View source for Alpha Group

{{Short description|Unit of the Soviet/Russian Federal Security Service}}
{{About|Soviet and later Russian special operations force|other organisations, military or otherwise, with the same name||Russian investment group|Alfa Group|Cuban militant group|Alpha 66|Mexico City Police Alfa Group (Agrupamiento Alfa)|Law enforcement in Mexico City#Preventive Police}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
| native_name = Spetsgruppa "A"
| unit_name = Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center
| image = Emblem of the Directorate A.svg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Alpha Group emblem
| start_date = {{Start date and age|1974|07|28|df=yes}}
| country = {{USSR}} (1974–1991)<br />{{flag|Russia}} (1991–present)
| allegiance = 
| branch = [[File:Emblema KGB.svg|15px]] [[Spetsnaz]] of the [[KGB]] (1974–1991) <br /> '''Russia:''' <br /> [[File:Great_emblem_of_the_Federal_Guard_Service.svg|20px]] [[Federal Protective Service (Russia)|GUO]] (1991–1993) <br /> [[File:Emblem_of_the_Ministry_of_Internal_Affairs.svg|20px]] [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)|MVD]] (1993–1995) <br /> [[File:Emblem_of_Federal_security_service.svg|15px]] [[FSB Special Purpose Center|TsSN]] [[Federal Security Service (Russia)|FSB]] (1995–present)
| type = [[Spetsnaz]]
| role = 
| size = Classified (estimated 500 in 1991,<ref name=guide/> 250–300 in Russia in 2004<ref name=disaster/>)
| command_structure = [[File:Flag of Federal security service.svg|23px]] [[Federal Security Service]] [[Moscow]] (main force) <br /> [[Khabarovsk]], [[Krasnodar]], [[Yekaterinburg]], [[Grozny]] (in Russia)
| garrison_label = 
| nickname = Alpha Group, Alpha (Alfa)
| motto = Победить и вернуться
| patron = 
| colors = 
| colors_label = 
| march = 
| equipment = 
| equipment_label = 
| battles = [[Operation Storm-333]]<br />[[Aeroflot Flight 6833|Aeroflot Flight 6833 hostage crisis]]<br />[[January Events (Lithuania)|January Events]]<br />[[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|Soviet coup d'état attempt]]<br/>'''Russia:'''<br />[[1993 Russian constitutional crisis|Russian constitutional crisis]]<br />[[Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis|Budyonnovsk hostage crisis]]<br />[[Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis]]<br />[[First Chechen War]]<br />[[Second Chechen War]]<br />[[Moscow theatre hostage crisis]]<br />[[Beslan school hostage crisis]]<br />[[Insurgency in the North Caucasus]]<br/>[[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War]]<br />[[Russian invasion of Ukraine]]
| anniversaries = 
| battle_honours = <!-- Commanders -->
| commander1 = Col. Valery Kanakin  {{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
| commander1_label = 
| notable_commanders = Gen. [[Vitaly Bubenin]]<br />Gen. [[Viktor Fyodorovich Karpukhin|Viktor Karpukhin]] <br />Gen. Gennady Zaitsev<ref name=history/>
}}

'''Spetsgruppa "A"''', also known as '''Alpha Group''', officially '''Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center''' ({{Langx|ru|Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"|Spetsnaz FSB "Alfa"}}), is a sub-unit of [[Spetsnaz|Russian special forces]] within the Russian [[FSB Special Purpose Center|Special Purpose Center]] of the [[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.

==In the Soviet Union==
===Creation and organization===
On 28 July 1974, Alpha Group was created on the orders of the [[KGB]] Chairman, [[Yuri Andropov]], in the aftermath of the [[Munich massacre|1972 Munich massacre]]. It might have been established as a response to [[West Germany]]'s creation of the ''Grenzschutzgruppe 9'' (or the [[GSG 9]]).<ref name="Cox2001">{{cite book|author=David Cox|title=Close Protection: The Politics of Guarding Russia's Rulers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsB-5-e0RwgC&pg=PA59|year=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-96688-1|page=59}}</ref> By attaching a special-purpose unit to the office of the [[First Chief Directorate]] in [[Moscow]] (later the Seventh Directorate<ref name=early/>), 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title = KGB Spetsnaz & World War III|url = https://espionagehistoryarchive.com/2015/04/17/kgb-spetsnaz-world-war-iii/|website = Espionage History Archive|access-date = 2015-08-24|first = Mark|last = Hackard|date = 17 April 2015|author-link=Mark Hackard}}</ref>

