Chechen war special forces. GRU special forces operations in Chechnya. And everyone is a hero

Losses of special forces in Chechnya 1994-1996.

Human losses in special forces units of the GRU General Staff that took part in the First Chechen War of 1994-1996.

1. Special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities from the North Caucasus Military District:
- district - 22 separate brigade of the Special Forces of the GRU with forces of 173 special forces, supplemented by personnel of 411 special forces;
- 67th Army Corps with forces of 800 Special Forces;
- 58th Combined Arms Army (until the spring of 1995 - 42nd Army Corps) by the 876th Special Forces;
- 205th motorized rifle brigade with forces of the 584th special forces;
- 173rd OOSpN 22 ObrSpN GRU SKVO lost 42 people killed. The detachment was in Chechnya from December 2, 1994 to January 1997 - almost the entire period of military operations there.
Died:
Efr. Dyuzheva Angela Yurievna
Mr. m/s Kosachev Sergei Ivanovich (posthumously Hero of Russia)
Lt Vinokurov Alexander Alekseevich
Lt Guzkov Andrey Viktorovich
Lt Kulenkovich Andrey Sergeevich
Lit Lakirev Sergey Petrovich
Lt Chernikov Vladimir Vladimirovich
ml. Sarygin Alexey Valentinovich
ml. Sr. Sharov Dmitry Anatolyevich
ml. s. Bychkov Viktor Nikolaevich
ml. s. Skibin Alexey Anatolyevich
ml. Sr. Fomin Alexander Viktorovich
pr-k Parshonkov Viktor Borisovich
Lt Kirichenko Oleg Nikolaevich
R. Avdoshkin Pavel Vasilievich
R. Basangov Mergen Nikolaevich
R. Bakhitov Alexey Zyevich
R. Deacon Evgeniy Viktorovich
R. Zakharov Gennady Nikolaevich
R. Zubkov Igor Mikhailovich
R. Kolenkin Alexander Viktorovich
R. Kolesyankin Vladimir Alexandrovich
R. Lapin Viktor Alexandrovich
R. Lugovenko Andrey Sergeevich
R. Mikhailov Andrey Sergeevich
R. Nosov Evgeniy Vladimirovich
R. Opolsky Oleg Nikolaevich
R. Panov Sergey Vladimirovich
R. Polovnikov Sergey Alexandrovich
R. Sych Alexander Ivanovich
R. Tarabupkin Dmitry Olegovich
R. Ubushaev Nikolay Vladimirovich
R. Shafalovich Andrey Nikolaevich
Sr. Ritter Viktor Viktorovich
S-t Turskiy Roman Alexandrovich
Sr. Yusupov Mikhail Yurievich
Art. Lt Kozlov Konstantin Mikhailovich
Art. Sr. Luzhkin Yuri Yurievich
st. Idaitov Rustam Tairovich
st. Sergeev Konstantin Vladislavovich
st. Yarovaya Boris Leonidovich

800 special forces of the 67th Army Corps were in Chechnya from April 15 to October 10, 1996. The following died in battles with illegal armed groups:
Mr. Bezulenko Igor Vladimirovich
st. Velengursky Ilya Vladimirovich

584 Special Forces of the 205th Omsbr was formed by May 1995 and took part in hostilities until the withdrawal of troops in 1996. Died:
R. Methodovsky Sergey Vladimirovich

Losses in other individual special forces companies are currently unknown to me.

