Russian Spetsnaz

Dive into SOFREP’s most compelling articles on covert operations, unveiling tales of intrigue, espionage, and sacrifice that shaped history.

Special Forces history holds numerous obscure tales, like the unique joint US Special Forces-Russian Spetsnaz combat mission.

In a striking blow to Russian military operations, Spetsnaz officer Alexey Ivanov was fatally targeted in Ukraine, marking yet another high-ranking casualty in the ongoing conflict.

Explore the world’s most elite special forces, known for their exceptional training, daring missions, and global security contributions.

Spetsnaz is a name that conjures fear to many. But who are these elite Russian troops and what is their history?

In the weeks leading up to February 24th, 2014, Russia conducted large-scale military exercises on the border with Ukraine. While NATO focused on that diversion, Russian intelligence services assembled a collective designed for hybrid warfare to facilitate an invasion of Crimea: ethnic Russians in the Crimea, Serbian militias, Chechen soldiers, the Night Wolves motorcycle club, […]

The Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was assassinated on December 19th, 2016 by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş in Ankara. Scenes of the assassination are still fresh in most people’s memory as it was televised how Mevlüt shot the ambassador in the back and started circling the body, screaming in Arabic and Turkish. The next day, […]

The Russian special operations forces (Spetsnaz) have been issued a new special operations craft. Designated as Project 02800, the boat is manufactured by a company called Trident Aluminium Boats. The company, among other products, produces motorboats and rigid inflatable boats for commercial use. According to Russia Today, a state-owned news agency, the new special operations […]

According to the Ukrainian defence ministry, two Ukrainian armoured artillery boats and a tugboat were fired at, rammed, and then seized by Russian forces. Russian Navy Spetsnaz boarded the damaged vessels and captured their crews. Firsthand reports stated that at least two Ukrainian sailors have been wounded in action. The two armoured artillery are the Berdyansk and the Nikopol, the […]

Russia appears to have deployed special forces to an airbase in western Egypt near the border with Libya in recent days, U.S., Egyptian and diplomatic sources say, a move that would add to U.S. concerns about Moscow’s deepening role in Libya. The U.S. and diplomatic officials said any such Russian deployment might be part of […]