Later, territorial Alpha units were established across the Soviet Union:<ref name=ua>{{cite web|url=http://alfa.org.ua/?r=history |title=Международная Ассоциация Ветеранов Подразделений Антитеррора "Альфа" |publisher=Alfa.org.ua |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> 
* 7th Group formed in the [[Russian SSR]], [[Khabarovsk Krai]] 
* 10th Group formed the [[Ukrainian SSR]], [[Kiev Oblast]] – Later forming the basis of Ukraine's [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha Group]]
* 11th Group formed in the [[Belarusian SSR]], [[Minsk Region|Minsk Oblast]] – Later forming the basis of Belarus' [[Alpha Group (Belarus)|Alpha Group]]
* 12th Group formed in the [[Kazakh SSR]], [[Almaty Province|Almaty Oblast]] – Later forming the basis of Kazakh [[National Security Committee (Kazakhstan)|NSC ''Arystan'' unit]]
* 13th Group formed in the [[Russian SSR]], [[Krasnodar Krai]]
* 14th Group formed in the [[Russian SSR]], [[Sverdlovsk Oblast]]

===Operations===
Initially, this special-purpose [[counter-terrorism]] 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 [[Embassy of the United States in Moscow]], 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.<ref name=map/><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19790330&id=vzhIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XoEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=967,414161 Account Given of Embassy's Fatal Explosion], ''Washington Post'', 30 March 1979.</ref> Throughout the 1980s, Alpha became increasingly deployed domestically to respond to a rising number of [[hostage taking]] situations, including at least two cases which involved buildings being taken over and hostages taken by violent groups of deserters from the [[Soviet Army]], as well as other armed organizations.<ref name=map>{{cite web |url=http://www.alphagroup.ru/group-a/map/ |title=Операции Группы "А" |publisher=Alphagroup.ru |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028091322/http://www.alphagroup.ru/group-a/map/ |archive-date=28 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Airline hijackings were another growing security concern within the Soviet Union which Alpha were deployed to solve. Between the 1970 [[Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair]] and 1986, sixteen incidents of air piracy had occurred on Aeroflot flights, six in 1978 alone. Notably, the 1983 hijacking of [[Aeroflot Flight 6833]] in [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]], 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 [[Tupolev Tu-134|Tu-134]] during an [[Aeroflot Flight 36075 (1986)|attempted Tu-134 hijacking]] by deserters at [[Ufa International Airport]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=6 dead in hijack attempt in Ufa in the Soviet Urals - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/22/6-dead-in-hijack-attempt-in-Ufa-in-the-Soviet-Urals/8631527745600/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-24 |title=ЛЕГЕНДА СПЕЦНАЗА — СПЕЦНАЗ РОССИИ - "Альфа"-Инфо |url=http://www.specnaz.ru/articles/230/19/2343.htm |access-date=2025-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024200811/http://www.specnaz.ru/articles/230/19/2343.htm |archive-date=2021-10-24}}</ref>

The unit also became involved in [[Ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union|the ethnic conflicts]] throughout the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref name="rulers" /> Alpha was also used as the "spearhead" of KGB [[counterintelligence]] operations, interdicting hostile intelligence operations<ref>{{Cite web|title = Spy Snatchers: KGB Alpha Group|url = https://espionagehistoryarchive.com/2015/04/09/snatch-grab-the-kgbs-alpha/|website = Espionage History Archive|access-date = 2015-08-24|first = Mark|last = Hackard|date = 9 April 2015}}</ref> on Soviet territory and seizing enemy spies such as CIA agent [[Adolf Tolkachev]] in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The Downfall of Agent Sphere|url = https://espionagehistoryarchive.com/2015/08/14/tolkachev-cia-kgb-counterintelligence/|website = Espionage History Archive|access-date = 2015-08-24|first = Mark|last = Hackard|date = 14 August 2015}}</ref> Two commanding officers of Group "A" were awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]: Gen. [[Viktor Fyodorovich Karpukhin|Viktor Karpukhin]] and Gen. Gennady Zaitsev.<ref name="history" />

