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Alpha Group

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about Soviet and later Russian special operations force. For other organisations, military or otherwise, with the same name, see <a href="Alpha_Group_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Alpha Group (disambiguation)">Alpha Group (disambiguation)</a>. For Russian investment group, see <a href="Alfa_Group" title="Alfa Group">Alfa Group</a>. For Cuban militant group, see <a href="Alpha_66" title="Alpha 66">Alpha 66</a>. For Mexico City Police Alfa Group (Agrupamiento Alfa), see <a href="Law_enforcement_in_Mexico_City#Preventive_Police" title="Law enforcement in Mexico City">Law enforcement in Mexico City § Preventive Police</a>.</div>

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</style><table class="infobox" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;">Spetsgruppa "A"</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;line-height:1.5em;"><div class="infobox-caption">Alpha Group emblem</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">28 July 1974 (1974-07-28)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Country</th><td class="infobox-data"> <a href="Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> (1974–1991) <a href="Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> (1991–present)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Branch</th><td class="infobox-data"> <a href="Spetsnaz" title="Spetsnaz">Spetsnaz</a> of the <a href="KGB" title="KGB">KGB</a> (1974–1991) Russia: <a href="Federal_Protective_Service_(Russia)" title="Federal Protective Service (Russia)">GUO</a> (1991–1993) <a href="Ministry_of_Internal_Affairs_(Russia)" title="Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)">MVD</a> (1993–1995) <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%80_%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A4%D0%A1%D0%91" class="extiw external" title="ru:Центр специального назначения ФСБ">TsSN</a> <a href="Federal_Security_Service_(Russia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Security Service (Russia)">FSB</a> (1995–present)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Type</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Special_forces" title="Special forces">Spetsnaz</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Size</th><td class="infobox-data">Classified (estimated 500 in 1991,<a href="#cite_note-guide-1">[1]</a> 250–300 in Russia in 2004<a href="#cite_note-disaster-2">[2]</a>)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Part of</th><td class="infobox-data"> <a href="Federal_Security_Service" title="Federal Security Service">Federal Security Service</a> <a href="Moscow" title="Moscow">Moscow</a> (main force) <a href="Khabarovsk" title="Khabarovsk">Khabarovsk</a>, <a href="Krasnodar" title="Krasnodar">Krasnodar</a>, <a href="Yekaterinburg" title="Yekaterinburg">Yekaterinburg</a>, <a href="Grozny" title="Grozny">Grozny</a> (in Russia)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Nickname(s)</th><td class="infobox-data">Alpha Group, Alpha (Alfa)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Motto(s)</th><td class="infobox-data">Победить и вернуться</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Engagements</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Operation_Storm-333" title="Operation Storm-333">Operation Storm-333</a> <a href="Aeroflot_Flight_6833" title="Aeroflot Flight 6833">Aeroflot Flight 6833 hostage crisis</a> <a href="January_Events_(Lithuania)" class="mw-redirect" title="January Events (Lithuania)">January Events</a> <a href="1991_Soviet_coup_d'%C3%A9tat_attempt" class="mw-redirect" title="1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt">Soviet coup d'état attempt</a> Russia: <a href="1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis" title="1993 Russian constitutional crisis">Russian constitutional crisis</a> <a href="Budyonnovsk_hospital_hostage_crisis" title="Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis">Budyonnovsk hostage crisis</a> <a href="Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis">Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis</a> <a href="First_Chechen_War" title="First Chechen War">First Chechen War</a> <a href="Second_Chechen_War" title="Second Chechen War">Second Chechen War</a> <a href="Moscow_theatre_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Moscow theatre hostage crisis">Moscow theatre hostage crisis</a> <a href="Beslan_school_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Beslan school hostage crisis">Beslan school hostage crisis</a> <a href="Insurgency_in_the_North_Caucasus" title="Insurgency in the North Caucasus">Insurgency in the North Caucasus</a> <a href="Russian_military_intervention_in_the_Syrian_Civil_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War">Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War</a> <a href="Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine" title="Russian invasion of Ukraine">Russian invasion of Ukraine</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Commanders</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Current commander</th><td class="infobox-data">Col. Valery Kanakin </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em;">Notable commanders</th><td class="infobox-data">Gen. <a href="Vitaly_Bubenin" title="Vitaly Bubenin">Vitaly Bubenin</a> Gen. <a href="Viktor_Fyodorovich_Karpukhin" class="mw-redirect" title="Viktor Fyodorovich Karpukhin">Viktor Karpukhin</a> Gen. Gennady Zaitsev<a href="#cite_note-history-3">[3]</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (<a href="Russian_language" title="Russian language">Russian</a>: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа", <a href="Romanization_of_Russian" title="Romanization of Russian">romanized</a>: Spetsnaz FSB "Alfa"), is a sub-unit of <a href="Spetsnaz" title="Spetsnaz">Russian special forces</a> within the Russian <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%80_%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A4%D0%A1%D0%91" class="extiw external" title="ru:Центр специального назначения ФСБ">Special Forces Center</a> of the <a href="Federal_Security_Service" title="Federal Security Service">Federal Security Service</a> (FSB). It was created by the Soviet <a href="KGB" title="KGB">KGB</a> 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" (<a href="Vympel" title="Vympel">Vympel</a>), which is officially tasked with protecting Russia's strategic installations, as well as conducting <a href="Black_operations" class="mw-redirect" title="Black operations">black operations</a> inside and outside Russia. It is also available for extended police duties, for paramilitary operations, and for covert operations, both domestically and internationally.

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_the_Soviet_Union">In the Soviet Union</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Creation_and_organization">Creation and organization</h3></div>

On 28 July 1974, Alpha Group was created on the orders of the <a href="KGB" title="KGB">KGB</a> Chairman, <a href="Yuri_Andropov" title="Yuri Andropov">Yuri Andropov</a>, in the aftermath of the <a href="Munich_massacre" title="Munich massacre">1972 Munich massacre</a>. It might have been established as a response to <a href="West_Germany" title="West Germany">West Germany</a>'s creation of the Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (or the <a href="GSG_9" title="GSG 9">GSG 9</a>).<a href="#cite_note-Cox2001-4">[4]</a> By attaching a special-purpose unit to the office of the <a href="First_Chief_Directorate" title="First Chief Directorate">First Chief Directorate</a> in <a href="Moscow" title="Moscow">Moscow</a> (later the Seventh Directorate<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a>), 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.<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a>

Later, territorial Alpha units were established across the Soviet Union:<a href="#cite_note-ua-7">[7]</a>

<ul><li>7th Group formed in the <a href="Russian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian SSR">Russian SSR</a>, <a href="Khabarovsk_Krai" title="Khabarovsk Krai">Khabarovsk Krai</a></li>

<li>10th Group formed the <a href="Ukrainian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian SSR">Ukrainian SSR</a>, <a href="Kiev_Oblast" class="mw-redirect" title="Kiev Oblast">Kiev Oblast</a> – Later forming the basis of Ukraine's <a href="Alpha_Group_(Ukraine)" title="Alpha Group (Ukraine)">Alpha Group</a></li>

<li>11th Group formed in the <a href="Belarusian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Belarusian SSR">Belarusian SSR</a>, <a href="Minsk_Region" class="mw-redirect" title="Minsk Region">Minsk Oblast</a> – Later forming the basis of Belarus' <a href="Alpha_Group_(Belarus)" title="Alpha Group (Belarus)">Alpha Group</a></li>

<li>12th Group formed in the <a href="Kazakh_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Kazakh SSR">Kazakh SSR</a>, <a href="Almaty_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="Almaty Province">Almaty Oblast</a> – Later forming the basis of Kazakh <a href="National_Security_Committee_(Kazakhstan)" title="National Security Committee (Kazakhstan)">NSC Arystan unit</a></li>

<li>13th Group formed in the <a href="Russian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian SSR">Russian SSR</a>, <a href="Krasnodar_Krai" title="Krasnodar Krai">Krasnodar Krai</a></li>

<li>14th Group formed in the <a href="Russian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian SSR">Russian SSR</a>, <a href="Sverdlovsk_Oblast" title="Sverdlovsk Oblast">Sverdlovsk Oblast</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Operations">Operations</h3></div>

