Soviet and Russian Military Special Forces
The elite units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were mostly formerly controlled by the military intelligence GRU (Spetsnaz GRU). They were heavily involved in the wars in Afghanistan in the 1980s and in Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as in the training of pro-Soviet forces and various secret operations during the Cold War. The Russian Airborne Troops (VDV, a separate branch of the Russian Armed Forces) have the 45th Independent Guards Spetsnaz Regiment. Since 2010, as a result of the 2008 military reforms, GRU special forces come under the control of the Ground Forces.
Most units of the military Spetsnaz have no official names and are generally referred to by the type of its formation (company, battalion and brigade) and a number, much like any other Soviet or Russian military unit. An exception was given to the ethnic Chechen Special Battalions Vostok and Zapad ("east" and "west") during the 2000s.
List of Spetsnaz units in the Russian Armed Forces in 2012:
- Russian Ground Forces
- Western Military District
- 2nd Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- 16th Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- Southern Military District
- 10th Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- 22nd Independent Guards Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- 346th Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- 25th Independent Spetsnaz Regiment (opSpN)
- Central Military District
- 3rd Independent Guards Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- 24th Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- Eastern Military District
- 14th Independent Spetsnaz Brigade (obrSpN)
- Western Military District
- Russian Airborne Troops
- 45th Independent Guards Spetsnaz Regiment (opSpN VDV)
- Russian Navy
- 42nd Independent Naval Reconnaissance Spetsnaz Point (omrpSpN - Pacific Fleet)
- 420th Independent Naval Reconnaissance Spetsnaz Point (omrpSpN - Northern Fleet)
- 431st Independent Naval Reconnaissance Spetsnaz Point (omrpSpN - Black Sea Fleet)
- 561st Independent Naval Reconnaissance Spetsnaz Point (omrpSpN - Baltic Fleet)
Read more about this topic: Russian Spetsnaz
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