====Foreign operations====
Soon, Alpha was assigned missions far exceeding its formal scope.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psan.org/document514.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201075302/http://www.psan.org/document514.html |archive-date=2008-02-01 |title=The End of the KGB |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> On 27 December 1979, Soviet leader [[Leonid Brezhnev]] launched a surprise armed intervention and [[regime change]] operation in the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]]. Soviet forces, including KGB commandos who had infiltrated the country on a pretense to guard the Soviet Embassy,<ref name=spies>Jeffery T. Richelson, ''A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century'', page 359.</ref> were able to quickly secure important government institutions throughout [[Kabul]].  Those institutions included: the Ministry of the Interior; the headquarters of the [[KHAD]] security service; the Ministry of Defense ([[Darul Aman Palace]]); and the [[Tajbeg Palace]], in which, during a 34-minute storming, they successfully assassinated President [[Hafizullah Amin]], along with his [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]] and his young son (the orders were to kill every Afghan in the building).<ref name="Cox2001"/><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8428701.stm How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palace], BBC News, 27 December 2009.</ref><ref name="HastedtGuerrier2010">{{cite book|author1=Glenn Peter Hastedt|author2=Steven W. Guerrier|title=Spies, Wiretaps, and Secret Operations: An Encyclopedia of American Espionage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8WoNp2vI-cC&pg=PA732|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-808-8|page=732}}</ref> The assault on Tajbeg Palace was given the name [[Operation Storm-333]] and involved a combined force of [[Soviet Airborne Troops|Soviet Airborne paratroopers (VDV)]], and special forces groups from the [[Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye|GRU]] and the KGB, including 24 men from the "Thunder" detachment of Alpha Group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vpk-news.ru/articles/425 |title=Article on Storm-333 at |language=ru |publisher=Vpk-news.ru |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127142653/http://vpk-news.ru/articles/425 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name=spies/> 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.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.specnaz.ru/istoriya/390/ Baikal-79] by A. Lyakhovskiy</ref> However, the success of [[Storm-333]], and the initial invasion, marked the beginning of the ten-year [[Soviet–Afghan War]], and subsequently, Alpha Group's extensive involvement throughout the conflict.<ref name=disaster/>