Initially, this special-purpose <a href="Counter-terrorism" class="mw-redirect" title="Counter-terrorism">counter-terrorism</a> unit was involved in delicate operations which necessitated its members have a unique skill set. In 1979, the Alpha Group shot a young Soviet Ukrainian, named Yuri Vlasenko, who was occupying a room in the Consular Section of the <a href="Embassy_of_the_United_States_in_Moscow" class="mw-redirect" title="Embassy of the United States in Moscow">Embassy of the United States in Moscow</a>, demanding he be granted asylum in the United States. He was either killed by gunfire, or by the detonation of his home-made bomb, which also slightly damaged the building.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a> Throughout the 1980s, Alpha became increasingly deployed domestically to respond to a rising number of <a href="Hostage_taking" class="mw-redirect" title="Hostage taking">hostage taking</a> situations, including at least two cases which involved buildings being taken over and hostages taken by violent groups of deserters from the <a href="Soviet_Army" title="Soviet Army">Soviet Army</a>, as well as other armed organizations.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a>

Airline hijackings were another growing security concern within the Soviet Union which Alpha were deployed to solve. Between the 1970 <a href="Dymshits%E2%80%93Kuznetsov_hijacking_affair" title="Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair">Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair</a> and 1986, sixteen incidents of air piracy had occurred on Aeroflot flights, six in 1978 alone. Notably, the 1983 hijacking of <a href="Aeroflot_Flight_6833" title="Aeroflot Flight 6833">Aeroflot Flight 6833</a> in <a href="Tbilisi" title="Tbilisi">Tbilisi</a>, <a href="Georgian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic" title="Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic">Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic</a>, was thwarted when Alpha stormed the airplane, killing three and capturing three other hijackers who were attempting to escape to the west, which also resulted in the loss of five hostages. Alpha members also participated in the storming of a <a href="Tupolev_Tu-134" title="Tupolev Tu-134">Tu-134</a> during an <a href="Aeroflot_Flight_36075_(1986)" title="Aeroflot Flight 36075 (1986)">attempted Tu-134 hijacking</a> by deserters at <a href="Ufa_International_Airport" title="Ufa International Airport">Ufa International Airport</a> on September 20, 1986. The two hijackers, having previously killed two policemen in a shootout, then killed two passengers while seizing the aircraft. Alpha operatives stormed the plane, killing one hijacker and wounding the other.<a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a>

The unit also became involved in <a href="Ethnic_conflicts_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union">the ethnic conflicts</a> throughout the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<a href="#cite_note-rulers-12">[12]</a> Alpha was also used as the "spearhead" of KGB <a href="Counterintelligence" title="Counterintelligence">counterintelligence</a> operations, interdicting hostile intelligence operations<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> on Soviet territory and seizing enemy spies such as CIA agent <a href="Adolf_Tolkachev" title="Adolf Tolkachev">Adolf Tolkachev</a> in 1985.<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a> Two commanding officers of Group "A" were awarded the title <a href="Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Hero of the Soviet Union">Hero of the Soviet Union</a>: Gen. <a href="Viktor_Fyodorovich_Karpukhin" class="mw-redirect" title="Viktor Fyodorovich Karpukhin">Viktor Karpukhin</a> and Gen. Gennady Zaitsev.<a href="#cite_note-history-3">[3]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Foreign_operations">Foreign operations</h4></div>

Soon, Alpha was assigned missions far exceeding its formal scope.<a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a> On 27 December 1979, Soviet leader <a href="Leonid_Brezhnev" title="Leonid Brezhnev">Leonid Brezhnev</a> launched a surprise armed intervention and <a href="Regime_change" title="Regime change">regime change</a> operation in the <a href="Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistan" title="Democratic Republic of Afghanistan">Democratic Republic of Afghanistan</a>. Soviet forces, including KGB commandos who had infiltrated the country on a pretense to guard the Soviet Embassy,<a href="#cite_note-spies-16">[16]</a> were able to quickly secure important government institutions throughout <a href="Kabul" title="Kabul">Kabul</a>. Those institutions included: the Ministry of the Interior; the headquarters of the <a href="KHAD" title="KHAD">KHAD</a> security service; the Ministry of Defense (<a href="Darul_Aman_Palace" title="Darul Aman Palace">Darul Aman Palace</a>); and the <a href="Tajbeg_Palace" title="Tajbeg Palace">Tajbeg Palace</a>, in which, during a 34-minute storming, they successfully assassinated President <a href="Hafizullah_Amin" title="Hafizullah Amin">Hafizullah Amin</a>, along with his <a href="Mistress_(lover)" title="Mistress (lover)">mistress</a> and his young son (the orders were to kill every Afghan in the building).<a href="#cite_note-Cox2001-4">[4]</a><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a><a href="#cite_note-HastedtGuerrier2010-18">[18]</a> The assault on Tajbeg Palace was given the name <a href="Operation_Storm-333" title="Operation Storm-333">Operation Storm-333</a> and involved a combined force of <a href="Soviet_Airborne_Troops" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet Airborne Troops">Soviet Airborne paratroopers (VDV)</a>, and special forces groups from the <a href="Glavnoye_Razvedyvatel'noye_Upravleniye" class="mw-redirect" title="Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye">GRU</a> and the KGB, including 24 men from the "Thunder" detachment of Alpha Group.<a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a> The Alpha detachment were dressed in Afghan uniforms and headed by Grigoriy Boyarinov, commandant of the special operations school of the KGB's Department 8. It was Boyarinov who ordered that all Afghan witnesses of the operation be killed, and he was accidentally shot dead by Alpha troops when he was mistaken for a palace guard.<a href="#cite_note-spies-16">[16]</a> According to Russian sources, the members of this highly trained group performed remarkably well, losing only two men; the lightest casualties of any of the forces involved in the raid.<a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a> However, the success of <a href="Storm-333" class="mw-redirect" title="Storm-333">Storm-333</a>, and the initial invasion, marked the beginning of the ten-year <a href="Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War" title="Soviet–Afghan War">Soviet–Afghan War</a>, and subsequently, Alpha Group's extensive involvement throughout the conflict.<a href="#cite_note-disaster-2">[2]</a>

Six years later, in October 1985, Alpha Group was dispatched to war-torn <a href="Beirut" title="Beirut">Beirut</a>, Lebanon. <a href="Kremlin" title="Kremlin">The Kremlin</a> was informed of the kidnapping of four Soviet diplomats by the militant group, the Islamic Liberation Organization (a radical offshoot of the <a href="Muslim_Brotherhood" title="Muslim Brotherhood">Muslim Brotherhood</a>). It was believed that this was retaliation for the Soviet support of <a href="Syrian_occupation_of_Lebanon" title="Syrian occupation of Lebanon">Syrian involvement</a> in the <a href="Lebanese_Civil_War" title="Lebanese Civil War">Lebanese Civil War</a>.<a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a> However, by the time Alpha arrived, one of the hostages had already been killed. Through a network of supporting KGB operatives, members of the task-force identified each of the perpetrators involved in the crisis, and once identified, began to take the relatives of these militants as hostages. Following the standard Soviet policy of no negotiations with terrorists, one of the hostages taken by Alpha Group had his testicles removed and sent to the militants before being killed. The warning was clear: more would follow unless the remaining hostages were released immediately.<a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a> The show of force worked; and, for a period of 20 years, no Soviet or Russian officials were taken captive, until the 2006 <a href="Abduction_of_Russian_diplomats_in_Iraq" title="Abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq">abduction and murder</a> of four Russian embassy staff in Iraq. However, the veracity of this story has been brought into question. Another version says that the release of the Soviet hostages was the result of extensive diplomatic negotiations with the spiritual leader of <a href="Hezbollah" title="Hezbollah">Hezbollah</a>, Grand Ayatollah <a href="Mohammad_Hussein_Fadlallah" title="Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah">Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah</a>, who appealed to King <a href="Hussein_of_Jordan" title="Hussein of Jordan">Hussein of Jordan</a>, and the leaders of Libya and Iran, to use their influence on the kidnappers.<a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Fall_of_the_Soviet_Union">Fall of the Soviet Union</h3></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Intervention_in_the_Baltics">Intervention in the Baltics</h4></div>

