"Vympel" - a special detachment of the KGB of the USSR and the FSB of Russia

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Each state has its own special forces to carry out highly specific combat missions. In Russia, the Vympel special forces are rightly considered such a unit. Today, as in Soviet times, fighters hide their faces behind masks, and receive awards behind closed doors. Even their relatives do not know about all the details of the work of the “specialists”. For over twenty years, the Vympel detachment has been defending the interests of the state and is considered one of the best Russian special forces.

About Russian special forces

Special Forces are the elite troops, which can get into not just the best, but the best fighters. There are several detachments operating in Russia, the tasks of which are very similar. The fight against terrorism is considered their main function. However, each division has its own characteristics. According to military experts, the most effective of themare the units "Vympel" and "Alpha". Since these structures have a lot in common, it is easy to confuse them.

About the first anti-terror unit

In 1974, the first anti-terrorist detachment of category "A" was formed in the Soviet Union. The unit was named "Alpha" and was in the department of the USSR State Security Committee. Using special tactics and means, the fighters carried out counter-terrorist operations: they searched for and neutralized (or eliminated) criminals, freed hostages and seized buildings, took part in hostilities in hot spots and prevented terrorist acts. This special purpose detachment was involved in the settlement of military conflicts in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Alpha became a departmental detachment of the Federal Security Service. The officers and soldiers of this unit have the highest physical and military training and are ready to perform the most difficult tasks.

About illegal intelligence of the MGB

According to experts, the formation of "Vympel" was not carried out overnight. The long-term way of creating the group was hard and thorny. In the post-war years, the NKVD unit, controlled by the MGB, operating outside the Soviet Union, had to be curtailed. Instead of the employees of this department, who were involved in the elimination of accomplices of the Nazis and bandits, in the 70s this function began to be performed by the 8th special department of the KGB Directorate "C". According to experts, the liquidation of Bendery was carried out by an employee of the fourth departmentMGB. However, the Soviet leadership considered that it was not advisable to carry out shadow operations. The 8th special department became a new information and research intelligence body, whose employees, using various operational means, tracked their NATO counterparts. In addition, the illegal intelligence of the State Security Committee was preparing a reserve outside the Union.

About KUOS

In 1968, special courses for the improvement of officers (KUOS) were created in the KGB department. For officers serving in the territorial bodies of state security, in the event of a possible war, mandatory special training was provided, after which the fighters could easily cope with any reconnaissance and sabotage tasks. Subsequently, these people became the basis of the Zenith, Thunder, Cascade and Alpha groups.

About Vympel Special Forces

The initiators of the creation of the group were the chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yu. V. Andropov and the head of the First Main Directorate "C" of the State Security Committee Yu. I. Drozdov. The Vympel detachment was formed by a resolution of the Council of Ministers and the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee in August 1981. At a closed meeting, it was decided to create a top secret detachment, whose powers would extend beyond the borders of the Union. The fighters had to act both in special periods and in peacetime. Their main task is to defend the interests of the country in the world. On August 18, after the signing of the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, the Separate Training Center of the State Security Committee (OTC) was established. Such an offici althe name was given to the Vympel detachment.

Headed a special purpose group (GSN) Hero of the Soviet Union E. G. Kozlov. Yu. I. Drozdov was the mentor of the Vympel special forces. The employees of the group received the definition of "special forces intelligence officers." On the chevrons of the fighters there was an inscription: "To serve and protect." Initially, the anthem of the special forces "Vympel" was the song "The battle subsided at the blown-up bridge" by Y. Kirsanov. In 2005, a new anthem was written for the detachment by P. Boloyangov. The song was called "We are not known by sight." The initiator of the changes was Valery Kiselev, Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Fund for Employees and Veterans of the Vympel-Garant Special Forces. Since 2006, P. Boloyangov's song has been officially approved as the detachment's anthem.

Officers of the group

The special forces of the KGB of the USSR "Vympel" included officers who served in the territorial bodies of state security, "special officers" of the committee of the State Security Committee and the border troops. The group also included officers who passed through Afghanistan from the Zenith and Cascade detachments. In 1979, members of these units successfully stormed Amin's palace and other government facilities in Kabul. Before being enrolled in the Vympel detachment, they completed a course of special training for the improvement of officers (KUOS). Initially, only the operational staff from the KGB officers was selected for Vympel. Of the applicants, even very experienced professionals, not everyone got into the detachment. The bar during the selection was so high that out of twenty people they took only two. As a result, after the firstselection, the size of the group did not exceed 1 thousand fighters. In the future, the ranks of the special forces were replenished with border guards and army men.

On the training of Vympel special forces

According to experts, the training of one unit fighter cost the country a quarter of a million rubles. In those days it was an impressive amount. For example, a Soviet citizen spent at least 8 thousand rubles on the maintenance of a corporate apartment, a Volga could be bought for 10 thousand. Instructors took the training of Vympel employees seriously. Soldiers must be fluent in two foreign languages and have operational experience. For mountain training, the best Soviet climbers were involved. Diving and the development of underwater sabotage techniques were taught to the "Vympel" on the Black Sea by specialists from the Main Intelligence Directorate.

Judging by some sources, a characteristic feature of the Vympel fighter was a constant desire to learn new skills and learn from experience. During joint exercises with colleagues in Vietnam, the Vympelians mastered the art of camouflage and swimming with short breathing tubes. From the fighters of the Cuban special services, the "Black Wasps", the Soviet "specialists" adopted the technique of silent movement in the jungle. High intellectual and physical training provided the Vympel fighters with awareness of the customs of the countries in which they needed to work, mastery of special combat tactics in a variety of conditions. In addition, each employee must be able to drive a car and any military equipment, use all types of weapons, master the art of hand-to-hand combat.