2. From the Moscow Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 16th separate brigade of the GRU Special Forces by the forces of the 370th Special Forces;
- 20th Combined Arms Army with personnel of the 793rd Special Forces;
- 1st Guards Combined Arms (Tank) Army with personnel of the 806th Special Forces;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- The 370th special forces unit of the 16th special forces unit of the Moscow Military District lost 48 people killed (of which 35 people died as a result of an explosion in January 1995) and, apparently, after the explosion, immediately returned to Chuchkovo. Died:
ef. Borisov Igor Valentinovich
ef. Denisenkov Kirill Valerievich
ef. Popov Vladimir Viktorovich
Mr. Kozlov Valery Ivanovich
Mr. Kuzmin Viktor Valerievich
Mr. Laptev Vladimir Nikolaevich
Mr. Samsonenko Sergey Alexandrovich
Mr. Filatov Alexey Stepanovich
Mr. Chunkov Andrey Ivanovich
Mr. Shapovalov Oktavian Viktorovich
Litvinov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich
Jr.S-t Illarionov Pavel Vladimirovich
ml.s-t Korablev Alexey Anatolyevich
junior s-t Khokhlov Alexey Alekseevich
Mr. Bobko Alexander Ivanovich
Mr. Peremitin Andrey Ivanovich
Mr. Petryakov Igor Vladimirovich
Mr. Sanin Vitaly Nikolaevich
Mr. Frolov Alexander Vladimirovich
pr-k Komov Ruslan Mikhailovich
R. Abubakrov Roman Abudovich
R. Bakanov Sergey Vasilievich
R. Bobuchenko Eduard Robertovich
R. Bokov Dmitry Gennadievich
R. Volkov Vladimir Alekseevich
R. Voronov Sergey Alekseevich
R. Gomcharov Vladimir Vladimirovich
R. Gornoyashchenko Vladimir Yurievich
R. Grebennikov Nikolay Fedorovich
R. Davydov Vasily Borisovich
R. Demuth Edvin Yanisovich
R. Zavgorodny Andrey Alexandrovich
R. Zernov Alexey Vladimirovich
R. Katunin Andrey Vladimirovich
R. Lukashevich Pavel Vladimirovich
R. Mukovnikov Andrey Viktorovich
R. Mytarev Alexey Nikolaevich
R. Pionkov Alexey Nikolaevich
R. Rybakov Alexey Alexandrovich
R. Skrobotov Alexander Alexandrovich
R. Tsukanov Mikhail Vladimirovich
R. Shapochkin Anatoly Vladimirovich
R. Shestak Nikolay Petrovich
R. Shpachenko Pavel Vasilievich
R. Yablokov Igor Lvovich
R. Yatsuk (Yashchuk) Sergei Vladimirovich
Art. pr-k Mishin Anatoly Borisovich

3. From the Leningrad Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 2nd separate special forces brigade with forces of the 700th separate special forces detachment;
- variable personnel of the 1071st Special Forces training regiment after specialty training with transfer to active units;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- 700th ooSpN 2nd obrSpN LenVO lost 3 people. Died:
pr-k Girkevich Joseph Vyacheslavovich
ef. Mikhapev Sergey Mikhailovich
Art. pr-k Ryabchenyuk Nikolay Yakovlevich

4. From the Volga Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 3rd Guards Separate Special Forces Brigade by forces of the 503rd Separate Special Forces Detachment;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- 503rd ooSpN 3rd obrSpN PriVO lost 6 (?) people.
Died:
St. Ushakov Anton Borisovich (posthumously Hero of Russia)
senior s-t Bulushev Rem Shamilevich
R. Biryukov Alexander Mikhailovich
R. Tudiyarov Anatoly Mikhailovich
Mr. Tikhomirov Alexander Pavlovich

5. From the Ural Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 12th separate special forces brigade with forces of the 33rd separate special forces detachment;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- 33rd ooSpN 12th obrSpN Ural Military District lost 7 people killed. Died:
Senior Lieutenant Vladislav Alexandrovich Dolonin (posthumously Hero of Russia)
Lt Malukhin Sergey Vasilievich
R. Kalinin Vitaly Fedorovich
st. Bogdanov Dmitry Mikhailovich
R. Pipchenko Evgeniy Nikolaevich (perhaps not exactly)
R. Kryachkov Oleg Vyacheslavovich
junior s-t Dzhioev Georgy Kaspolovich

6. From the Siberian Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 67th separate special forces brigade with forces of the 691st separate special forces detachment;
- 41st Combined Arms Army with personnel of the 791st Special Forces.
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- The 691st Special Forces lost 14 people killed (not exactly). The brigade's units were in Chechnya from December 4, 1994 to October 22, 1996. Died:
Mr. Lelyukh Igor Viktorovich (posthumously Hero of Russia)
junior s-t Kazakov Vladimir Nikolaevich
pr-k Pronyaev Sergey Gennadievich
Lt Erofeev Dmitry Vladimirovich (posthumously Hero of Russia)
pr-k Zagorsky Andrey Vasilievich

7. From the Trans-Baikal Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 24th separate special forces brigade with forces of the 281st separate special forces detachment;
- 36th combined arms army with personnel of the 18th separate company of the Special Forces;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- 281st OOSPN 24th OOSPN ZabVO lost 3 people. Died:
junior s-t Shishmarev Alexander Alexandrovich
Sr. Melentyev Georgy Petrovich
pr-k Zagorodniy Alexander Nikolaevich