On 11 March 1990, the <a href="Supreme_Council_of_Lithuania" class="mw-redirect" title="Supreme Council of Lithuania">Supreme Council</a> of the <a href="Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic" title="Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic">Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic</a> made public their intent to secede from the <a href="Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> and <a href="Act_of_the_Re-Establishment_of_the_State_of_Lithuania" title="Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania">re-establish the independent Republic of Lithuania</a>. As a result of this pronouncement, on 9 January 1991, the Soviet leadership dispatched Alpha Group to quell the independence movement and maintain Lithuania's status as a <a href="Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Republics of the Soviet Union">Soviet republic</a>. This attempt to re-establish Soviet dominance culminated in the violent seizure of the <a href="Vilnius_TV_Tower" title="Vilnius TV Tower">Vilnius TV Tower</a> on <a href="January_Events_(Lithuania)" class="mw-redirect" title="January Events (Lithuania)">13 January 1991</a>, during which the Soviet forces killed 13 unarmed Lithuanian protesters, as well as one Alpha operative (Lt. Viktor Shatskikh, who was apparently struck in the back by <a href="Friendly_fire" title="Friendly fire">friendly fire</a>). In 2011, the former commander of Alpha Group, retired KGB Col. <a href="Mikhail_Golovatov" title="Mikhail Golovatov">Mikhail Golovatov</a>, was detained at <a href="Vienna_International_Airport" title="Vienna International Airport">Vienna International Airport</a> on a <a href="European_Arrest_Warrant" title="European Arrest Warrant">European Arrest Warrant</a> due to this incident, issued by Lithuania, but Austrian authorities released him within 24 hours, claiming that the information provided by Lithuania was "too vague".<a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a> In response, the Lithuanian parliament discussed breaking diplomatic ties with Austria in protest. A joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of all three <a href="Baltic_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Baltic States">Baltic States</a> condemned Golovatov's release, and said that it should have been one of "... the occasions when suspects are detained and extradited, particularly when they are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity ..." as "... the crimes performed in 1991 in <a href="Vilnius" title="Vilnius">Vilnius</a> and <a href="Riga" title="Riga">Riga</a> have no limitation ..." ("Riga" referring to <a href="The_Barricades" title="The Barricades">a similar crackdown</a> in January 1991, when six Latvian policemen and civilians were killed by Soviet <a href="OMON" title="OMON">OMON</a> and KGB forces, possibly including Alpha Group members).<a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="1991_Soviet_coup_d'état_attempt">1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt</h4></div>

During the events of the <a href="1991_Soviet_coup_d'%C3%A9tat_attempt" class="mw-redirect" title="1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt">Soviet coup attempt</a> in August 1991, Alpha Group's commanding officer, Gen. Karpukhin, was commanded by KGB chairman <a href="Vladimir_Kryuchkov" title="Vladimir Kryuchkov">Vladimir Kryuchkov</a> to forcibly enter the <a href="White_House%2C_Moscow" class="mw-redirect" title="White House, Moscow">White House</a>, Russia's acting parliament, after paratroopers secured the entrance, to eliminate the President of the <a href="Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic" title="Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic">Russian SFSR</a>, <a href="Boris_Yeltsin" title="Boris Yeltsin">Boris Yeltsin</a>, and various other anti-coup leaders assembled there. In addition to Alpha Group, Gen. Karpukhin was also given authority of <a href="Vympel" title="Vympel">Vega Group (Vympel)</a>, elements of the Soviet Airborne, <a href="Internal_Troops" class="mw-redirect" title="Internal Troops">Internal Troops</a>, special units of the Dzerzhinsky Division (<a href="Separate_Operational_Purpose_Division" title="Separate Operational Purpose Division">OMSDON</a>), mobilised units of the Moscow OMON, three tank companies, and a squadron of helicopters. On-site analysis of the area was conducted by Airborne deputy commander <a href="Alexander_Lebed" title="Alexander Lebed">Alexander Lebed</a>, and other senior officers who mingled with the crowds of anti-coup protesters nearest to the White House. There was a general consensus among the military officials who gathered that day, as evidenced by their statements months after the botched coup attempt, that had they followed through on their endeavour it would have succeeded. The stated mission objectives could have been reached in no more than half-an-hour, but it would have come at a terrible human cost.<a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a> Shortly after their assessment was made, Gen. Karpukhin and <a href="Vympel" title="Vympel">Vympel</a>'s Boris Beskov convinced the KGB Deputy chairman, Gennady Ageyev, that such a massive undertaking should be cancelled.<a href="#cite_note-91internalkgbreport-27">[27]</a><a href="#cite_note-NovayaGazeta51-28">[28]</a><a href="#cite_note-Timeline-29">[29]</a><a href="#cite_note-Argumenty-30">[30]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_the_Russian_Federation">In the Russian Federation</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Decorated_servicemen">Decorated servicemen</h3></div>

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As of 2018, nine officers of Alpha have been awarded the title <a href="Hero_of_the_Russian_Federation" title="Hero of the Russian Federation">Hero of the Russian Federation</a>:

<ul><li>Lt. Gennady Sergeyev (posthumously)</li>

<li>Col. Anatoly Saveliev (posthumously)</li>

<li>Maj. Vladimir Ulyanov (posthumously)</li>

<li>Maj. Yuri Danilin (posthumously)</li>

<li>Col. Sergei Dyachenko</li>

<li>Col. Valery Kanakin</li>

<li>Lt. Artyom Sevshencko</li>

<li>Maj. Alexander Perov (posthumously)</li>

<li>Col. Andrei Kum.<a href="#cite_note-history-3">[3]</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Shuffling_and_reforms">Shuffling and reforms</h3></div>

Alpha Group was severely downgraded during the <a href="Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Dissolution of the Soviet Union">dissolution and collapse of the Soviet Union</a>. After the fall of the USSR, both Alpha and Vympel were transferred to the newly formed <a href="Federal_Protective_Service_(Russia)" title="Federal Protective Service (Russia)">Main Guard Directorate (GUO)</a>, which was established on the basis of the KGB's <a href="Ninth_Chief_Directorate" class="mw-redirect" title="Ninth Chief Directorate">Ninth Chief Directorate</a>. In 1993, they were taken from GUO control, and for a time being put under the jurisdiction of the <a href="Ministry_of_Internal_Affairs_(Russia)" title="Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)">Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)</a>.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a> As part of the government shakeup following the June 1995 <a href="Budyonnovsk_hospital_hostage_crisis" title="Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis">Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis</a> in which the Alpha Group had a leading role, Yeltsin fired the first Director of the <a href="Federal_Security_Service_(Russia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Security Service (Russia)">Federal Security Service (FSB)</a>, <a href="Sergei_Stepashin" title="Sergei Stepashin">Sergei Stepashin</a>. Two months later, Alpha and Vityaz were both transferred from the MVD to the FSB. Simultaneously, <a href="Mikhail_Barsukov" title="Mikhail Barsukov">Mikhail Barsukov</a> became the new head of the organization, and created the FSB Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC), headed by Gen. Viktor Zorkin.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a><a href="#cite_note-rulers-12">[12]</a> Directorate "A" (Alpha) was tasked with protecting transportation and buildings while Directorate "V" (Vega/Vympel) was tasked with protecting strategic sites (another Directorate, "K", was tasked with ideological counterintelligence); "A" and "V" were soon joined in a Tsentr <a href="Spetsnaz" title="Spetsnaz">Spetsnaz</a> (Special Purpose Center) under Gen. <a href="Vladimir_Pronichev" title="Vladimir Pronichev">Vladimir Pronichev</a>.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a>

Meanwhile, Alpha veterans became active in legitimate businesses (such as the private security company <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.alpha-b.ru/eng/">Alpha-B</a> co-founded by Col. Golovatov in August 1993<a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a>) in <a href="Russian_mafia" title="Russian mafia">organised crime</a>, as well as in politics.<a href="#cite_note-guide-1">[1]</a> The Alpha veterans' association, led by Sergey Goncharov, strongly opposed Russian President Yeltsin faction's party, <a href="Our_Home_%E2%80%93_Russia" title="Our Home – Russia">Our Home – Russia</a>, in the <a href="1995_Russian_legislative_election" title="1995 Russian legislative election">legislative election of 1995</a> (Goncharov later became a <a href="State_Duma" title="State Duma">State Duma</a> deputy).<a href="#cite_note-guide-1">[1]</a><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a> Gen. Karpukhin, who resigned from the service following the 1991 coup attempt, became chief of security to Kazakh President <a href="Nursultan_Nazarbayev" title="Nursultan Nazarbayev">Nursultan Nazarbayev</a>, after which he worked with private security companies in Moscow, and ran unsuccessfully for the Duma as a member of the Union of Patriots in 1995.<a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Operations_2">Operations</h3></div>

