You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Ukrainian. (October 2018)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Special Group "Alpha" | |
---|---|
Spetshrupa "A" | |
Active | 3 March 1990–present |
Country | Soviet Union (1990–1991) Ukraine (1991–present) |
Branch | Spetsnaz of the KGB (1990–1991) Spetsnaz of the SBU (1991–present) |
Type | Special forces |
Role | Special operations Direct Action Hostage Rescue Special Reconnaissance Military Intelligence |
Size | Classified |
Garrison/HQ | Kyiv |
Nickname(s) | Alpha Group, Alpha (Alfa) |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Yevhenii Khmara [2] |
Special Group "Alpha" is an elite Ukrainian special forces branch of the Security Service of Ukraine; and a successor of the Soviet Union's Alpha Group. [3] Group Alpha is one of the top divisions of the special forces of Ukraine.
On 28 July 1974, Alpha Group was created on the orders of the KGB Chairman, Yuri Andropov, in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre. It might have been established as a response to West Germany's creation of Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (or GSG 9). [3] By attaching a special-purpose unit to the office of the First Chief Directorate in Moscow (later the Seventh Directorate [4] ), it was hoped that the Soviet Union's defensive capacity against terrorist attacks would increase significantly. At the time, other, more offensive special forces of the KGB included the groups Zenit and Kaskad/Omega. Another important mission for Alpha was to provide security for the Soviet leadership against enemy special forces in times of crisis or war. [5]
Later, territorial Alpha units were established across the Soviet Union. An Alpha detachment in Ukraine was created on March 3, 1990, when the order was given to the Chief of the 7th Directorate of the KGB to establish 10th group (Kyiv) Group 'A' Services EIR 7th Directorate of the KGB. The selection process was rigorous. Of the initial 120 KGB candidates, only 15 passed the rigorous selection course to establish the first detachment under the leadership of commander Peter Feliksovich Zakrevskii. [6]
The Kyiv territorial unit of Group "A" was converted into Service "C" of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in 1992. [6] Nevertheless, it has continued to be informally called "Alpha", until June 23, 1994, when by the decree of the President of Ukraine on the basis of service "C" of the SBU was created Directorate "A" (Alpha). At this point in the SBU's groups "A" consists of five offices and regional offices based in each regional center of Ukraine.
In April 2014, in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, when Ukraine's Alpha snipers were alleged to shoot at the protesters, [7] [8] it was purged and reorganised, [9] and soon used by the new government against the pro-Russian separatist forces in the war in Donbas. Late April 2014 three officers were captured by members of the Donbas People's Militia armed group led by Igor Girkin [a] in the town of Horlivka, after which they were beaten up and shown on Russian television; [10] the SBU spokeswoman said the separatists acted on a tip from infiltrators inside the agency. [11]
The SBU Alfa defector Alexander Khodakovsky, a former Alfa commander for Donetsk Oblast who has deserted from Ukrainian service along with several of his men following the revolution, became the commander of the rebel Vostok Battalion and later was given the post of security minister of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic. [12]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Alpha group (according to Ukrainian sources) ambushed and wiped out a convoy in northern Kyiv, around Hostomel, composed of Chechen paramilitary (the "Kadyrovtsy") heading to the city. [13] The Alpha Group was present in Kharkiv, defending the city at the Battle of Kharkiv. During the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive, the Alpha Group re-captured several settlements such as Kupiansk. [1]
The Alpha Group conducted operations to capture fifth-columnists, Russian sympathizers, spies and infiltrators. [14]
From its inception in 1994 to 2010, members of the special unit carried out more than 7,000 operations, from weapons seizure to anti narcotics operations, to apprehension of organized gang members, with no casualties sustained. [15]
The unit suffered its first casualty in June 2014, fighting against Russian separatists and possibly, Russian special forces, in the war in Donbas. As of 2018, ten SBU Alpha operators lost their lives in the conflict. [16]
Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, is a stand-alone sub-unit of Russia's special forces within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). It was created by the Soviet KGB in 1974. Although little is known about the exact nature of its primary directives, it is speculated that the unit is authorised to act under the direct control and sanction of Russia's top political leadership, similar to its sister unit, the Directorate "V" (Vympel), which is officially tasked with protecting Russia's strategic installations, as well as conducting black operations inside and outside Russia. It is also available for extended police duties, for paramilitary operations, and for covert operations, both domestically and internationally.
The Security Service of Ukraine is the main internal security agency of the Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combating organized crime and terrorism. The Constitution of Ukraine defines the SBU as a military formation, and its staff are considered military personnel with ranks. It is subordinated directly under the authority of the president of Ukraine. The SBU also operates its own special forces unit, the Alpha Group.