8. From the Far Eastern Military District, special reconnaissance units, as well as personnel, took part in the hostilities:
- district - 14th separate Special Forces brigade by the forces of a combined detachment formed on the basis of the 308th Special Forces detachment;
The following casualties were suffered in battles with illegal armed groups:
- The 308th special forces unit of the 14th special forces unit of the Far Eastern Military District lost 3 people killed. The detachment was in Chechnya from January 17, 1995 to April 27, 1995. Died:
Mr. Semenov Konstantin Nikolaevich
Mr. Kolesnik Mikhail Vasilyevich (by the way, the son of Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Kolesnik)
R. Tuchkov Stepan Ivanovich

9. From the Navy, special fleet reconnaissance units - special-purpose naval reconnaissance posts - took part in the hostilities.
In particular, as part of the 879th separate air assault battalion of the 336th Guards Marine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet, a special reconnaissance group of the 431st special purpose naval reconnaissance point of the Black Sea Fleet fought in Chechnya. Art. died in battles with illegal armed groups. Lt Stobetsky Sergey Anatolyevich.
As part of the 165th Marine Regiment, ensign Andrey Vladimirovich Dneprovsky of the 42nd Special Purpose Naval Reconnaissance Point of the Pacific Fleet fought and died.

Number of impressions: 3930

See also Spetsnaz.org.

During the period of hostilities in the Caucasus, little was known about the operations of Russian special forces. Only the facts of punctures that occurred among Russian special forces during the Chechen campaign became public.

The first serious setback occurred on January 7th. On this day, a special forces detachment of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) from the 22nd Special Forces Brigade was surrounded. The militants captured 48 people, plus the Chechens captured the latest types of silent weapons. Such as the previously considered secret Vintorez sniper rifle. On the evening of January 24, a tragedy occurred with the battalion, with the 16th separate special forces brigade. In an instant, as a result of the explosion of a three-story building, 45 people were buried alive under the rubble, and another 28 scouts were shell-shocked and injured.

Everything else is shrouded in mystery. Although special forces took an active part in the storming of Grozny and in other operations of this war. At the end of February, at the airport in Mineralnye Vody, I talked with an officer from Chechnya who had a special forces patch on his sleeve. A young, strong-looking guy with a bandaged head was severely shell-shocked and pondered for a long time what was said to him. He also uttered response phrases for a long time, stuttering heavily and drawing out his words. How little he resembled the iron Rambo or other heroes of Western action films, thanks to which the civilian man in the street had an image of an omnipotent Superman that was far from reality.

What about civilians? Some military personnel during the battles in Grozny advocated the capture of the Chechen capital exclusively by special forces units. In essence, proposing to assign the functions of conventional combined arms units to intelligence officers. Which in itself is stupidity. Special forces can do a lot, but not everything. Moreover, most of the people who serve in it are yesterday’s schoolchildren, and not professional soldiers like the American “Green Berets” and Rangers. But the “Green Berets” also made mistakes and made mistakes many times; let’s remember, for example, October 1993, Somalia. In two days, 18 Yankees from special forces died there.

My interlocutor, who gave his name as Konstantin, fought in Chechnya, in a GRU special forces battalion. He agreed to talk about some of the events that he witnessed and participated in.

Before Chechnya, Konstantin served for almost a year in the Samara special forces brigade, which was withdrawn from Germany. Our fellow countryman was a squad commander in a special operations company. What is a special event? Mining, ambushes, all kinds of sabotage on enemy territory, capture of prisoners. I had to jump with a parachute.

In total, Kostya made 6 jumps. Is it a lot or a little? Considering the lack of funding for combat training, just right. Much attention was paid to maintaining sufficient physical shape. Every Saturday forced marches of 10 kilometers were carried out. Every day the soldiers ran at a distance of 3-5 kilometers. Classes were conducted in hand-to-hand combat and many other things that could be useful in combat conditions. It helped Konstantin a lot that he went in for sports before being drafted into the army. Although, according to Kostya, hand-to-hand combat was taught rather superficially, and the classes were mostly purposeful, such as silently removing a sentry. Twice a week there was fire training - shooting from small arms.

Konstantin believes that the level of knowledge he received was sufficient. In any case, he exceeded the training of motorized rifle soldiers many times over. Many motorized riflemen did not even hold a machine gun in their hands before Chechnya.