Six years later, in October 1985, Alpha Group was dispatched to war-torn [[Beirut]], Lebanon. [[Kremlin|The Kremlin]] was informed of the kidnapping of four Soviet diplomats by the militant group, the Islamic Liberation Organization (a radical offshoot of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]). It was believed that this was retaliation for the Soviet support of [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon|Syrian involvement]] in the [[Lebanese Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4072 |title=Terrorist Organization Profile&nbsp;– START&nbsp;– National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism |publisher=Start.umd.edu |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-date=21 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221123528/http://start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4072 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1986-01-15/news/26052630_1_hostage-crisis-soviet-captives-islamic-liberation-organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010144012/http://articles.philly.com/1986-01-15/news/26052630_1_hostage-crisis-soviet-captives-islamic-liberation-organization |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 October 2014 |title=Hostages? No Problem Soviets Offer 'How-to' Lesson in Kidnapping |publisher=philly.com |date= 15 January 1986}}</ref> The show of force worked; and, for a period of 20 years, no Soviet or Russian officials were taken captive, until the 2006 [[Abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq|abduction and murder]] 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 [[Hezbollah]], Grand Ayatollah [[Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah]], who appealed to King [[Hussein of Jordan]], and the leaders of Libya and Iran, to use their influence on the kidnappers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chekist.ru/article/2257 |title=Вячеслав Лашкул. Бейрутская операция советской разведки » Чекист.ru |publisher=Chekist.ru |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-date=5 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905050900/http://www.chekist.ru/article/2257 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Fall of the Soviet Union===
====Intervention in the Baltics====
On 11 March 1990, the [[Supreme Council of Lithuania|Supreme Council]] of the [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]] made public their intent to secede from the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania|re-establish the independent Republic of Lithuania]]. 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 [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republic]]. This attempt to re-establish Soviet dominance culminated in the violent seizure of the [[Vilnius TV Tower]] on [[January Events (Lithuania)|13 January 1991]], 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 [[friendly fire]]). In 2011, the former commander of Alpha Group, retired KGB Col. [[Mikhail Golovatov]], was detained at [[Vienna International Airport]] on a [[European Arrest Warrant]] 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".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14202371 Baltic fury over Austria's release of ex-Soviet officer], BBC News, 19 July 2011.</ref> In response, the Lithuanian parliament discussed breaking diplomatic ties with Austria in protest.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} A joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of all three [[Baltic States]] 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 [[Vilnius]] and [[Riga]] have no limitation ..." ("Riga" referring to [[The Barricades|a similar crackdown]] in January 1991, when six Latvian policemen and civilians were killed by Soviet [[OMON]] and KGB forces, possibly including Alpha Group members).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/2011/july/19-1/ |title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia: The Baltic states demonstrate their unity over the release of Golovatov |publisher=Am.gov.lv |date=19 July 2011 |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927145535/http://www.am.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/2011/july/19-1/ |archive-date=27 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt====
During the events of the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|Soviet coup attempt]] in August 1991, Alpha Group's commanding officer, Gen. Karpukhin, was commanded by KGB chairman [[Vladimir Kryuchkov]] to forcibly enter the [[White House, Moscow|White House]], Russia's acting parliament, after paratroopers secured the entrance, to eliminate the President of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Boris Yeltsin]], and various other anti-coup leaders assembled there. In addition to Alpha Group, Gen. Karpukhin was also given authority of [[Vympel|Vega Group (Vympel)]], elements of the Soviet Airborne, [[Internal Troops]], special units of the Dzerzhinsky Division ([[Separate Operational Purpose Division|OMSDON]]), 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 [[Alexander Lebed]], 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.<ref>David Satter, ''Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union'', pg. 18.</ref> Shortly after their assessment was made, Gen. Karpukhin and [[Vympel]]'s Boris Beskov convinced the KGB Deputy chairman, Gennady Ageyev, that such a massive undertaking should be cancelled.<ref name=91internalkgbreport>{{cite web |url=http://www.flb.ru/material.phtml?id=3632 |title=September 1991 internal KGB report on the involvement of KGB in the coup |publisher=Flb.ru |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408051034/http://www.flb.ru/material.phtml?id=3632 |archive-date=8 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=NovayaGazeta51>{{in lang|ru}} [http://2001.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2001/51n/n51n-s15.shtml "Novaya Gazeta" No. 51 of 23 July 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215063833/http://2001.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2001/51n/n51n-s15.shtml |date=15 February 2012 }} (extracts from the indictment of the conspirators).</ref><ref name=Timeline>{{in lang|ru}} [http://archive.rusbg.com/viewtopic.php?p=183469&sid=ab7f23384901f822938fcbc1b4e31240 Timeline of the events], by Artem Krechnikov, Moscow BBC correspondent  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127115224/http://archive.rusbg.com/viewtopic.php?p=183469&sid=ab7f23384901f822938fcbc1b4e31240 |date=27 November 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Argumenty>[http://nd.flb.ru/?path=3&info_id=1222&text_version=19 ''Argumenty i Fakty''], 15 August 2001. {{dead link|date=February 2013}}</ref>

==In the Russian Federation==
[[File:Hero of the Russian Federation medal.png|thumb|[[Hero of the Russian Federation]] medal]]