In October 1995, Alpha killed the armed man who hijacked a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Moscow. He had demanded $1 million and to be flown out of the country.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a> In December 1997, Alpha freed the Swedish trade counsellor Jan-Olof Nyström who was kidnapped in Moscow by a gunman similarly demanding a ransom and a flight out of Russia. The hostage was swapped for Alpha's Colonel Anatoly Saveliev (Savelyev), and the hostage-taker was killed during the storming of the embassy. Colonel Savelyev was injured during the action, and died in hospital of a heart attack shortly thereafter.<a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis">1993 Russian constitutional crisis</h4></div>

In 1993, during the <a href="1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis" title="1993 Russian constitutional crisis">Russian constitutional crisis</a>, Yeltsin, who by then was President of the Russian Federation, used Alpha and Vympel during a deadly showdown in central Moscow against the pro-parliament forces that sided with Vice-President <a href="Alexander_Rutskoy" title="Alexander Rutskoy">Alexander Rutskoy</a> (declaring him an acting president).<a href="#cite_note-disaster-2">[2]</a> The pro-parliament faction had seized the <a href="White_House_(Moscow)" title="White House (Moscow)">Russian White House</a>, along with several Supreme Soviet deputies who had been taken hostage. Yeltsin ordered Russian troops to storm the building, including elements of the paratroopers, the Alpha and Vympel Groups, Russian ground forces, and the <a href="Internal_Troops_of_Russia" title="Internal Troops of Russia">Internal Troops</a>'s special forces unit, <a href="Vityaz_(MVD)" title="Vityaz (MVD)">Vityaz</a>. However, the Alpha troops initially refused to attack the White House,<a href="#cite_note-agru-36">[36]</a> reportedly bringing their commander, Gen. Zaitsev, to the brink of suicide over the open insubordination of his troops in the face of a presidential order.<a href="#cite_note-politics-37">[37]</a> When one of the Alpha troops, Lt. Sergeyev, who was near the White House, was mortally wounded by sniper fire from the nearby <a href="Radisson_Royal_Hotel%2C_Moscow" class="mw-redirect" title="Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow">Hotel Ukraina</a>, the unit finally agreed to move.<a href="#cite_note-politics-37">[37]</a> Opposition gunmen were blamed for the shooting, but it is possible that the shots were actually fired by members of a special unit loyal to Yeltsin; it was rumoured that the snipers in the hotel were commanded by <a href="Alexander_Korzhakov" title="Alexander Korzhakov">Alexander Korzhakov</a>, chief of the <a href="Presidential_Security_Service_(Russia)" title="Presidential Security Service (Russia)">Presidential Security Service (SBP)</a>.<a href="#cite_note-era-38">[38]</a> The crisis ended when Yeltsin's forces, paratroopers supported by tanks and armoured personnel carriers, many of which were manned not by conscripts but members of the Union of Afghanistan Veterans,<a href="#cite_note-politics-37">[37]</a> stormed and seized the White House on 4 October 1993, killing dozens, and possibly hundreds, of people, and ensuring the total victory of Yeltsin's faction.<a href="#cite_note-politics-37">[37]</a><a href="#cite_note-era-38">[38]</a><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a> In the end, Rutskoy and the other leaders of anti-Yeltsin faction, including <a href="Ruslan_Khasbulatov" title="Ruslan Khasbulatov">Ruslan Khasbulatov</a>, <a href="Vladislav_Achalov" title="Vladislav Achalov">Vladislav Achalov</a> and <a href="Viktor_Barannikov" title="Viktor Barannikov">Viktor Barannikov</a>, all negotiated their surrender to the Alpha troops, who had entered the shelled and burning building after the shooting stopped, and brought them, along with the detained Supreme Soviet deputies, to <a href="Lefortovo_Prison" title="Lefortovo Prison">Lefortovo Prison</a>.<a href="#cite_note-politics-37">[37]</a><a href="#cite_note-era-38">[38]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Conflicts_in_Chechnya_and_the_North_Caucasus">Conflicts in Chechnya and the North Caucasus</h4></div>

The Alpha Group was involved in the <a href="First_Chechen_War" title="First Chechen War">First Chechen War</a> of 1994–1996, following the Chechens' declaration of independence from the Russian SFSR and then the Soviet Union in 1990–1991.<a href="#cite_note-Katz2004-41">[41]</a> In the fall of 1994, Alpha provided personal security details for the main commanders of the invasion of <a href="Chechnya" title="Chechnya">Chechnya</a>, Defense Minister <a href="Pavel_Grachev" title="Pavel Grachev">Pavel Grachev</a> and federal Interior Minister <a href="Viktor_Yerin" title="Viktor Yerin">Viktor Yerin</a>, as they travelled to the <a href="Mozdok%2C_Republic_of_North_Ossetia%E2%80%93Alania" class="mw-redirect" title="Mozdok, Republic of North Ossetia–Alania">Mozdok</a> airbase in <a href="North_Ossetia" class="mw-redirect" title="North Ossetia">North Ossetia</a>, which was the main headquarters, staging area and logistics base for Russian forces entering Chechnya.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a><a href="#cite_note-42">[42]</a> Later, many Alpha troops served in "mobile anti-terror groups" (mobilnye gruppy antiterrora), as well as providing security for the pro-Moscow Chechen government complex and the regional FSB headquarters in the Chechen capital <a href="Grozny" title="Grozny">Grozny</a>.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a> In August 1996, <a href="Battle_of_Grozny_(August_1996)" title="Battle of Grozny (August 1996)">when the city was retaken</a> by Chechen separatist forces, 35 of them (including 14 members of the territorial Alpha unit from Krasnodar Krai)<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a> took part in a defence of the FSB headquarters. The separatist forces began to systematically retake individual buildings which were being defended by cut-off groups of Russian military and security forces. By the war's final ceasefire, the main FSB office was one of the few key structures still being held by federal forces in central Grozny, but at the cost of 70 of its defenders' lives in some of the fiercest fighting during the last battle.<a href="#cite_note-lessons-43">[43]</a><a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a>

Allegations arose, following the <a href="Khasavyurt_Accord" title="Khasavyurt Accord">Khasavyurt Accord</a> of August 1996, that the ATC carried out clandestine operations intended to discredit the <a href="Chechen_Republic_of_Ichkeria" title="Chechen Republic of Ichkeria">Chechen Republic of Ichkeria</a>, so that it would not receive international recognition of its independence. According to <a href="Jonathan_Littell" title="Jonathan Littell">Jonathan Littell</a>, the service "... was most likely deeply involved ..." in many of the high-profile kidnappings which damaged Chechnya's reputation. Littell wrote: "It is impossible to say whether these provocations were part of a more general FSB policy or whether the [ATC] and its departments were running their own show; certainly it did not reflect the official policy of the government, nor of those officials like <a href="Ivan_Rybkin" title="Ivan Rybkin">Ivan Rybkin</a>, the Secretary of the <a href="Security_Council_of_Russia" title="Security Council of Russia">Security Council</a>, tasked with the Chechen dossier between 1996 and 1999."<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a>

