevich (August 23, 1991 - June 26, 1992), retired colonel ^[32] .
•   Zaitsev, Gennady Nikolaevich (July 4, 1992 - January 31, 1995), retired Major General , Hero of the Soviet Union ^{[32] [33]} .
• Gusev, Alexander Vladimirovich (January 31, 1995 - October 8, 1998), Lieutenant-General of the Reserve ^[32] .
• Miroshnichenko, Alexander Ivanovich (October 8, 1998 - December 18, 1999), colonel-general ^[32] .
• Andreev, Valentin Grigorievich (December 18, 1999 - June 19, 2003), lieutenant-general of the reserve ^[32] .
• Vinokurov, Vladimir Nikolaevich (June 20, 2003 - March 19, 2014), Major General ^[34] .
•   Kanakin, Valery Vladimirovich (March 19, 2014 - July 2019), Major General, Hero of the Russian Federation ^[35] .

Deputy Commanders

• Yvon, Robert Petrovich (since 1974), retired colonel.
• Romanov, Mikhail Mikhailovich (1977-1980)
• Tumanov, Vladimir Alexandrovich (since 1980)
•   Karpukhin, Viktor Fedorovich (1984-1988), Major General , Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Golovatov, Mikhail Vasilyevich , a retired colonel.
• Emyshev, Valery Petrovich , reserve colonel .
• Lopanov, Alexander Mikhailovich , Colonel of the Reserve.
• Gumennoy, Leonid Vladimirovich (since the late 1990s), Major General .

Chiefs of Staff

The headquarters of the Department "A" was established in the 1990s. He was headed:

•   Saveliev, Anatoly Nikolaevich , colonel , Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
• Polyakov, Sergey Andreevich (since December 19, 1997, after the death of A. N. Savelyev), colonel .

Initially, the headquarters of the group "A" consisted of 30 people ^[36] . From November 10, 1977 the number was 52 people (order number 00133 / OV) ^[37] , from January 10, 1980 - 123 people. (order number 017) ^[37] , from December 21, 1981 - 223 people. (order number 0637) ^[37]

From June 30, 1984, by order of the KGB Chairman No. 0085, the first regional division of Group A was formed - the 7th branch in Khabarovsk (21 people) ^[37] . On March 3, 1990, by order No. 0031, it was deployed to the 7th group ^[38] , as well as the 10th group (Kiev), the 11th group (Minsk), the 12th group (Alma-Ata), the 13th the group (Krasnodar) and the 14th group (Sverdlovsk) ^{[39] [40]} . The staff of the regional group was 45 people. ^[37] After the collapse of the USSR, the 10th, 11th, and 12th groups went to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, respectively, and formed the basis for the formation of national special purpose units ^{[41] [42] [43]} .

Currently, the structure of the Office "A" includes:

• headquarters;
• 5 departments (one department is constantly on a business trip in Chechnya) ^[21] ;
• regional departments and special services.

According to 2003 data, one department consisted of about 30 people, and one officer from the combat department accounted for several people from headquarters. The location of the main CPS base in 2003 was called Balashikha ^[21] .

At the time, the unit also served women, among whom are the FSB colonel Olga Spiridonova, the holder of the Order of Courage, and Major Irina Lobova, a participant in operations to free hostages in Dubrovka and in Beslan ^[44] . According to the head of the FSB FSB headquarters, women provided great psychological assistance to children rescued during the operation to free hostages at Dubrovka ^[45] .

Samples of small arms of the following types were seen on the weapons of Alpha fighters at different times .

Automatic machines

• AK-74 and its variants
• AS Val
• AK-12
• AK-105
• M4A1 and AR-15 ( limited use )
• HK416 ( limited use )
• HK417
• AN-94 ( limited use )

Light machine guns

• Pecheneg
• PKM

Sniper and Marxman rifles

• SVD and its variants
• Vintorez
• Accuracy International AWM
• Orsis T-5000

Submachine guns

• HK MP5
• PP-19-01 isp. 20 “Vityaz-SN”

Pistols

• Glock 19
• Glock 17
• AF-1 Strike One "Swift"
• MP-443 "Rook"