===Decorated servicemen===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
As of 2018, nine officers of Alpha have been awarded the title [[Hero of the Russian Federation]]:
* Lt. Gennady Sergeyev (posthumously)
* Col. Anatoly Saveliev (posthumously)
* Maj. Vladimir Ulyanov (posthumously)
* Maj. Yuri Danilin (posthumously)
* Col. Sergei Dyachenko
* Col. Valery Kanakin<ref>{{Cite web |title=Канакин Валерий Владимирович |url=https://warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=19126 |access-date=2025-11-15 |website=warheroes.ru}}</ref>
* Lt. Artyom Sevshencko
* Maj. Alexander Perov (posthumously)
* Col. Andrei Kum.<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=http://www.alphagroup.ru/group-a/index.php |title=История Группы "А" |publisher=Alphagroup.ru |access-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203200136/http://www.alphagroup.ru/group-a/index.php |archive-date=3 February 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Shuffling and reforms===
Alpha Group was severely downgraded during the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution and collapse of the Soviet Union]]. After the fall of the USSR, both Alpha and Vympel were transferred to the newly formed [[Federal Protective Service (Russia)|Main Guard Directorate (GUO)]], which was established on the basis of the KGB's [[Ninth Chief Directorate]]. In 1993, they were taken from GUO control, and for a time being put under the jurisdiction of the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russia)|Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)]].<ref name=early>{{cite web|url=http://www.psan.org/document518.html |title=The Early Yeltsin Years |access-date=2008-02-01 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201083223/http://www.psan.org/document518.html |archive-date=1 February 2008}} by Jonathan Littell.</ref> As part of the government shakeup following the June 1995 [[Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis]] in which the Alpha Group had a leading role, Yeltsin fired the first Director of the [[Federal Security Service (Russia)|Federal Security Service (FSB)]], [[Sergei Stepashin]]. Two months later, Alpha and Vityaz were both transferred from the MVD to the FSB. Simultaneously, [[Mikhail Barsukov]] became the new head of the organization, and created the FSB Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC), headed by Gen. Viktor Zorkin.<ref name=early/><ref name=rulers/> 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 [[Spetsnaz]]'' (Special Purpose Center) under Gen. [[Vladimir Pronichev]].<ref name=early/>

Meanwhile, Alpha veterans became active in legitimate businesses (such as the private security company [https://www.alpha-b.ru/eng/ Alpha-B] co-founded by Col. Golovatov in August 1993<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alpha-b.ru/eng/ |title=Dear clients of LLC private security company "ALPHA-B"! « ООО ЧОП АЛЬФА-Б – Частное Охранное Предприятие |publisher=Alpha-b.ru |date=18 August 1993 |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>) in [[Russian mafia|organised crime]], as well as in politics.<ref name=guide/> The Alpha veterans' association, led by Sergey Goncharov, strongly opposed Russian President Yeltsin faction's party, [[Our Home – Russia]], in the [[1995 Russian legislative election|legislative election of 1995]] (Goncharov later became a [[State Duma]] deputy).<ref name=guide>Ibp Usa, ''Russia Foreign Policy and Government Guide'', page 113.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/20-08-2004/6631-alpha-0/ |title=Alpha Russian special service unit is as strong as ever |publisher=English pravda.ru |date=20 August 2004 |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> Gen. Karpukhin, who resigned from the service following the 1991 coup attempt, became chief of security to Kazakh President [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]], 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.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1426138/Maj-Gen-Viktor-Karpukhin.html Maj-Gen Viktor Karpukhin – Telegraph].</ref>

===Operations===
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.<ref name=map/><ref>Gary Borg, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/10/15/police-storm-bus-kill-hijacker/ Police Storm Bus, Kill Hijacker], ''Chicago Tribune'', 15 October 1995.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hostage+stand-in+is+killed.-a061085175 |title=Hostage stand-in is killed. - Free Online Library |publisher=Thefreelibrary.com |date=1997-12-21 |access-date=2014-05-04}}</ref><!-- he's on the list of the Geroy Rossii recipients, which he got for this -->

====1993 Russian constitutional crisis====
In 1993, during the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis|Russian constitutional crisis]], 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 [[Alexander Rutskoy]] (declaring him an acting president).<ref name=disaster>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/04/russia.schools Botched operation was a disaster waiting to happen], ''The Guardian'', 4 September 2004.</ref> The pro-parliament faction had seized the [[White House (Moscow)|Russian White House]], 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 [[Internal Troops of Russia|Internal Troops]]'s special forces unit, [[Vityaz (MVD)|Vityaz]]. However, the Alpha troops initially refused to attack the White House,<ref name=agru>[http://www.agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/ Agentura.ru – FSB Special forces: 1998–2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118123943/http://agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/ |date=18 January 2013 }}.</ref> 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.<ref name=politics>Brian D. Taylor, ''Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689–2000'', page 294.</ref> When one of the Alpha troops, Lt. Sergeyev, who was near the White House, was mortally wounded by sniper fire from the nearby [[Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow|Hotel Ukraina]], the unit finally agreed to move.<ref name=politics/> 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 [[Alexander Korzhakov]], chief of the [[Presidential Security Service (Russia)|Presidential Security Service (SBP)]].<ref name=era/> 