Alpha was active during the <a href="Second_Chechen_War" title="Second Chechen War">Second Chechen War</a> that began in 1999, as well as the subsequent <a href="Insurgency_in_the_North_Caucasus" title="Insurgency in the North Caucasus">Insurgency in the North Caucasus</a>. During the 2000 <a href="Battle_of_Komsomolskoye" title="Battle of Komsomolskoye">Battle of Komsomolskoye</a>, Alpha snipers attached to <a href="Vladimir_Shamanov" title="Vladimir Shamanov">Vladimir Shamanov</a>'s Western Group of federal forces, were deployed in an attempt to suppress <a href="Ruslan_Gelayev" title="Ruslan Gelayev">Ruslan Gelayev</a>'s snipers in the village.<a href="#cite_note-lessons-43">[43]</a> According to the unit's veterans, operations in which Alpha took part led to the arrest of Chechen commander <a href="Salman_Raduyev" title="Salman Raduyev">Salman Raduyev</a> in 2000, the killing of Chechen commander <a href="Arbi_Barayev" title="Arbi Barayev">Arbi Barayev</a> in 2001, the killing of Chechen separatist President <a href="Aslan_Maskhadov" title="Aslan Maskhadov">Aslan Maskhadov</a> in 2005, and the killing of foreign militant leader <a href="Abu_Hafs_al-Urduni" title="Abu Hafs al-Urduni">Abu Hafs</a> in <a href="Dagestan" title="Dagestan">Dagestan</a> in 2006.<a href="#cite_note-map-8">[8]</a> Following the transfer of responsibility for operations in Chechnya from the <a href="Ministry_of_Defence_(Russia)" title="Ministry of Defence (Russia)">Ministry of Defence</a> to the FSB in January 2001, and prior to the "Chechenization" policy that began in 2003, Alpha members (along with the other Russian personnel and pro-Moscow Chechen militia) participated in at least 10 mixed "combined special groups" (svodnye spetsialnye gruppy, SSGs), considered <a href="Death_squad" title="Death squad">death squads</a> by human rights groups and outside observers.<a href="#cite_note-putin-45">[45]</a><a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a><a href="#cite_note-47">[47]</a><a href="#cite_note-48">[48]</a> It is believed that the SSGs were behind many of the numerous "name/address cleansings" (imeny/adressny zachistki): usually night-time raids by masked men in unmarked vehicles, targeting specific active or former rebel combatants, their supporters, their relatives, or other civilians for either <a href="Forced_disappearance" class="mw-redirect" title="Forced disappearance">forced disappearance</a> or outright <a href="Extrajudicial_killing" title="Extrajudicial killing">extrajudicial killing</a>.<a href="#cite_note-putin-45">[45]</a> In 2005, <a href="Human_Rights_Watch" title="Human Rights Watch">Human Rights Watch</a> declared that the disappearances had reached the scale of a <a href="Crime_against_humanity" class="mw-redirect" title="Crime against humanity">crime against humanity</a>, and that "Russia has the inglorious distinction of being a world leader in enforced disappearances."<a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a> Chechnya's UFSB also formed a local Alpha unit, believed to be similar in its role to the SSGs.<a href="#cite_note-putin-45">[45]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Mass_hostage_crises">Mass hostage crises</h4></div>

The group was instrumental in the Russian government's attempts to forcibly bring an end to a series of mass <a href="Hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Hostage crisis">hostage crisis</a> incidents, in which groups of Chechen and other separatist militants took hostages. These events took place in Russia's southern territories near Chechnya as well as in the Russian heartland, and were made up of the <a href="Budyonnovsk_hospital_hostage_crisis" title="Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis">Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis</a> in June 1995, the <a href="Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis">Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis</a> in January 1996, the <a href="Moscow_theatre_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Moscow theatre hostage crisis">Moscow theatre hostage crisis</a> in October 2002, and the <a href="Beslan_school_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Beslan school hostage crisis">Beslan school hostage crisis</a> in September 2004.<a href="#cite_note-HastedtGuerrier2010-18">[18]</a> Each of these high-profile incidents resulted in hundreds of fatalities and injuries among the hostages and, with the exception of the Moscow siege, significant losses among the unit's personnel.

At <a href="Budyonnovsk" title="Budyonnovsk">Budyonnovsk</a> (Budennovsk) in <a href="Stavropol_Krai" title="Stavropol Krai">Stavropol Krai</a>, two abortive storming attempts by Alpha and Vympel killed scores of hostages in a major public relations disaster for the Russian government, as the carnage was televised live across the country.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a><a href="#cite_note-smith-50">[50]</a><a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> In the first, a pre-dawn raid, only 86 out of more than 1,500 hostages were freed, but more than 30 hostages were killed before the rescuers were forced to retreat after four hours of fighting, which also resulted in the deaths of several men on both sides.<a href="#cite_note-negotiating-52">[52]</a> After that, the leader of the hostage-takers, Chechen commander <a href="Shamil_Basayev" title="Shamil Basayev">Shamil Basayev</a>, agreed to release pregnant and nursing women, and to allow emergency services to put out a fire in the main building and to collect and remove dead bodies.<a href="#cite_note-negotiating-52">[52]</a> The assault was then resumed at noon and included the use of <a href="Tear_gas" title="Tear gas">tear gas</a>; it stopped after over an hour later when Basayev agreed to release the remaining women and children.<a href="#cite_note-negotiating-52">[52]</a> The overall death toll of more than 120 people included three Alpha members.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a> In the end, the crisis was resolved through negotiations that led to an agreement involving a ceasefire in Chechnya and high-level peace talks, both of which later broke down, with full-scale hostilities resuming in October 1995.<a href="#cite_note-early-5">[5]</a><a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> Russian Prime Minister <a href="Viktor_Chernomyrdin" title="Viktor Chernomyrdin">Viktor Chernomyrdin</a> claimed that both attacks had not been authorised by the government, but were launched by troops acting without orders.<a href="#cite_note-53">[53]</a>

At Pervomayskoye, a small settlement on the outskirt of <a href="Kizlyar" title="Kizlyar">Kizlyar</a> in Dagestan, in an operation that was conducted under the direct control of Barsukov, Alpha Group was mostly held in reserve during multiple failed storming attempts spearheaded by Vityaz and the <a href="SOBR" title="SOBR">SOBR</a> (a special forces unit of the <a href="Moscow_City_Police" title="Moscow City Police">Moscow police</a>), supported by tanks and armoured vehicles.<a href="#cite_note-rulers-12">[12]</a><a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> Further attacks were conducted with heavy artillery, including <a href="BM-21_Grad" title="BM-21 Grad">Grad</a> launchers firing salvos of rockets into the village, and helicopter gunship support.<a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> According to statements made to justify the use of unlimited force, the FSB had been informed, falsely, that the hostages had been executed by their captors, prior to the commencement of military operations.<a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> This full-scale offensive continued for three days, until the Chechen militants fought their way through the siege lines in a night-time break-out, escaping with many of the surviving hostages in another major humiliation for the Kremlin. 26 out of the 150 hostages lost their lives (most of the original 2,000 hostages had been released in Kizlyar), and in all the incident resulted more than 300 fatalities, mostly among the Russian forces.<a href="#cite_note-gazavat-51">[51]</a> Although they avoided the kind of devastating losses that decimated the Moscow SOBR (including the death of their commanding officer)<a href="#cite_note-rulers-12">[12]</a> and the 22nd Independent Brigade of <a href="Spetsnaz_GRU" title="Spetsnaz GRU">Spetsnaz GRU</a>,<a href="#cite_note-54">[54]</a> Alpha Group still suffered casualties at Pervomayskoye. These included a friendly fire incident which occurred after fighting had ended, when a regular soldier accidentally fired his vehicle's <a href="2A28_Grom" title="2A28 Grom">Grom</a> gun, killing two Alpha members.<a href="#cite_note-55">[55]</a> When the Alpha Group was deployed, they were sent in without winter clothing and quartered in unheated buses. One of the unit's commanders claimed they were "set up", saying: "The first day it was 15 below and we were standing in the fields with no warm clothes. There were no sleeping bags, no water, no food. The hostages were being destroyed, the rebels were being destroyed and we were being destroyed there. That's what happened."<a href="#cite_note-56">[56]</a>

Several highly controversial actions made the force susceptible to criticism revolving around the loss of life among the hostages. One of these actions was the use of an <a href="Moscow_hostage_crisis_chemical_agent" title="Moscow hostage crisis chemical agent">unknown chemical agent</a> to assist Alpha Group and the SOBR break the <a href="Moscow_hostage_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Moscow hostage crisis">October 2002 Moscow hostage crisis</a>, by knocking out the people inside the building. The FSB chemical attack resulted in the deaths of at least 129 hostages and serious damage to the health of many others,<a href="#cite_note-moscnews-57">[57]</a> yet was hailed by the group's officers as their "... first successful operation for years".<a href="#cite_note-58">[58]</a> In 2011, the <a href="European_Court_of_Human_Rights" title="European Court of Human Rights">European Court of Human Rights</a> (ECHR) ordered Russia to pay compensation to 64 survivors of the siege for their physical and emotional suffering, and to prosecute the officials who committed the human rights violations, ruling that the authorities had failed to minimise the risks to the hostages. Russia failed to uphold the ECHR ruling, paying the compensation to victims but not launching an investigation into the violations.<a href="#cite_note-59">[59]</a>