The 33rd special forces battalion was formed in Yekaterinburg. Kostya and several other guys from Mordovia were transferred there. The guys didn’t know exactly where they would be sent, but they guessed that it would be a hot spot - Georgia or Chechnya. Moreover, events in the latter began to develop with catastrophic speed. At the new duty station, the emphasis was placed on mine demolition training, and terrain navigation skills were improved. Survival courses were conducted.

In mid-January, a battalion consisting of two hundred soldiers was transferred to Chechnya. They were located in the Northern district, in the building of some kind of hostel. We went into combat for the first time on January 23. The front line at that time passed along the Sunzha River. And a group of 10 people went to the area of ​​the Dudayev Palace. The streets were heavily shelled. Before reaching the place, they dismounted and after a little while ran towards the institute building. Bullets flew overhead in a swarm. We safely reached the building and sat in it for two days, adjusting artillery fire. And they returned back without losses.

The most serious fighting broke out again in mid-February, when the assault on Minutka Square began. The group in which Konstantin was during this operation found itself in serious trouble for the first time. This happened at one of the checkpoints. At night, two special forces groups positioned themselves on the front line. They took cover behind a brick wall. The tension of the last few days took its toll, and the special forces relaxed - they lost their vigilance: they began to talk, some even lit a cigarette. According to Konstantin, surveillance of the area was not carried out at all.

They heard that a large group of people was moving towards them. From the post they shouted: “Stop! Password!" Silence in response. And the sound of the fire switches being removed from the safety locks. When the soldiers shouted again from the post, they shouted in response: “Allah Akbar!” and they opened fire on the special forces. Our guys lay down and started shooting back. The gunman who shouted “Allahu Akbar” was the first to receive a bullet. It was taken by a Russian sniper using a rifle with a night sight. One of the officers initially demanded a ceasefire. Another of our reconnaissance groups was supposed to return from a mission, and it could come under fire. Of course, no one listened to him. Some even sent him away in anger.

The shootout lasted for about twenty minutes. Some of the militants tried to attack ours, breaking into a nearby house. The special forces threw several grenades at its windows, loud groans from the wounded were heard, and they were finished off with a couple more grenades. In total, the Chechens lost about a dozen killed. The special forces lost two seriously wounded. One guy was hit in the chest by three bullets, miraculously missing his heart. In another, the bullet entered the head behind the ear and exited in the tailbone area. The guys were bandaged and injected with Parmedol so that they would not die from painful shock. The wounded were left under the cover of one group, and Kostya’s unit went on a mission. In the morning they reported that the guys were safely evacuated. Later it became known that they were operated on in the hospital; their lives were not in danger.

Their group suffered the most serious losses later, when the Chechen capital was liberated. The army led an offensive towards Gudermes. A group in an armored personnel carrier went on reconnaissance - to the rear of the Chechen bandits. Their task was to penetrate as deeply as possible behind the front line. Moving forward, from time to time they stopped and contacted the command. The commanders ordered them to move on. Having driven up one of the hills, they saw a ZIL truck with cows in the back. The Chechens sitting in the cabin tried to “make their legs.” One was killed, the other was caught. A plan quickly emerged. The group included a 27-year-old contract soldier, Armenian by nationality. Putting on an Olympic jersey over his uniform, he sat in the booth with the Chechens. Other special forces soldiers loaded into the back, and the armored personnel carrier followed. The road twisted and the armored personnel carrier fell behind.

After some time, their ZIL was stopped by militants. There were three of them. A Chechen grenade launcher took aim at a car. The second militant was armed with a machine gun, the third carried a machine gun. The officer sitting in the back said that he would hit the Chechens with a grenade launcher. Another soldier was supposed to open fire with a machine gun. Others are required to leave the truck as quickly as possible.

The officer jumped up and fired at the militants from a disposable Mukha grenade launcher. But the jet stream of hot gases touched the ear of the soldier in the back, who was supposed to cover everyone with machine gun fire. The stunned soldier got up and began to randomly “water” the area with his Kalashnikov. A contract soldier sitting in the cockpit killed another Chechen. Only three managed to jump out of the car. Here heavy fire was opened on the truck, and all the remaining 7 people were injured of varying degrees of severity. The survivors began to pull out the seriously wounded. The lightly wounded also helped each other. At this time, an armored personnel carrier jumped out from behind the rock and began hitting the militants’ positions with a heavy machine gun. A few moments later, the armored personnel carrier was hit by an RPG. The gunner sitting behind the machine gun was also injured; he was saved by the driver. Everyone took cover behind the armored personnel carrier.