Horlivka, also known as Gorlovka, is a city in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. Its population is 239,828.
Pavel Yuryevich Gubarev is a Ukrainian-born Russian public figure, primarily known for his pro-Russian activities in Donbas in 2014. He is married to Ekaterina Gubareva.
The siege of Sloviansk was conducted by Ukraine between 12 April 2014 and 5 July 2014. It began immediately after Sloviansk was seized by the separatist group, the Donetsk People's Republic, which, having received support from Russia, declared itself independent from Ukraine on 7 April. Following three months of heavy fighting between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the DPR People's Militia, the Ukrainian government retook the city as the pro-Russia rebels retreated to Donetsk. The engagement in Sloviansk marked the first military engagement of the War in Donbas.
Igor Nikolayevich Bezler, known by the pseudonym "Bes" is one of the pro-Russian rebel leaders whose group controlled the local police department in Horlivka.
The war in Donbas, also known as the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when a commando unit headed by Russian citizen Igor Girkin seized Sloviansk in Donetsk oblast. The Ukrainian military launched an operation against them. The war continued until subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic is a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022. The entire territory of LPR is viewed as sovereign territory of Ukraine by nearly all UN member states.
The Sich Battalion, officially known as the 4th Sich Company of the Kyiv Regiment, is a Ukrainian special police battalion consisting of volunteers from Kyiv. The unit was formed in June 2014 by volunteers from the far-right party Svoboda at the start of the war in Donbas.
During the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine that began in April 2014, many international organisations and states noted a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict zone.
Ukraine inherited its special forces (Spetsnaz) units from the remnants of the Soviet armed forces, GRU and KGB units. Ukraine now maintains its own Spetsnaz structure under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and under the Ministry of Defence, while the Security Service of Ukraine maintains its own Spetsnaz force, the Alpha group. In 2016 the Special Operations Forces were created as an independent branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine formed only by special forces units.
A rocket attack on Mariupol was launched on 24 January 2015 by Russian and pro-Russian forces against the strategic maritime city of Mariupol, defended by Ukrainian government forces. Mariupol had come under attack multiple times in the previous year in the course of the War in Donbas, including in May–June 2014, when the city was under the control of Russian controlled forces; and in the September 2014 offensive.
The Right SectorUkrainian Volunteer Corps or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, was the paramilitary arm of right-wing Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded on July 17, 2014, as one of the "volunteer battalions", created as a response to the rise of pro-Russian separatism and the Russian intervention in the war in Donbas.
Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone, or ATO zone, was a term used by the media, publicity, the government of Ukraine, and the OSCE and other foreign institutions to identify Ukrainian territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) under the control of Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists. A significant part of ATO zone is considered temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
Maksym Mykhaylovych Shapoval was a senior officer (Colonel) in the Ukrainian military and head of the special forces of the Chief Intelligence Directorate. He was assassinated in a car bomb attack in central Kyiv on 27 June 2017, having only recently returned from the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. At the time of his death, Shapoval was investigating Russian involvement in Eastern Ukraine. He collected intel on their locations and weapons, which was able to substantiate Ukraine's position in the war criminal trial in The Hague on Russia's armed aggression. At the time, he was one of the most senior Ukrainian officials killed in action.
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the special forces of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with headquarters in Kyiv.
"On conducting a special military operation" was a televised broadcast by Russian president Vladimir Putin on 24 February 2022, announcing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The capture of Donetsk took place in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and was perpetrated by pro-Russian separatists in April 2014 during widespread unrest following the pro-European revolution of Dignity in the capital city of Kyiv in February. As a result, Donetsk came under the control of the Donetsk People's Republic and became its capital.
The Misanthropic Division, also known as Division Phoenix since 2016, is an international neo-Nazi group based in Ukraine which has been described as a paramilitary organization, or as a movement. They originated in 2014 to take part in the Euromaidan protests against the government of Viktor Yanukovych, with some members later fighting alongside the Azov Battalion and UAF in the Donbas region against Russian-backed separatists. Chapters of the group have also been reported to exist in other countries. According to researcher Natalia Yudina, it is not a centralized organization, and it has neither a rigid structure nor permanent leaders.
The general mobilization in the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic began on 19 February 2022, 5 days before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands of local residents were forcibly mobilized for the war.
The SBU posted images on Telegram of a group of Ukrainian soldiers with the caption: "Specialists of the SBU's special operations center 'A' in Kupyansk, which was and always will be Ukrainian!"
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) by Jonathan Littell.