Another controversy was the use of tank cannons, portable flamethrowers, and other weapons such as grenade launchers in <a href="Beslan" title="Beslan">Beslan</a>, North Ossetia. On 3 September 2004, the local school was taken over by Chechen-led militants from <a href="Ingushetia" title="Ingushetia">Ingushetia</a>, and was subsequently raided by the heavily armed FSB special forces of Alpha and Vympel.<a href="#cite_note-echr-60">[60]</a><a href="#cite_note-61">[61]</a><a href="#cite_note-62">[62]</a><a href="#cite_note-63">[63]</a><a href="#cite_note-crime-64">[64]</a> The operation was overseen by the head of the Special Purpose Center, Gen. Alexander Tikhonov, who forbade extinguishing the fire in the school,<a href="#cite_note-crime-64">[64]</a> while the actual attack was personally led by Gen. Pronichev, and supported by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and attack helicopters. <a href="John_McAleese" title="John McAleese">John McAleese</a>, a member of the <a href="Special_Air_Service" title="Special Air Service">Special Air Service</a> (SAS) team which had <a href="Iranian_Embassy_siege" title="Iranian Embassy siege">liberated the Iranian Embassy in London</a> in 1980, immediately called it one of the worst hostage rescue attempts he had seen or heard about.<a href="#cite_note-disaster-2">[2]</a> The Beslan siege turned out to be particularly bloody, costing the lives of more than 333 people, including 186 children (age 1 to 17), 111 relatives, guests and friends, 17 school staff members and 10 Alpha members.<a href="#cite_note-65">[65]</a><a href="#cite_note-66">[66]</a> No ballistic tests were carried out, and prosecutors were not allowed to examine the special forces' weapons to determine who exactly killed the hostages.<a href="#cite_note-67">[67]</a> In 2007, 447 survivors and relatives of victims of the Beslan massacre brought a complaint against the Russian government in seven applications to the ECHR.<a href="#cite_note-echr-60">[60]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_other_post-Soviet_states">In other post-Soviet states</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ex-Soviet_regional_Alpha_units">Ex-Soviet regional Alpha units</h3></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Belarus">In Belarus</h4></div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Alpha_Group_(Belarus)" title="Alpha Group (Belarus)">Alpha Group (Belarus)</a></div>

The Minsk territorial unit of Alpha continues to exist within the <a href="State_Security_Committee_of_the_Republic_of_Belarus" title="State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus">State Security Committee (KGB)</a> of Belarus, known simply as "Alfa" («Альфа»).<a href="#cite_note-68">[68]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Kazakhstan">In Kazakhstan</h4></div>

The Almaty territorial unit of Alpha was turned into the special unit Arystan (meaning "Lions" in <a href="Kazakh_language" title="Kazakh language">Kazakh</a>) of the <a href="National_Security_Committee_of_the_Republic_of_Kazakhstan" class="mw-redirect" title="National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan">National Security Committee (KNB)</a> of Kazakhstan.<a href="#cite_note-69">[69]</a> In 2006, five members of Arystan were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of the opposition politician <a href="Altynbek_Sarsenbayuly" title="Altynbek Sarsenbayuly">Altynbek Sarsenbayuly</a>, his driver, and his bodyguard; the three victims were then allegedly delivered to the people who murdered them.<a href="#cite_note-70">[70]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Ukraine">In Ukraine</h4></div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Alpha_Group_(Ukraine)" title="Alpha Group (Ukraine)">Alpha Group (Ukraine)</a></div>

Special Group "Alpha" is a branch of the <a href="Security_Service_of_Ukraine" title="Security Service of Ukraine">Security Service of Ukraine</a>; and a successor of the <a href="Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>'s Alpha Group.<a href="#cite_note-Cox2001-4">[4]</a> It has continued to be informally called "Alpha".

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Self-styled_new_units">Self-styled new units</h3></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Georgia">In Georgia</h4></div>

<a href="Georgia_(country)" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a> established its own Alpha unit in 1992.<a href="#cite_note-rulers-12">[12]</a> It was created as one of the three special forces units belonging to the Ministry of State Security, the other two being named Delta and Omega. In 1995, members of Alpha and the Minister of State Security, <a href="Igor_Giorgadze" title="Igor Giorgadze">Igor Giorgadze</a>, were blamed for the failed bombing attempt on the life of President <a href="Eduard_Shevardnadze" title="Eduard Shevardnadze">Eduard Shevardnadze</a>. After that, Giorgadze fled to Moscow, and Georgia's Alpha was purged and reorganised.<a href="#cite_note-71">[71]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Kyrgyzstan">In Kyrgyzstan</h4></div>

A special unit named "Alfa" Special Operations Executive (ASOE) was established within the <a href="State_Committee_for_National_Security_(Kyrgyzstan)" title="State Committee for National Security (Kyrgyzstan)">State Committee on National Security</a> (GKNB) of <a href="Kyrgyzstan" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a>. In 2010, eight members of ASOE, including five snipers and the unit's commander, were charged with shooting and killing unarmed people during the <a href="Kyrgyz_Revolution_of_2010" class="mw-redirect" title="Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010">Second Kyrgyz Revolution</a>. Criminal cases were brought to the court under the articles: 97 (murder), and 305 part 2 (exceeding the limits of authority).<a href="#cite_note-72">[72]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="In_Tajikistan">In Tajikistan</h4></div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Alpha_Group_(Tajikistan)" title="Alpha Group (Tajikistan)">Alpha Group (Tajikistan)</a></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Equipment">Equipment</h2></div>

Alpha Group operators have access to a wide array of small arms.

<dl><dt>Assault rifles</dt></dl>

<ul><li>Various <a href="AK-74" title="AK-74">AK-74</a> variants</li>

<li><a href="M4A1" class="mw-redirect" title="M4A1">M4A1</a> or <a href="AR-15" class="mw-redirect" title="AR-15">AR-15</a> variants (Limited Use)</li>

<li><a href="AN-94" title="AN-94">AN-94</a> (Limited Use)</li></ul>

<dl><dt>Light machine guns</dt></dl>

<ul><li><a href="PKP_Pecheneg" class="mw-redirect" title="PKP Pecheneg">PKP Pecheneg</a></li>

<dl><dt>Sniper and designated marksman rifles</dt></dl>

<ul><li>Various <a href="Dragunov_sniper_rifle" class="mw-redirect" title="Dragunov sniper rifle">Dragunov</a> variants</li>

<li>H&K MR308 (civilian version of the <a href="Heckler_%26_Koch_HK417" title="Heckler & Koch HK417">HK417</a>).</li>

<li><a href="Vintorez" class="mw-redirect" title="Vintorez">Vintorez</a></li>

<li><a href="Accuracy_International_AWM" title="Accuracy International AWM">Accuracy International AWM</a></li>

<li><a href="Orsis_T-5000" title="Orsis T-5000">Orsis T-5000</a></li>

<li><a href="Lobaev_Arms" title="Lobaev Arms">Lobaev Arms</a> M2 Urbana and M4 Dark Matter</li></ul>

<dl><dt>Submachine guns and personal defense weapons</dt></dl>

<ul><li><a href="Heckler_%26_Koch_MP5" title="Heckler & Koch MP5">Heckler & Koch MP5</a></li>

<li><a href="Vityaz-SN" class="mw-redirect" title="Vityaz-SN">Vityaz-SN</a></li>

<li><a href="Br%C3%BCgger_%26_Thomet_MP9" title="Brügger & Thomet MP9">Brügger & Thomet MP9</a></li></ul>

<dl><dt>Handguns</dt></dl>

<ul><li><a href="Glock_19" class="mw-redirect" title="Glock 19">Glock 19</a></li>

<li><a href="Glock_17" class="mw-redirect" title="Glock 17">Glock 17</a></li>

<li><a href="Arsenal_Firearms_Strike_One" title="Arsenal Firearms Strike One">Strizh</a></li>

<li><a href="Stechkin_APS" class="mw-redirect" title="Stechkin APS">Stechkin APS</a></li>

<li><a href="Makarov_PM" class="mw-redirect" title="Makarov PM">Makarov PM</a></li>

<li><a href="OTs-33_Pernach" title="OTs-33 Pernach">OTs-33 Pernach</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="Vympel" title="Vympel">Vympel</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Citations">Citations</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080201075302/http://www.psan.org/document514.html">"The End of the KGB"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.psan.org/document514.html">the original</a> on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-spies-16">^ <a href="#cite_ref-spies_16-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-spies_16-1">b</a> Jeffery T. Richelson, A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century, page 359.