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,<ref name="politics" /> 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.<ref name="politics" /><ref name="era" /><ref>Margaret Shapiro, [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], ''The Washington Post'', 5 October 1993.</ref><ref>Serge Schemann, [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], ''The New York Times'', 5 October 1993.</ref> In the end, Rutskoy and the other leaders of anti-Yeltsin faction, including [[Ruslan Khasbulatov]], [[Vladislav Achalov]] and [[Viktor Barannikov]], 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 [[Lefortovo Prison]].<ref name="politics" /><ref name="era">Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, George Shriver, ''Post-Soviet Russia: A Journey Through the Yeltsin Era'', page 127.</ref>

====Conflicts in Chechnya and the North Caucasus====

The Alpha Group was involved in the [[First Chechen War]] of 1994–1996, following the Chechens' declaration of independence from the Russian SFSR and then the Soviet Union in 1990–1991.<ref name="Katz2004">{{cite book|author=Samuel M. Katz|title=Against All Odds: Counterterrorist Hostage Rescues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGG-ta6K3yUC&pg=PA1960|year=2004|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-8225-1567-8|page=1960}}</ref> In the fall of 1994, Alpha provided personal security details for the main commanders of the invasion of [[Chechnya]], Defense Minister [[Pavel Grachev]] and federal Interior Minister [[Viktor Yerin]], as they travelled to the [[Mozdok, Republic of North Ossetia–Alania|Mozdok]] airbase in [[North Ossetia]], which was the main headquarters, staging area and logistics base for Russian forces entering Chechnya.<ref name=map/><ref>{{cite web|author=John Pike |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/mozdok.htm |title=Mozdok (182nd Heavy Bomber Rgmt) |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> 

Later, many Alpha troops served in "mobile anti-terror groups" ({{Transliteration|ru|mobilnye gruppy antiterrora}}), as well as providing security for the pro-Moscow Chechen government complex and the regional FSB headquarters in the Chechen capital [[Grozny]].<ref name="map" /> In August 1996, [[Battle of Grozny (August 1996)|when the city was retaken]] by Chechen separatist forces, 35 of them (including 14 members of the territorial Alpha unit from Krasnodar Krai)<ref name="map" /> 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.<ref name="lessons">Olga Oliker, ''Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat, Issue 1289'', pages 31, 77.</ref><ref>Antero Leitzinger, ''Caucasus and an Anholy Alliance'', page 285.</ref>

Allegations arose, following the [[Khasavyurt Accord]] of August 1996, that the ATC carried out clandestine operations intended to discredit the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]], so that it would not receive international recognition of its independence. According to [[Jonathan Littell]], 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 [[Ivan Rybkin]], the Secretary of the [[Security Council of Russia|Security Council]], tasked with the Chechen dossier between 1996 and 1999."<ref name=early/>

Alpha was active during the [[Second Chechen War]] that began in 1999, as well as the subsequent [[Insurgency in the North Caucasus]]. During the 2000 [[Battle of Komsomolskoye]], Alpha snipers attached to [[Vladimir Shamanov]]'s Western Group of federal forces, were deployed in an attempt to suppress [[Ruslan Gelayev]]'s snipers in the village.<ref name=lessons/> According to the unit's veterans, operations in which Alpha took part led to the arrest of Chechen commander [[Salman Raduyev]] in 2000, the killing of Chechen commander [[Arbi Barayev]] in 2001, the killing of Chechen separatist President [[Aslan Maskhadov]] in 2005, and the killing of foreign militant leader [[Abu Hafs al-Urduni|Abu Hafs]] in [[Dagestan]] in 2006.<ref name=map/> 

