Rus (special forces)

Rus' (Russian Русь) was a special forces unit (spetsnaz) of the Interior Troops (VV), of the Interior Ministry (MVD) of the Russian Federation. It was a unit in the Independent Operative Purpose Division (ODON).

Rus was created on August 1, 1994. It traces its roots from the OMSBON, the Independent Motorized Infantry Battalion of Special Purpose (later ODON), which was created in 1964 from the 4th Battalion of the OMSDON. The dedicated role of the unit is counter-terrorism and direct action in times of crisis. Rus actively participated, along with other MVD units, in the military and paramilitary operations in Chechnya and the broader North Caucasus region along special forces units (including in the Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis and the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis; in one incident, a whole platoon of Rus sent to Dagestan was eliminated in a roadside bombing attack). On September 1, 2008, Rus and Vityaz were deactivated and then merged into a single unit, the 604th Red Banner Special Purpose Center of the MVD RF Internal Troops, on the direct command of ODON.

Special forces

Special forces and special operations forces are military units trained to perform unconventional missions. Special forces, as they would now be recognised, emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War.

Depending on the country, special forces may perform some of the following functions: airborne operations, counter-insurgency, "counter-terrorism", covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunting, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare. The term “special forces” in the US refers to the US Army's forces while the term “special operation forces” refers to all units. In Russian-speaking countries special forces are typically called spetsnaz, an acronym for "special purpose". Likewise Russian speakers refer to special forces of other nations as spetsnaz, for example US Special Forces would be referred to as Amerikanski spetsnaz in Russian.

Capabilities

Special forces capabilities include the following:

Rus

Rus or RUS may refer to:

Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz (Russian: спецназ; IPA: [spʲɪt͜s'nas]), abbreviation for Войска специального назначения, tr. Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya pronounced [vɐjsˈka spʲɪt͡sɨˈalʲnəvə nəznɐˈt͜ɕenʲɪjə] (English: Special Purpose Forces or Special Purpose Military Units), is an umbrella term for special forces in Russian and is used in numerous post-Soviet states. Historically, the term referred to special military units controlled by the military intelligence service GRU (Spetsnaz GRU). It also describes special purpose units, or task forces of other ministries (such as the Ministry of Emergency Situations' special rescue unit) in post-Soviet countries.

As Spetsnaz is a Russian term it is typically associated with the special forces units of Russia, but other post-Soviet states often refer to their special forces by the term as well since they inherited their special purpose units from the now-defunct Soviet security agencies. The 5th spetsnaz Brigade of Belarus or the Alpha group of the Security Service of Ukraine are both such examples of non-Russian Spetsnaz forces.

Russian

Russian refers to anything related to Russia, including:

Russian may also refer to:

See also