By: Warren Gray
Copyright © 2024
“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is
a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
— Winston Churchill, October 1, 1939.
“Russia’s Alfa Group commando unit stands as a formidable force,
renowned for its elite status and chilling effectiveness in countering
terrorism and executing high-risk missions. With a history fraught
with daring operations and ruthless tactics, the Alfa Group has
earned a reputation as one of the world’s most-feared, special
forces units.”
— Journalist “Kedy,” for militaryview.com, July 28, 2021.
“Where Alfa appears, compromise stops.”
— Primary motto of the Alfa Group.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, formed in 1995, is the successor to the notorious KGB (Committee for State Security) intelligence-and-security agency, which was dismantled in 1991. President Vladimir Putin served as Director of the FSB from 1998 to 1999, before his rise to the presidency. The FSB’s primary responsibilities are for counterintelligence against spies, internal and border security, counterterrorism, surveillance, investigating serious crimes, and conducting covert operations.
The FSB director answers directly to President Putin, since 2000, and the agency is considered to be Putin’s principal power base, with widespread duties, including covert intelligence collection in former nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), especially including Ukraine, which formally withdrew from the CIS in 2018. The FSB devoted substantial resources toward preparing for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, claiming that the Ukrainians would welcome Russian troops to free themselves from the “fascists,” and predicting a quick and easy victory.
Since encountering incredibly stubborn resistance from the Ukrainians, however, Putin has blamed the FSB for Russia’s military setbacks there, including the failed attempt by Chechen commandos to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The FSB has been repeatedly criticized for corruption, human-rights violations, secret-police activities, extortion, bribery, torture, and illegal detention of suspects.
Within this nefarious organization is Directorate “A” of the FSB Special Purpose Center, more commonly known as Spetsgruppa “A,” Alfa Group, or simply Alfa (or Alpha), an independent, sub-unit of Russian Special Forces within the FSB. It was originally formed by the KGB in 1974, in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, as a counterterrorist commando unit in response to West Germany’s formation of their elite GSG 9 police counterterrorist unit, and it was deployed frequently throughout the 1980s for hostage-rescue missions. But KGB Alfa commandos also spearheaded the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, dressed in Afghan uniforms, and ruthlessly assassinated President Hafizullah Amin and his family members under Operation Storm-333.
Rustam Tursunkulov, a Soviet soldier who participated in the terrifying assault, grimly recalled in 2009 that, “We were trained to accept orders without any question. I was in special forces. It’s the worst job…When there is a battle going on, it’s hard to know if there are children there…In any army, there has to be someone who’ll do the harshest, most horrible tasks.” Amin’s 11-year-old son was also murdered.
Then, on September 20, 1985, the Islamic Liberation Organization, part of the Hezbollah terrorist group, kidnapped four Russian diplomats in Beirut, Lebanon. After the captors executed one of the Russians, Moscow sent in Alfa Group. According to author Matthew Levitt, “(One) version has the Soviet operatives kidnapping a dozen Shi’a, one of whom was the relative of a Hezbollah leader. The relative was castrated and shot in the head, his testicles stuffed in his mouth, and his body shipped to Hezbollah with a letter promising a similar fate for the 11 other Shi’a captives if the three Soviet hostages were not released.” Needless to say, the Russian hostages were released within one week.
In August 1991, during the Soviet coup d’état attempt in Moscow, Alfa’s commanding officer, General Karpukhin, was ordered to enter Russia’s acting parliament house with 20 Alfa operators, after paratroopers had secured the entrance, to assassinate President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, and various other anti-coup leaders assembled there. Karpukhin, however, managed to convince his KGB boss that such a massive, overly-ambitious, and serious operation should be cancelled, so the coup attempt ultimately failed.