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<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8428701.stm">How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palace</a>, BBC News, 27 December 2009.

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<li id="cite_note-HastedtGuerrier2010-18">^ <a href="#cite_ref-HastedtGuerrier2010_18-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-HastedtGuerrier2010_18-1">b</a> <cite id="CITEREFGlenn_Peter_HastedtSteven_W._Guerrier2010" class="citation book cs1">Glenn Peter Hastedt; Steven W. Guerrier (2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=A8WoNp2vI-cC&pg=PA732">Spies, Wiretaps, and Secret Operations: An Encyclopedia of American Espionage</a>. ABC-CLIO. p. 732. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-85109-808-8</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-19"><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201127142653/http://vpk-news.ru/articles/425">"Article on Storm-333 at"</a> (in Russian). Vpk-news.ru. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://vpk-news.ru/articles/425">the original</a> on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-20"><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a> (in Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.specnaz.ru/istoriya/390/">Baikal-79</a> by A. Lyakhovskiy

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<li id="cite_note-21"><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131221123528/http://start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4072">"Terrorist Organization Profile – START – National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism"</a>. Start.umd.edu. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4072">the original</a> on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-22"><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141010144012/http://articles.philly.com/1986-01-15/news/26052630_1_hostage-crisis-soviet-captives-islamic-liberation-organization">"Hostages? No Problem Soviets Offer 'How-to' Lesson in Kidnapping"</a>. philly.com. 15 January 1986. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.philly.com/1986-01-15/news/26052630_1_hostage-crisis-soviet-captives-islamic-liberation-organization">the original</a> on 10 October 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-23"><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130905050900/http://www.chekist.ru/article/2257">"Вячеслав Лашкул. Бейрутская операция советской разведки » Чекист.ru"</a>. Chekist.ru. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.chekist.ru/article/2257">the original</a> on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-24"><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14202371">Baltic fury over Austria's release of ex-Soviet officer</a>, BBC News, 19 July 2011.

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<li id="cite_note-25"><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927145535/http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/2011/july/19-1/">"Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia: The Baltic states demonstrate their unity over the release of Golovatov"</a>. Am.gov.lv. 19 July 2011. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/2011/july/19-1/">the original</a> on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-26"><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a> David Satter, Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, pg. 18.

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<li id="cite_note-91internalkgbreport-27"><a href="#cite_ref-91internalkgbreport_27-0">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110408051034/http://www.flb.ru/material.phtml?id=3632">"September 1991 internal KGB report on the involvement of KGB in the coup"</a>. Flb.ru. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.flb.ru/material.phtml?id=3632">the original</a> on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-NovayaGazeta51-28"><a href="#cite_ref-NovayaGazeta51_28-0">^</a> (in Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://2001.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2001/51n/n51n-s15.shtml">"Novaya Gazeta" No. 51 of 23 July 2001</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120215063833/http://2001.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2001/51n/n51n-s15.shtml">Archived</a> 15 February 2012 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (extracts from the indictment of the conspirators).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Timeline-29"><a href="#cite_ref-Timeline_29-0">^</a> (in Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.rusbg.com/viewtopic.php?p=183469&sid=ab7f23384901f822938fcbc1b4e31240">Timeline of the events</a>, by Artem Krechnikov, Moscow BBC correspondent <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071127115224/http://archive.rusbg.com/viewtopic.php?p=183469&sid=ab7f23384901f822938fcbc1b4e31240">Archived</a> 27 November 2007 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>

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<li id="cite_note-Argumenty-30"><a href="#cite_ref-Argumenty_30-0">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nd.flb.ru/?path=3&info_id=1222&text_version=19">Argumenty i Fakty</a>, 15 August 2001.

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<li id="cite_note-31"><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alpha-b.ru/eng/">"Dear clients of LLC private security company "ALPHA-B"! « ООО ЧОП АЛЬФА-Б – Частное Охранное Предприятие"</a>. Alpha-b.ru. 18 August 1993. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-32"><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/20-08-2004/6631-alpha-0/">"Alpha Russian special service unit is as strong as ever"</a>. English pravda.ru. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-33"><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1426138/Maj-Gen-Viktor-Karpukhin.html">Maj-Gen Viktor Karpukhin – Telegraph</a>.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-34"><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a> Gary Borg, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/10/15/police-storm-bus-kill-hijacker/">Police Storm Bus, Kill Hijacker</a>, Chicago Tribune, 15 October 1995.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-35"><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hostage+stand-in+is+killed.-a061085175">"Hostage stand-in is killed. - Free Online Library"</a>. Thefreelibrary.com. 21 December 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2014.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-agru-36"><a href="#cite_ref-agru_36-0">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/">Agentura.ru – FSB Special forces: 1998–2010</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130118123943/http://agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/">Archived</a> 18 January 2013 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-politics-37">^ <a href="#cite_ref-politics_37-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-politics_37-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-politics_37-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-politics_37-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-politics_37-4">e</a> Brian D. Taylor, Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689–2000, page 294.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-era-38">^ <a href="#cite_ref-era_38-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-era_38-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-era_38-2">c</a> Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, George Shriver, Post-Soviet Russia: A Journey Through the Yeltsin Era, page 127.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-39"><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a> Margaret Shapiro, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130516002333/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-968180.html">Army Shellfire Crushes Moscow Revolt; Dozens Killed in Assault on Parliament; Yeltsin Foes Surrender After Two-Day Battle</a>, The Washington Post, 5 October 1993.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-40"><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a> Serge Schemann, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/05/world/showdown-moscow-overview-russian-army-routs-rebels-parliament-yeltsin-takes.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm">SHOWDOWN IN MOSCOW: The Overview; RUSSIAN ARMY ROUTS REBELS AT PARLIAMENT AS YELTSIN TAKES STEPS TO TIGHTEN CONTROL</a>, The New York Times, 5 October 1993.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Katz2004-41"><a href="#cite_ref-Katz2004_41-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFSamuel_M._Katz2004" class="citation book cs1">Samuel M. Katz (2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xGG-ta6K3yUC&pg=PA1960">Against All Odds: Counterterrorist Hostage Rescues</a>. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 1960. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-8225-1567-8</bdi>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-42"><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFJohn_Pike" class="citation web cs1">John Pike. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/mozdok.htm">"Mozdok (182nd Heavy Bomber Rgmt)"</a>. Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-lessons-43">^ <a href="#cite_ref-lessons_43-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-lessons_43-1">b</a> Olga Oliker, Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat, Issue 1289, pages 31, 77.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-44"><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a> Antero Leitzinger, Caucasus and an Anholy Alliance, page 285.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-putin-45">^ <a href="#cite_ref-putin_45-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-putin_45-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-putin_45-2">c</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080201075322/http://www.psan.org/document521.html">"The Security Organs Under Vladimir Putin"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.psan.org/document521.html">the original</a> on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-46"><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a> Fred Weir, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0516/p07s02-woeu.html">Putin battles political fallout of Chechnya fight</a>, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2003.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-47"><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a> Mariya Y. Omelicheva, Counterterrorism and Human Rights, page 132.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-48"><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a> Mark Franchetti, "Russian death squads 'pulverise' Chechens", Sunday Times, 26 April 2009.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-49"><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-3-2005_pg4_9">Chechnya suffering crimes against humanity: HRW – Daily Times</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927170441/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-3-2005_pg4_9">Archived</a> 27 September 2013 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-smith-50"><a href="#cite_ref-smith_50-0">^</a> Sebastian Smith, Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, New Edition, pages 202, 213.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-gazavat-51">^ <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-4">e</a> <a href="#cite_ref-gazavat_51-5">f</a> Robert W. Schaefer, The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad, pages 132, 136–138.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-negotiating-52">^ <a href="#cite_ref-negotiating_52-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-negotiating_52-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-negotiating_52-2">c</a> Adam Dolnik, Keith M. Fitzgerald, Negotiating Hostage Crises With the New Terrorists, pages 46–47.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-53"><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a> Andrew Felkay, Yeltsin's Russia and the West, page 123.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-54"><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a> (in Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.polit.ru/article/2006/03/07/6_rota/">Пиар на крови десантников</a>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-55"><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a> John Giduck, Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy With Lessons For America's Schools, page 112.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-56"><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a> Michael Specter, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/22/world/10-days-that-shook-russia-siege-in-the-caucasus.html">10 Days That Shook Russia: Siege in the Caucasus</a>, The New York Times, 22 January 1996.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-moscnews-57"><a href="#cite_ref-moscnews_57-0">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2004-41-2">Nord-Ost Tragedy Goes On</a>, Moscow News 2004 N.41 – a discussion of the long-term effects of the anesthetic on the surviving hostages. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080229135507/http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2004-41-2">Archived</a> 29 February 2008 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-58"><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/27/russia.chechnya">Troops bring freedom and death to theater of blood</a>, The Guardian, 27 October 2002.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-59"><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20120904/264573778.html">"Russia fails to uphold ECHR court ruling on 2002 terrorist attack, lawyer | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI)"</a>. Rapsinews.com. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-echr-60">^ <a href="#cite_ref-echr_60-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-echr_60-1">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/webservices/content/pdf/001-111101">FIRST SECTION | Application no. 26562/07 | Emma Lazarovna TAGAYEVA and Others against Russia and 6 other applications (see list appended) | STATEMENT OF FACTS</a> (ECHR document about the siege).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-61"><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a> Uwe Klussmann, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-beslan-aftermath-new-papers-critical-of-russian-security-forces-a-363934.html">The Beslan Aftermath: New Papers Critical of Russian Security Forces</a>, Spiegel Online, 27 August 2005.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-62"><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a> Yaroslav Lukov, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4205208.stm">Beslan siege still a mystery</a>, BBC News, 2 September 2005.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-63"><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a> Yuri Zakharovitch, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060921145128/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1516216,00.html">Should Russia Share Blame for the Beslan Massacre?</a>, TIME, 31 August 2006.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-crime-64">^ <a href="#cite_ref-crime_64-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-crime_64-1">b</a> David Satter, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/01/beslan-putin-politkovskaya-basaev-dzasokhov-chechen-opinions-contributors-david-satter.html">Remembering Beslan: A crime against humanity.</a>, Forbes.com, 10.01.09.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-65"><a href="#cite_ref-65">^</a> Nick Paton Walsh, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/06/chechnya.russia">Frantic search for missing as Beslan begins to bury its dead</a>, The Guardian, 6 September 2004.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-66"><a href="#cite_ref-66">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170814163020/https://ria.ru/incidents/20061222/57561669.html">"Захват школы в Беслане изначально планировался как теракт-самоубийство"</a> [Beslan school hostage crisis initially was the suicide terrorist attack] (in Russian). <a href="RIA_Novosti" title="RIA Novosti">RIA Novosti</a>. 22 December 2006. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ria.ru/incidents/20061222/57561669.html">the original</a> on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-67"><a href="#cite_ref-67">^</a> Madina Sageyeva, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://iwpr.net/report-news/beslan-%E2%80%93-search-truth-goes">Beslan – The Search for the Truth Goes on</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130928045941/http://iwpr.net/report-news/beslan-%E2%80%93-search-truth-goes">Archived</a> 28 September 2013 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 18 August 2005.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-68"><a href="#cite_ref-68">^</a> (in Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.kgb.by/press/inform/22.html">О проведении тактико-специальных учений «Блок 2006» / 19 июня 2006 – КГБ</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927142346/http://www.kgb.by/press/inform/22.html">Archived</a> 27 September 2013 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-69"><a href="#cite_ref-69">^</a> Mariya Y. Omelicheva, Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia, page 119.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-70"><a href="#cite_ref-70">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-142419667/kazakh-security-officers-suspected.html">Kazakh security officers suspected of kidnapping, not murdering oppositionist.</a>, BBC Monitoring International Reports, 22 February 2006.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-71"><a href="#cite_ref-71">^</a> Aaron Belkin, United We Stand?: Divide-and-Conquer Politics And the Logic of International Hostility, pages 106–107.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-72"><a href="#cite_ref-72">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.memo.ru/eng/news/2010/11/17/1711102.htm">«Alfa's» Special Operations Executive Role in the Bishkek's Events on April 6–7, 2010</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130927174302/http://www.memo.ru/eng/news/2010/11/17/1711102.htm">Archived</a> 27 September 2013 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, Memorial, 16 November 2010.