• In the public the urban legend of the “Alpha” group is as follows. On September 30, 1985, Shiites from the Islamic extremist organization Hezbollah kidnapped four Soviet diplomats in Beirut and shot one of them, Arkady Katkov, throwing the body on a football stadium and putting forward a number of demands. In response, the Alpha group arrived in Beirut, arrested a relative of a Hezbollah member, after which the prisoner was cut off from the genitals and shot in the head. According to one version, the severed genitalia were stuffed into the murdered man’s mouth and sent the body personally to Hezbollah’s head Imada Mugnii , and according to another version, the operatives dismembered the killed man’s body and sent him to the Hezbollah’s official who ordered the abduction and enclosed a letter with a list of relatives of all members of Hezbollah and a warning of the following nature: “If Soviet diplomats are not released, all members of the“ Party of God ”will end their lives in the same way as this person.” After that, Hezbollah allegedly immediately freed the surviving hostages - Valery Myrikov, Nikolay Svirsky and Oleg Spirin. The source of this legend is the book “The Perfect Kill: 21 Rule of the Killer” ( born The Perfect Kill: 21 laws for assassins ) by CIA employee Robert Behr ^[46] . However, in the words of Colonel of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation , retired Yuri Perfilyev , in 1985 a resident of Soviet intelligence in Lebanon did not, in reality, since the USSR could not legally or physically use any military units like Alpha or "Pennant" for the release of hostages, and the rumors about the use of special forces were inspired by American film fighters. All three Soviet diplomats were released only after long negotiations in which the Palestinians, Iranians and Shiites were involved, and pressure receptions: during the negotiations, someone from the Arab paramilitary groups dealt with several members of Hezbollah and instilled in them the idea that they had stolen diplomats revenge the Soviet military ^[47] .
• About the Alpha Special Forces in 2005, two step-by-step computer strategies were developed by the Russian company MiST Land South : the game Alpha: Antiterror and the independent addition to it Alpha: Antiterror. Men's work . Browsers of computer games noted the extremely high realism of both strategies, which, at the same time, considerably complicated the process and made the player experience all the difficulties of managing special forces and making decisions in critical situations ^{[48] [49]} .

• Special Purpose Division
• Day of special forces
• Thunder (Special Forces)

In Russian

• Boltunov M. Ye. “Alpha” is a top-secret KGB detachment. - M .: Kedr, 1992. - 208 p. - 100 000 copies - ISBN 5-7037-0257-7 .
• Boltunov M.E. "Alpha" did not want to kill. - SPb. : Chance, 1995. - 400 p. - (Lawlessness). - 51 000 copies - ISBN 5-900740-09-9 .
• Boltunov M.Ye. Golden Stars of Alpha. - M .: Kuchkovo Pole, SDYuSSE, 2009. - 156 p. - 1500 copies - ISBN 978-5-9950-0058-7 .
• North A. M. “Special Forces of the KGB. The neck of secrecy has been removed! ” - M .: “Yauza Eksmo ”, 2008. - p. 625-648, 687-710, 732-763. - 800 s. - 5000 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-30397-7 .

In English

• Christopher Andrew , Vasili Mitrokhin . The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archives and the Secret History of the KGB. - New York: Basic Books, 1999. - p. 389—391. - ISBN 0-465-00310-9 .
• David Cox. Close Protection: The Politics of Guarding Russia's Rulers . - Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. - ISBN 978-0-275-96688-1 .
• Barry Davies. Guide to Espionage Techniques. - Carlton Books Ltd, 2005. - ISBN 1-84442-577-0 .
• David Satter . Age of Delirium: The Decline and the Fall of the Soviet Union. - New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2001. - ISBN 0-300-08705-5 .

Sites

• Association of veterans of special forces "Alpha". // alphagroup.ru
• “Special Forces of Russia” - newspaper of the Association of veterans of the “Alpha” group. // specnaz.ru
• Special Forces Security. // agentura.ru
• FSB special center. // agentura.ru
• Site about special forces of Russia. // spec-naz.org
• FSB special forces training // airsoftpowerplay.com

Press

• Unprecedented losses of Alpha (Russian) // Kommersant . - 2004. - September 6 ( No. 164 ).
• A letter to the deputy Yuri Shchekochikhin from the fighters of the Alpha group: “They turn us into a variety attraction” (Rus.) // Novaya Gazeta . - 2003. - May 12th ( No. 33 ).
• Pavel Evdokimov. History of the anti-terrorist operations of the group "Alpha" (rus.) // Brother . - 2009. - August.
• Eva Mercacheva. A veteran of the secret group "Alpha" revealed secrets about serving in the KGB (Rus.) . Moscow Komsomol member (July 26, 2015). The appeal date is June 21, 2019.
• How to get to the special forces of the FSB. Practical advice from ... Community of veterans of special forces of Russia, the CIS and the former USSR // spec-naz.org (February 21, 2013)

Video

• VIDEO. Documentary film "Group" Alpha ". People of special purpose "(production - CJSC" Ostankino Broadcasting Company "", 2014; scriptwriters - Elena Shilova, Sergey Medvedev; director - Vera Travkina). Channel One // 1tv.ru
• Klim Sanatkin, correspondent . VIDEO. News. Legendary special unit "Alpha" celebrates anniversary. Channel One // 1tv.ru (July 29, 2014)