Another group rushed to their aid. At the beginning, the guys tried to get around the Chechens from the rear, but they also ran into fire and were forced to go the same road as the previous group, in which Konstantin was. The battle became hot. The Chechen bandits, realizing that they were dealing with insignificant forces of Russian troops, formed a chain and went on the attack. The situation was becoming critical, especially since the special forces began to run out of ammunition. The approaching armored personnel carrier took the damaged car in tow, and the special forces began to retreat, hiding behind armored personnel carriers. There was a continuous roar from the bullets hitting the sides. We went up the hill. One of the officers tried to help the driver of the car onto the road. The bullet hit the senior lieutenant in the head, and he fell dead in front of his shocked fellow soldiers. Another soldier suddenly began gasping for air. Bloody foam appeared on the lips. The guy groaned: “I was hit.” They tried to help him, but it was too late, he died.

Due to lack of communication, half an hour later a third reconnaissance group ran into the same ambush. These guys were lucky - they had no losses.

According to Konstantin, the army in Chechnya was not allowed to really fight. If not for the constant “ceasefires” ordered by Moscow, the Chechen campaign would have been over in two months.

My interlocutor honestly admitted that the army special forces were jealous of the riot police and how they were equipped. The army did not have such equipment. But the fighters had to make many details of the uniform themselves, often picking up a thread and a needle. The special forces soldier believes that the infantry bore the brunt of the fighting on their shoulders. The Marines fought well. Kostya treats the internal troops with disdain.

Konstantin has a good opinion of most of the officers who served with him. Many of them went through Afghanistan and these people were on equal terms with the soldiers. Essentially, we ate from the same pot with them. They shared equally all the hardships and hardships with their subordinates. They did not hide behind the backs of their subordinates. There was high discipline in the battalion. As for alcohol, they did not abuse it too much there. The commanders said: “Guys, don’t drink. If you really want to, come over and we’ll sit together, but remember that we can go to combat at any moment, and our heads must be fresh.”

Returning home, Kostya quickly recovered from what he had seen there, although during the first weeks he had nightmares and often woke up at night.

| 10/16/2013 at 23:02

GRU SPECIAL FORCES IN CHECHNYA

During the first Chechen war of 1994-1996, Russian special forces were initially used only for reconnaissance. Due to the poor training of the ground units, the special forces had to take part in the assault groups. The battles of 1995 are considered the most tragic in the entire history of special forces not only in Russia, but also in the USSR, since the SN units suffered enormous losses at that time.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, difficult times came not only for the army, but also for special forces in particular. During the reorganizations and reforms, army special forces suffered enormous damage. From time to time, separate units of the brigades were sent to places of armed conflicts. For example, the 173rd detachment took part in eliminating unrest in Ossetia and Baku, and waged war on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Special forces soldiers of the 12th brigade of the Transcaucasian Military Corps took part in military operations on the territory of Azerbaijan and Tbilisi, and since 1991 in North Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The GRU special forces took the most active part during the battles of the first and second Chechen campaigns. During the first Chechen war of 1994-1996, combined and separate detachments from brigades of the Moscow, Siberian, North Caucasus, Ural, Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern military districts operated.
By the spring of 1995, all troops were withdrawn from Chechnya. Only a separate special forces detachment of the North Caucasus Military District remained in the republic, which took part in hostilities until the very end of the first war, and returned to its place of deployment only in the fall of 1996.
Alas, GRU special forces units were very often used as simple reconnaissance units within units and formations of the ground forces. This was especially often observed at the initial stage of hostilities. This use was a consequence of the rather low training of the personnel of the regular units of these ground forces units. For the same reason mentioned above, groups of GRU special forces soldiers were included in the assault groups of the ground forces. An example of this is the storming of Grozny. Such command decisions ultimately led to very high losses in special forces units. The battles of 1995 can be considered the most tragic for the entire long history of special forces of the USSR and Russia.