Fromoperational disciplines in preparation, much attention was paid to recruitment, work with informants, the ability to disguise, organize communications and caches. According to Vympel employees, each fighter was subjected to psychological training. Its essence was that during training, instructors, setting a task for a student, did not provide him with an algorithm of actions.

For example, as one of the "specialists" recalls, having received the task to climb a rock, the group began to perform, although until that moment they had no idea how to do it. Without theory and prior preparation, the students faced various difficulties. The purpose of this technique is to develop the ability of the fighters of the unit to overcome their own weaknesses and doubts. The training took five years.

About goals and objectives

Employees of the group carried out the following functions:

• Performed illegal intelligence activities on the territory of various states.
• Created agent networks.
• Released hostages and buildings and other objects seized by terrorists.
• Formed filtration networks.
• Infiltrated the intelligence services and military organizations of other countries. The main goal of such activities is espionage and further physical elimination of persons posing a threat to the USSR.
• Organized coups and overthrow of political regimes.
• Carried out sabotage at strategically important enemy targets. Employees"Vympel" was also engaged in disorganization in the rear and sabotage.

About service during the years of the USSR

The detachment was originally created specifically for the cold wars. However, the division fell to work in hot spots. Afghanistan, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America became the arena in which the Vympel special forces carried out their operations. The emergence of US-funded puppet regimes, sometimes carried out with the involvement of American "specialists", convinced the leadership of the State Security Committee that one must always be ready to participate in a hybrid war or a color revolution.

An example is the events of the Prague Spring, when a coup d'état was organized by Western intelligence agencies in order to deprive the USSR of its most important ally. Then the Internal Affairs Directorate of Czechoslovakia carried out a large-scale and expensive military operation "Danube". The current situation was stabilized, but, as experience has shown, with a serious approach to business, the overthrow of the regime is possible with small forces.

In 1990, Vympel employees and Cuban special forces conducted joint exercises to eliminate a conditional junta in a conditional country. Also, Soviet "specialists" conducted training activities on the territory of the Union with the destruction of "terrorists" and the release of important military and industrial facilities. After the exercises, each fighter prepared a report, which was later used to eliminate the shortcomings in the facility's security system.

In order to destabilize the situation in Bulgaria and the Soviet republics of Transcaucasia by NATO command under the guise of military maneuvers onthe territory of Turkey and Greece, a special operation Arch Bay Express was carried out. In response to the actions of the Western intelligence services, the little-known operation Chesma was carried out there by the Vympelovtsy. According to Soviet experts, having left a legacy in the region, NATO provided KGB intelligence officers with rich material for the creation of a closed film "According to the received data", which was intended for the Committee of the Armed Forces of the USSR. State security operatives put forward a request to members of the committee to prevent a possible kindling of a fire in the south of the Soviet Union. However, at that time the percentage of adherents to the idea of perestroika was very high, and the warnings of the operatives were ignored.

After the collapse of the Union

In 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation attempted to impeach B. Yeltsin. Troops were sent to Moscow. Tanks opened fire on opponents of the president who had settled in the White House. The members of the Vympel and Alpha special forces were ordered to storm the White House.

The Vympelites refused to carry out the command, as they understood that by their actions they were creating a new civil war. In 1991, the group became the power body of the Ministry of Security. Since 1993, Vympel has been subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The group was renamed "Vega". As a result of these changes, many fighters transferred to foreign intelligence (SVR), the federal counterintelligence service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In 1995, the President of Russia signed a decree on returning the detachment to its former name and transferring it to the FSB.

Our days

According to experts, the fightersTsSN FSB "Vympel" no longer conduct shadow operations in other states. The unit's employees counter terrorism in Russia. Daghestan and Chechnya are prominent examples.

Together with the “specialists” of “Alpha”, the “Vympelovtsy” acted in Beslan and Dubrovka. Today, the unit's employees ensure security on the territory of the Crimean peninsula.

About heroes

The highest award of Russia - the title of Hero of the Russian Federation - was awarded posthumously to the following members of the special forces:

• To Colonel Balandin A. V.
• Majors Dudkin V. E. and Romashin S. V.
• To lieutenant colonels Ilyin O. G., Medvedev D. G., Myasnikov M. A., Razumovsky D. A.
• To Lieutenant Turkin A. A.

Also, the title of Hero of the Russian Federation was awarded to Colonels Bocharov V. A. and Shavrin S. I.

To fight terrorism

In Soviet times, the Vympel squad was a very secret organization. Not even every state security officer knew that such a group existed. For this reason, most of the documentation about the activities of this detachment is still classified. According to experts, the requirements for the physical training of "Vympel" are exactly the same as for the "Alpha" fighters. Both units counter terrorism.

However, there are differences between these services. For example, Alfa is more focused on combating domestic terrorism, while Vympel employees mainly operate outside the country. The latter also work at such facilities with a high degree of complexity, such as nuclear power plants, dams, and various factories.

"Alpha" consists mainly of people related to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This detachment is focused more on protecting the interests of the state. Vympel recruits military personnel who perform sabotage and reconnaissance missions and protect the interests of the civilian population. It is difficult to determine which of these special forces is the best. The fact that both divisions are very important for the country is considered indisputable.