Special Operations Forces (Russia)
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly known as the Special Operations Forces (SOF; Russian: Силы специальных операций; ССО, romanized: Sily spetsial’nykh operatsiy; SSO),[19][20] are strategic-level special forces under the Special Operations Forces Command (Russian: командование сил специальных операций; KCCO, romanized: Komandovanie sil spetsial’nykh operatsii; KSSO or KSO)[20] of the General Staff[20] of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is also a structural and an independent unit of the Armed Forces.
Special Operations Forces
2009
Russia
2,000 to 2,500[1]
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Kubinka-2, Moscow region
Black
27 February
- Counter-piracy operations[2]
- Insurgency in the North Caucasus[3]
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
Campaign battles:
- Latakia Offensive[6]
- First battle of Palmyra[7]
- Second Ithriyah-Raqqa offensive[8]
- ISIL offensive on Palmyra[9]
- Aleppo counteroffensive[10]
- Operation Dawn of Victory[10]
- Second battle of Palmyra
- Eastern Homs offensive[11]
- North Hama offensive[12]
- Operation Grand Dawn[13]
- East Hama offensive[14]
- Operation Khuzam[15]
- Hama counteroffensive
- Battle of Deir ez-Zor[16]
- Euphrates Crossing offensive
- Mayadin offensive
- Operation Fajr-3
- Liberation of whole western bank of the Euphrates
- Operation Damascus Steel[17]
- Eastern Qalamoun offensive
- Operation Dawn of Idlib[18]
Major General Valery Flyustikov
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The first units of what would become the Special Operations Forces were transferred from the GRU in 2009 as part of the continuing 2008 Russian military reform.[20] The Special Operations Forces Command was established in 2012 and announced in March 2013 by the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.[21][22] According to Gerasimov, the SOF was designed as a strategic-level asset, elite special operations force units of the KSSO whose primary missions would be foreign interventions including counter-proliferation, foreign internal defense operations and undertaking the most complex special operations and clandestine missions for protecting interests of the Russian Federation.[23][24]
SOF are distinct from the Spetsnaz GRU that until 2010 were under the Main Intelligence Directorate and whose subsequent subordination was left unclear[25][21] until 2013 where the decision was reversed and GRU special forces units were reassigned to GRU divisions and placed under GRU authority again.[26] Russia's SOF are manned exclusively by professional personnel hired on contract, of which all are full-time servicemen consisting of commissioned officers and regular soldiers.[21]
On 26 February 2015, President Vladimir Putin decreed that 27 February be the Day of the SOF, according to multiple Russian official news agencies[27] (albeit not acknowledged formally), to mark the establishment of Russian control over the building of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Simferopol, Crimea on 27 February 2014.[28][21]
History[edit]
Within the Russian Federation[edit]
In 2009, as a part of the comprehensive reform of the Russian Federation's Armed Forces, Special Operations Directorate, subordinate directly to the Chief of the General Staff, was created on the basis of the GRU's 322nd Specialist Training Center in the Moscow region (Military Unit 92154).[20] The unit saw extensive action in the Caucasus region and earned the nickname podsolnukhi (sunflowers), a nickname given to the soldiers assigned to the unit while serving in Chechnya. It was reported that Colonel Oleg Martianov, who later became a member of the board of the Military-Industrial Commission, was one of the founders and first commander of the SOF from 2009 to 2013.[32]
In 2012, the Special Operations Directorate was reorganized as Special Operations Command, which was followed by plans to upscale the Forces manpower up to 9 special purpose brigades.[21]
On 6 March 2013, General Valery Gerasimov announced the creation of the Special Operations Forces. While speaking to foreign military attaches in Moscow, he said: "After reviewing the practice of the formation, training and the use of special operations forces in the leading countries of the world, Russia's Defense Ministry has also begun to create them... A corresponding command was created, which is engaged in planning work and implements a plan of training of the Armed Forces... A set of documents has already been elaborated to determine the direction of development, methods of training and application of these forces".[22][33]
On 15 March 2013, according to Russian media reports, the creation of the Special Operations Center of the Ministry of Defense for around 500 professional soldiers began in the suburban village of Kubinka-2. The Formation of the Center was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. The center would be directly subordinate to the Special Operations Forces Command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
At the end of April 2013, units of the Special Operations Forces conducted a special tactics exercise at Elbrus mountains at an altitude of 4,500 meters. The exercise was dedicated to practice transportation of one of the SOF units by military transport aviation and army aviation, as well as air insertion of personnel and cargo into target the area.[34][35]
During peacetime, the SOF may also be called in to execute certain specialised homeland security operations. In May 2013, the General Staff said that the unit would be tasked with security of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and that the SOF now comprised air and naval components.[36] Again, when Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the SOF and FSB special forces units took charge of ensuring the security.[37]
The SOF also conducted counter-terrorism and special operations during the insurgency in the North Caucasus region disguised as other Spetsnaz units.
On 2 December 2017, an unnamed mountain with a height of 3,939 meters located on the Sudor ridge in the Irafsky District of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, was named "Mountain of Special Operations Forces".[38]
Outside the Russian Federation[edit]
The SOF has also taken part in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, clashing with Somali pirates.
In late February 2014, an unknown number of SOF operators alongside other Russian troops entered Crimea disguised as "little green men" and captured the Crimean Parliament and also began the blockading and capturing of other significant and strategic sites across the peninsula.[4][5]
SOF combat operations in Syria, which began covertly in late 2015[39] became more visible by January 2016 with the successful Latakia offensive. They played a crucial role in the Palmyra offensive, provided support to the Syrian Army attempting the recapturing of Raqqa, repelling the ISIL offensive on Palmyra and throughout the Syrian push for Aleppo in the same year.[10]
They returned during the Second battle of Palmyra in 2017 and saw action throughout the year in the Eastern Homs offensive, North Hama offensive, Operation Grand Dawn, the East Hama offensive, Operation Khuzam, rescuing a Russian Military Police unit in the Idlib de-escalation zone and the entirety of the Eastern Syria campaign. The SOF also contributed to the success of the Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign in 2018 and Operation Dawn of Idlib in 2019.
On 11 December 2017, SOF units provided top-level security for the unannounced visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Syria at Khmeimim Air Base by covering the most dangerous directions from sea, air and land. Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu later personally thanked all the military personnel involved for their exemplary performance of the task.[40]
In February 2022, the SOF was involved in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, conducting covert operations targeting critical military infrastructure and support systems of Ukraine and reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines.[41]
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