For example, at the beginning of January 1995, a group of the special forces detachment of the 22nd separate special forces brigade was surrounded and then captured. Another tragic accident occurred in Grozny, where an explosion occurred in a building housing a GRU special forces detachment from a brigade of the Moscow Military District.
Despite this, during the fighting in Chechnya, the special forces were able to develop their own inherent tactics. Thus, the most common technique was organizing ambushes. Very often, GRU special forces groups went on missions with information from military counterintelligence agencies, the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. With the help of such ambushes, field commanders who moved along the roads of the republic at night with little security were often destroyed.
In May 1995, several special forces units of the GRU brigade of the North Caucasus Military District participated in the operation to free hostages in Budennovsk. They did not directly participate in the storming of the hospital, but exercised control in the outskirts of the city, and then accompanied a convoy of buses with militants and hostages. In January 1996, a detachment of the GRU brigade of the North Caucasus Military District was transferred to an operation to free the hostages in the village of Pervomaisky. At the beginning of the operation, a special forces group of 47 people carried out a diversionary strike in order to draw back the main forces of the militants. At the final stage of the operation, the detachment inflicted significant losses on Raduev’s group breaking out of the village, despite the numerous superiority on the part of the militants. For this battle, five special forces officers were immediately awarded the title of Hero of Russia, one of them posthumously. During the fighting in Chechnya, the 173rd separate detachment, which took part in operations on the territory of the republic, was again equipped with military equipment. This made it possible to greatly increase the firepower of the special forces, as well as give mobility to existing reconnaissance groups. This period was also characterized by the fact that the recruitment of existing GRU special forces units began to be carried out with the help of contract servicemen. The level of education of such intelligence officers was quite high. At the same time, people with education were attracted there by fairly high and regular cash payments.

All the lessons that the first Chechen campaign taught Russian special forces were not forgotten. The level of combat training of the units has become significantly higher. It was also decided to resume competitions for the championship of special forces groups of the Armed Forces. There was an active exchange of experience with foreign colleagues.
In 1996, the Khasavyurt agreement was signed, according to which a precarious peace reigned in the North Caucasus. But it was clear to everyone that this conflict was far from settled by signing the papers. Also at that time there was a great danger of the spread of separatist ideas to the regions neighboring Chechnya, and primarily to Dagestan. By the end of 1997, the General Staff realized that Dagestan would be the first republic of the North Caucasus, which the separatists would try to tear away from Russia to create their own independent state in the Caucasus.

To counter this, already at the beginning of 1998, the 411th special forces detachment was transferred from the 22nd separate special forces brigade to Kaspiysk. A few months later, the 173rd Special Forces Detachment arrived in its place. And so they replaced each other until August 1999. Soldiers of the detachments were engaged in reconnaissance in Dagestan in areas bordering Chechnya, studying the system of protection and warning of the administrative border on the Chechen side. In addition, the detachments carried out work to monitor the movement and sale of clandestine petroleum products, which were coming in large quantities from the territory of Chechnya at that time. Also, together with detachments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, GRU special forces participated in operations to identify and suppress the illegal arms trade.
With the outbreak of hostilities, later known as the Second Chechen War, special forces provided federal troops with accurate intelligence data and exposed defensive structures and positions of militants. To solve these problems, first of all, the 8th separate special forces detachment was sent, as well as one company of the 3rd separate special forces detachment.
With the development of hostilities, the GRU special forces group was further strengthened by combined and separate detachments that arrived from almost all military districts of the country. At the same time, they were headed by the commander of the 22nd separate special forces brigade. After the main centers of illegal gangster formations on the territory of Dagestan were defeated, the troops moved to the territory of Chechnya. Special forces units were part of all military groups that were advancing from all directions. Initially, the special forces conducted active reconnaissance in the interests of the advancing troops. At the same time, not a single commander at the head of combined arms units began to move forward until permission was given by the commander of the GRU special forces group, who was carrying out reconnaissance in that area. In particular, it is precisely this tactic that explains the relatively low losses of federal troops while advancing towards Grozny.
Subsequently, GRU special forces collected intelligence information about the militant group that defended Grozny. And all the main defensive lines were revealed with a very high degree of reliability.
Subsequently, GRU special forces groups switched to their favorite tactics of search and ambush operations and organizing raids on discovered militant bases. This tactic worked especially well in the foothills and mountainous regions of the republic. Inspection teams also began to be actively used again, which, as in Afghanistan, operated from helicopters.
On October 24, 2000, GRU special forces celebrated the 50th anniversary of the creation of special-purpose companies. For special distinction in battles to ensure the security and integrity of the Russian Federation, the 22nd separate special forces brigade received the rank of guards in April 2001. It became the first unit since the end of the Great Patriotic War to be awarded such an honorary title.

Russian special forces took part in the Chechen conflict of 1994–1996 from the moment troops entered Chechnya - in combined and separate detachments. At first, special forces were used only for reconnaissance purposes.