Alfa Group was deeply involved in the First Chechen War of 1994 to 1996, and the Second Chechen War of 1999 to 2000, with low-level insurgency continuing until 2017. On October 26, 2002, Alfa responded to the scene after 40 Chechen terrorists had seized a concert hall in Moscow, taking 916 people as hostages. Nerve gas was pumped into the building to briefly incapacitate the Chechens, and then an Alfa officer reported that, “With precise fire from the silenced weapons, all terrorists in the hall were eliminated. We shot without fail. Hitting the body could lead to the (suicide-vest) explosives detonation. That’s why we aimed for their heads.”
It took just five minutes to kill all terrorists inside the hall, and 10 minutes more to finish off those who managed to hide in nearby rooms. All terrorists, including female suicide bombers, were eliminated, but 67 civilians were killed during the assault, many from the Russian nerve gas, and 63 more died later in hospitals. Still, the fierce assault resulted in freeing more than 750 hostages.
The Beslan School Siege in North Ossetia, Russia, on September 1, 2004, was one of the most heroic and tragic incidents in the history of Alfa Group. On that day, 32 Chechen terrorists seized 1,128 hostages, mostly school children. On the third day of the siege, Alfa assaulted the school with explosives, and the terrorists began shooting at the hostages fleeing through holes blown in the walls.
The attack was bold and bloody, resulting in 314 civilians killed, including 186 innocent children. 31 terrorists were killed, and one was taken alive. Alfa lost 10 commandos, their largest casualty number in any one battle to date. They were later criticized for their reckless use of force, but President Putin defended them, stating that they had not planned on storming the school, and attacked only after the terrorists had begun executing children inside.
In the summer of 2006, the FSB, and accordingly Alfa Group, was given the legal power to engage in targeted killing of “terrorism suspects” overseas if ordered by the president, but since the FSB answers directly to Putin, only he decides who the “terrorism suspects” are. This is blanket authority to kill anyone he deems a threat, anywhere.
Over the past 45 years, FSB Alfa troops have seen extensive combat action in Afghanistan (1979 to 1989), the North Caucasus region (Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North and South Ossetia, and other areas, from 1994 to 2017), Georgia (2008), Crimea (2014), Syria (2014 to present), and Ukraine (2014 to present).
Alfa is an elite counterterrorism force, with candidates aged 22 to 27, mostly college graduates. University education, physical and mental fitness, and high moral qualities are prerequisites for consideration. The selection process takes over a year, and once selected, the candidates undergo a rigorous three-year training program that includes infantry training, parachuting, SCUBA diving, sniper operations, practical shooting, foreign language acquisition, martial arts, and studying terrorism in Russia and around the world. Operators are organized into groups of 12 specialists, divided into four teams.
Alfa commandos have been seen wearing civilian clothes, black assault uniforms with black berets, or military camouflage uniforms, most recently the MultiCam pattern, with either black or brown boots. Now, let’s take a look at their primary weapons:
Assault rifles and carbines:
Alfa’s standard assault carbine has been the compact, highly customized AK-105 series, with 12.4-inch barrel, in 5.45x39mm, often with Aimpoint (American) CompM4 optical sight, Armasight (American) Drakos laser aiming device, and Vector 5.45 VR-DTL flash hider. Newer options, since 2021, may include the AK-12K or AK-12SP special operations rifle with 16.1-inch barrel, or the shorter AK-12SPK compact model, since 2021. Special, integrally suppressed AS or ASM Val (“Shaft”) carbines in 9x39mm are in use for quieter operations. Some H&K (German) MR762 (HK417 version) rifles in .308 Winchester and Bushmaster (American) M4A3 carbines in 5.56x45mm NATO have seen limited use.
Service pistols:
The primary handgun of Alfa operators is the unlicensed, Russian copy of the Glock-17 or Glock-19, produced since 2012 by the ORSIS factory in Moscow for half the price. These are clearly marked “Assembled in Russia” on the right side of the frame in English. Special-purpose pistols include the Stechkin APS (also issued to Russian fighter pilots) and OTs-33 Pernach (“Mace”) machine pistols, both in 9x18mm.