</li>

</ol></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="General_sources">General sources</h2></div>

<ul><li><cite id="CITEREFChristopher_Andrew_and_Vasili_Mitrokhin1999" class="citation book cs1"><a href="Christopher_Andrew_(historian)" title="Christopher Andrew (historian)">Christopher Andrew</a> and <a href="Vasili_Mitrokhin" title="Vasili Mitrokhin">Vasili Mitrokhin</a> (1999). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/swordshieldmitro00andr">The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB</a>. New York: Basic Books. pp. 389–391. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>0-465-00310-9</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFBarry_Davies2005" class="citation book cs1">Barry Davies (2005). The Spycraft Manual: The Insider's Guide to Espionage Techniques. Carlton Books Ltd. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>1-84442-577-0</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFDavid_Satter2001" class="citation book cs1"><a href="David_Satter" title="David Satter">David Satter</a> (2001). Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>0-300-08705-5</bdi>.</cite></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikimedia Commons has media related to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alpha_Group" class="extiw external" title="commons:Category:Alpha Group">Alpha Group</a>.</div></div>

</div>

<ul><li>(In Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alphagroup.ru">Alpha Group veterans association</a></li>

<li>(In Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.specnaz.ru">Alpha Group veterans association magazine</a></li>

<li>(In Russian) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alfa.org.ua">Alpha Group veterans association (Ukraine)</a></li></ul>

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</style><div id="Beslan_school_siege89" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="Beslan_school_siege" title="Beslan school siege">Beslan school siege</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Main topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Timeline_of_the_Beslan_school_siege" title="Timeline of the Beslan school siege">Timeline</a></li>

<li><a href="International_response_to_the_Beslan_school_siege" title="International response to the Beslan school siege">International response</a></li>

<li><a href="Russian_government_censorship_of_Chechnya_coverage" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian government censorship of Chechnya coverage">Russian government censorship</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Perpetrators</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Riyad-us_Saliheen_Brigade_of_Martyrs" title="Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs">Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs</a></li>

<li><a href="Vladimir_Khodov" title="Vladimir Khodov">Vladimir Khodov</a></li>

<li><a href="Ruslan_Khuchbarov" title="Ruslan Khuchbarov">Ruslan Khuchbarov</a></li>

<li><a href="Nur-Pashi_Kulayev" title="Nur-Pashi Kulayev">Nur-Pashi Kulayev</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Organizers</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Shamil_Basayev" title="Shamil Basayev">Shamil Basayev</a></li>

<li><a href="Abu_Omar_al-Kuwaiti" title="Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti">Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti</a></li>

<li><a href="Magomed_Khashiev" title="Magomed Khashiev">Magomed Khashiev</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Involved people</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Aslambek_Aslakhanov" title="Aslambek Aslakhanov">Aslambek Aslakhanov</a></li>

<li><a href="Ruslan_Aushev" title="Ruslan Aushev">Ruslan Aushev</a></li>

<li><a href="Alexander_Dzasokhov" title="Alexander Dzasokhov">Alexander Dzasokhov</a></li>

<li><a href="Yanis_Kanidis" title="Yanis Kanidis">Yanis Kanidis</a></li>

<li><a href="Vladimir_Pronichev" title="Vladimir Pronichev">Vladimir Pronichev</a></li>

<li><a href="Leonid_Roshal" title="Leonid Roshal">Leonid Roshal</a></li>

<li><a href="Grigori_Grabovoi" title="Grigori Grabovoi">Grigori Grabovoi</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Organisations</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li> / <a href="Vympel" title="Vympel">Vympel</a></li>

<li><a href="Mothers_of_Beslan" title="Mothers of Beslan">Mothers of Beslan</a></li>

<li><a href="Voice_of_Beslan" title="Voice of Beslan">Voice of Beslan</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Works</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Beslan%3A_The_Tragedy_of_School_No._1" title="Beslan: The Tragedy of School No. 1">Beslan</a></li>

<li><a href="Children_of_Beslan" title="Children of Beslan">Children of Beslan</a></li>

<li><a href="A_Russian_Diary" title="A Russian Diary">A Russian Diary</a></li>

</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-16" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Alpha_Group&oldid=1300713565">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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