Having begun to work independently, the special forces began to use their inherent tactics, primarily ambush actions. With the deployment of military operations in Dagestan against armed formations of Wahhabis, Chechen and international terrorists, special forces provided troops with intelligence data, revealing defensive structures and positions of militants.

In Chechnya, the special forces met with their old acquaintances from Afghanistan - Arab, Pakistani and Turkish mercenaries and instructors who used methods of sabotage and terrorist warfare against federal forces.

Special forces veterans recognized many of them by their handwriting, the choice of ambush sites, the features of mining, radio communications, evading pursuit, and the like.

Most of the uninvited guests, among them prominent field commanders and mercenaries, fell ingloriously from bullets and grenades of army special forces.

According to official, objective data, GRU special forces operate in Chechnya ten times more efficiently than other units. In terms of combat training and fulfillment of assigned tasks, the GRU special forces are in first place.

Russian special forces took an active part in the Chechen conflict. Combined and separate detachments operated from brigades of the Moscow, Siberian, North Caucasus, Ural, Transbaikal and Far Eastern military districts.

By the spring of 1995, the units were withdrawn from Chechnya, with the exception of a separate special forces detachment of the North Caucasus Military District, which fought until the end of hostilities and returned to its permanent location in the fall of 1996.

Unfortunately, special forces units, especially at the initial stage of hostilities, were used as reconnaissance units of units and formations of the Ground Forces.

This was a consequence of the low level of training of the personnel of the regular intelligence units of these units. For the same reason, especially during the assault on Grozny, special forces soldiers were included in the assault groups. This led to unjustified losses. 1995 can be considered the most tragic year for the entire history of special forces, both the USSR and Russia.

So, at the beginning of January 1995, a group of a special forces detachment of the 22nd Brigade Special Forces was captured. As a result of a tragic accident, an explosion occurred in Grozny in the building where the special forces detachment of the 16th brigade of the Moscow Military District was located.

However, subsequently the special forces began to act using their inherent tactics. The most common tactical method was ambush.

Often, special forces groups worked with intelligence information from military counterintelligence agencies, the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Field commanders traveling at night in all-terrain vehicles with little security were killed from ambushes.

In May 1995, special forces units of the North Caucasus Military District brigade took part in the operation to free hostages in Budennovsk.

They did not storm the hospital, but controlled the outskirts of the city, and subsequently accompanied a convoy with militants and hostages. In January 1996, one of the brigade’s detachments took part in the operation to free hostages in the village of Pervomaiskoye.

At the initial stage of the operation, a group of forty-seven people undertook a diversionary maneuver in order to draw back the main forces of the militants.

At the final stage, the detachment inflicted significant losses on Raduev’s group that was breaking through, despite the multiple numerical superiority of the militants. For this battle, five special forces officers were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, one of them posthumously.

This period is also characterized by the fact that the 173rd separate detachment operating in Chechnya was again equipped with military equipment, which made it possible to increase the firepower and mobility of the special forces supporting the activities of reconnaissance groups.

The recruitment of warring special forces units with contract servicemen has begun. The educational level of intelligence officers at that time was quite high. People with higher and secondary technical education were attracted by high and regular cash payments.

GRU special forces brigades in the wars in Chechnya

The most acute phase of operations in the North Caucasus and Chechnya in particular has already passed. But only for those who have never been closely involved with these events. Every GRU special forces soldier in Chechnya, videos of which can be found in large quantities in this article, is unlikely to ever forget every day spent in the Chechen Republic. This article is long overdue, and it’s not even that it’s approaching, there are simply topics that cannot be ignored.

Let's talk about the participation of special forces in the campaign against the militants of the Chechen field commanders. Or, more simply, about the GRU special forces in Chechnya. The video materials presented in the article will also arouse interest. It is also worth remembering the heroes of this war, or the counter-terrorism operation - as you prefer to call them. The essence will not change from this. Just as there is no way to return those guys from the GRU special forces brigades in Chechnya who remained forever looking at the mountains. Not through the sight of a machine gun, but from the sky.

Those who don’t know history are forced to go through the science all over again. And it would be wrong to forget about the high sacrifices of special forces in this terrible southern meat grinder. You can safely watch GRU special forces on television, stumble upon them in the news or in films, but not know their glorious history. Yes, this often happens. Therefore, it would not be out of place to talk about the nice tough guys from the GRU special forces brigades who honestly fulfilled their duty. And here you can watch a video of GRU special forces in Chechnya in good quality.