The brand-new TochMash SR-2 Udav (“Boa”) is likely to become the next standard pistol. This advanced, polymer-framed handgun holds 18 rounds of 9x21mm ammunition, equivalent in power to a hot-loaded, 9x19mm +P cartridge at 1,300 feet-per-second velocity. SP-10 armor-piercing loads are the preferred military round, and a spiral-pattern, carbon-fiber suppressor is optional.
Submachine guns (SMGs):
These include the PP-19-01 Vityaz-SN (“Knight-SN”), H&K MP5 variants, and suppressed Brügger and Thomet (Swiss) MP9-N. The new Kalashnikov PPK-20 weapon in 9x19mm, with 7.1-inch barrel, is another option.
Infantry machine guns:
The PKM and PKP Pecheneg (named for an ancient, indigenous people of central Asia, living near the Black Sea) are the most common medium machine guns. These are often suppressed.
Sniper rifles:
The classic Dragunov SVD-63 (in 7.62x54mmR) has been used until recently, probably replaced by the new, semiautomatic Chukavin SVCh-7.62 in the same caliber, although other versions are also produced. The suppressed VSS Vintorez (from the Russian acronym for “Special Sniper Rifle”) is used for quiet operations. Other sniper weapons include the Accuracy International (British) AWM in .338 Lapua Magnum, and some H&K MR308 (civilian version of the HK417) rifles in .308 Winchester.
More-recent Russian selections for Alfa are the highly accurate, bolt-action, ORSIS T-5000M “Terminator,” and the all-new Lobaev DVL-10 M2 Urbana in .308 Winchester, or the integrally suppressed Lobaev TSVL-8 M4 Dark Matter in .300 Winchester Magnum or .338 Lapua Magnum.
Combat knives:
Many Russian Special Forces men and Alfa commandos privately purchase fighting knives from Kizlyar Supreme, handcrafted in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, which was a war-torn region in 1999. Favorite knives include the Kizlyar DV-2 (an abbreviation for “Far East-2,” $270) Bowie-style, Voron-3 (“Raven-3,” $89), and Korshun (“Kite,” the bird, $210). The superb, high-quality, American-designed, German-produced, Böker Applegate-Fairbairn combat dagger ($340) with six-inch blade has also been seen and photographed among the personal weapons of Alfa commandos.
Other equipment:
In October 2014, FSB Alfa operators were seen and photographed at a shooting championship match wearing RBR (British) Mk. II helmets with Armytex helmet covers, Peltor ComTac XP communication headsets, Fort Gladiator (Russian) ballistic vests with pouches, Slavyanka (Russian) Gen. 3 MultiCam uniforms, Blackhawk (American) tactical holsters for Glock-17 pistols, and HWI (American) HKTG tactical gloves.
Combat vehicles:
The unofficial, standard vehicle of Russian Special Forces and Alfa is probably the GAZ Tigr-M (“Tiger-M”) utility vehicle, very much like an American Humvee. They’ve also been seen driving a Russian-made copy of the high-quality Iveco (Italian) LMV “Lynx.” The UAMZ Toros (“Hummock”) 4×4 vehicle and Eskadron (“Squadron”) fast-attack vehicle were recently offered to Russian Special Forces.
The ongoing war in Ukraine currently serves as a testing-and-development opportunity for modern Russian weapons designs, which will certainly guarantee that the rapid pace of arms development continues. Meanwhile, elite FSB Alfa commandos continue to operate wherever President Vladimir Putin perceives a threat to Russian national security, which certainly includes embattled Ukraine at the present time.
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Warren Gray is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with experience in joint special operations and counterterrorism. He served in Europe and the Middle East, earned Air Force and Navy parachutist wings, eight more military qualification badges, two command badges, 19 U.S. military medals, and three foreign medals. He also earned four college degrees, including a Master of Aeronautical Science degree, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Intelligence Operations Specialist Course, and the USAF Combat Targeting School. He is currently a published author and historian.