Chechen syndrome

What can I say, Russia has a long history, and all sorts of things have happened in it. Different people, different nations live on our vast territory, and even now there are people who secretly dream of independence. What can we say about the collapse of the USSR and the creation of new independent states. Many countries had independent sentiments, but only 15 Soviet socialist republics stood out. The aspirations of SA General Dzhokhar Dudayev did not come true.

The Ichkeria conflict is, of course, not only the battles of Dudayev against the GRU special forces in Chechnya. It just so happened that they were the most combat-ready units in the newly formed Russian army, which had lost in numbers, combat effectiveness, equipment and material resources. But it was pleasant to look at the GRU special forces - trained people, most of whom had gone through the crucible of fighting spooks in unfriendly Afghanistan.

The tough guys from the special forces brigades of the Main Intelligence Directorate became everyone in the units that served in Chechnya. Often, poorly trained recruits were thrown into the war, who were afraid even to shoot at the Wahhabis, who were well trained, radically minded, and well armed, with a machine gun. That is why the losses were extremely high. But with the special forces, everything was different - the elite, whatever one may say, are fighters who are prepared to destroy the enemy. If you watch various videos of GRU special forces in Chechnya, you can see how they perform often impossible tasks. But in the GRU special forces brigades there are no random people. It is a fact.

And everyone is a hero

I don’t know if you’ve heard about Senior Lieutenant Dolonin, who served in military intelligence e, V . Now this unit, unfortunately, no longer exists; it was disbanded as a result of the notorious reforms of the Russian army in 2009. But that's not the point. You are unlikely to find a mention of his feat in the collections of videos of the GRU special forces in Chechnya. Yes, and with films on this topic - extremely suitable, I note - it’s a bit difficult, frankly speaking. But the man showed incredible resilience: being seriously wounded, he covered the retreat of his practically surrounded comrades with machine gun fire for a long time. Senior Lieutenant Dolonin died, but his comrades from the 12th GRU Special Operations Brigade were saved from imminent death at the hands of Chechen militants.

People like Senior Lieutenant Dolonin are the quintessence of the entire essence of the role of special forces in the bloody war with the rebels. It was not at all embarrassing to look at the GRU special forces. They were proud of them, respected by their own and openly feared by their enemies. For killing a special forces soldier there was a separate, very large bonus plus promotion up the military ladder. But the soldiers of the GRU special forces brigades destroyed enemies and carried out combat missions rather than fall into the bloody clutches of the enemy and the cold hands of the goddesses of death.

No, of course, special forces soldiers died. It cannot be that the warring parties did not lose anyone - this is the prerogative of myths, cheap action films and all sorts of computer toys. The GRU special forces in Chechnya suffered very heavy losses, amounting to tens and hundreds of people. There were losses due to command errors and encirclement by enemies, from ambushes, during the performance of various tasks, including those that were and are considered impossible. But we are talking about the elite, the very best. Yes, there were losses, but if it weren’t for these soldiers, they would have had to send the best of the worst, and the losses would have been much greater. We must look at the GRU special forces as the force through which many young soldiers went through this school of survival and returned home alive.

Conclusion

I repeat once again: I am convinced and believe that the role of the GRU special forces in Chechnya is practically invaluable. Military intelligence units were the most combat-ready of all units in the Russian army, in principle, as they are now. That's how it should have been. And in wartime, their power, experience and hardening were very necessary to turn the tide of the war in their favor, so that the arriving guys felt more confident under the wing of strong defenders. A war without experienced people develops into a banal throwing of meat.

It is not for nothing that the collections of videos of the GRU special forces in Chechnya are quite large - often the tough guys from the special forces were on the front line, performing a variety of functions and tasks. The broad masses of the population often do not know the names and surnames of ordinary workers of the GRU special forces brigades, but if you wish, you can always get acquainted with the list of at least those who did not live to see the end of the war.

Military Intelligence Day is a very important holiday in the army calendar, perhaps not as famous as Airborne Special Forces Day, but many know about it. I would, of course, like to make this holiday more famous, but not everything depends on the Voenpro online store. We can (and do) write more often about GRU special forces brigades, we can help people buy - we have a wide range of goods for special forces - and we will continue to do this, because we consider it our duty to talk about deserving people.

To make the memory of your service in the military intelligence and special forces unit of the GRU brighter, you can decorate your brigade, detachment, even the personalized flag of your platoon.

And in the fall and winter, in addition to the very symbolism of the formation and type of troops, excellent