Following the transfer of responsibility for operations in Chechnya from the [[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Ministry of Defence]] 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" ({{Transliteration|ru|svodnye spetsialnye gruppy}}, SSGs), considered [[death squad]]s by human rights groups and outside observers.<ref name="putin">{{cite web|url=http://www.psan.org/document521.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201075322/http://www.psan.org/document521.html |archive-date=2008-02-01 |title=The Security Organs Under Vladimir Putin |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref><ref>Fred Weir, [https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0516/p07s02-woeu.html Putin battles political fallout of Chechnya fight], ''The Christian Science Monitor'', 16 May 2003.</ref><ref>Mariya Y. Omelicheva, ''Counterterrorism and Human Rights'', page 132.</ref><ref>Mark Franchetti, "Russian death squads 'pulverise' Chechens", ''Sunday Times'', 26 April 2009.</ref> 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 [[forced disappearance]] or outright [[extrajudicial killing]].<ref name="putin" /> In 2005, [[Human Rights Watch]] declared that the disappearances had reached the scale of a [[crime against humanity]], and that "Russia has the inglorious distinction of being a world leader in enforced disappearances."<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-3-2005_pg4_9 Chechnya suffering crimes against humanity: HRW – Daily Times] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927170441/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-3-2005_pg4_9 |date=27 September 2013 }}</ref> Chechnya's UFSB also formed a local Alpha unit, believed to be similar in its role to the SSGs.<ref name="putin" />

====Mass hostage crises====
[[File:Fsb alpha group.jpg|thumb|Alpha Group members during a training exercise in 2009]]

The group was instrumental in the Russian government's attempts to forcibly bring an end to a series of mass [[hostage crisis]] 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 [[Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis]] in June 1995, the [[Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis]] in January 1996, the [[Moscow theatre hostage crisis]] in October 2002, and the [[Beslan school hostage crisis]] in September 2004.<ref name="HastedtGuerrier2010"/> 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 [[Budyonnovsk]] (Budennovsk) in [[Stavropol Krai]], 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.<ref name=early/><ref name=smith>Sebastian Smith, ''Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, New Edition'', pages 202, 213.</ref><ref name=gazavat>Robert W. Schaefer, ''The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad'', pages 132, 136–138.</ref> 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.<ref name=negotiating/> After that, the leader of the hostage-takers, Chechen commander [[Shamil Basayev]], 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.<ref name=negotiating/> The assault was then resumed at noon and included the use of [[tear gas]]; it stopped after over an hour later when Basayev agreed to release the remaining women and children.<ref name=negotiating>Adam Dolnik, Keith M. Fitzgerald, ''Negotiating Hostage Crises With the New Terrorists'', pages 46–47.</ref> The overall death toll of more than 120 people included three Alpha members.<ref name=early/> 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.<ref name=early/><ref name=gazavat/> Russian Prime Minister [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]] claimed that both attacks had not been authorised by the government, but were launched by troops acting without orders.<ref>Andrew Felkay, ''Yeltsin's Russia and the West'', page 123.</ref>

At Pervomayskoye, a small settlement on the outskirt of [[Kizlyar]] 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 [[SOBR]] (a special forces unit of the [[Moscow City Police|Moscow police]]), supported by tanks and armoured vehicles.<ref name=rulers>David Cox, ''Close Protection: The Politics of Guarding Russia's Rulers'', pages 60, 101, 106, 127.</ref><ref name=gazavat/> Further attacks were conducted with heavy artillery, including [[BM-21 Grad|Grad]] launchers firing salvos of rockets into the village, and helicopter gunship support.<ref name=gazavat/> 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.<ref name=gazavat/> 

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.<ref name="gazavat" />

Although they avoided the kind of devastating losses that decimated the Moscow SOBR (including the death of their commanding officer)<ref name="rulers" /> and the 22nd Independent Brigade of [[Spetsnaz GRU]],<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.polit.ru/article/2006/03/07/6_rota/ Пиар на крови десантников]</ref> 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 [[2A28 Grom|Grom]] gun, killing two Alpha members.<ref>John Giduck, ''Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy With Lessons For America's Schools'', page 112.</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2013}} <!-- really happened, unreliable source -->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."<ref>Michael Specter, [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], ''The New York Times'', 22 January 1996.</ref>

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 [[Moscow hostage crisis chemical agent|unknown chemical agent]] to assist Alpha Group and the SOBR break the [[Moscow hostage crisis|October 2002 Moscow hostage crisis]], 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,<ref name="moscnews">[http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2004-41-2 Nord-Ost Tragedy Goes On], ''Moscow News'' 2004 N.41&nbsp;– a discussion of the long-term effects of the anesthetic on the surviving hostages. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229135507/http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2004-41-2 |date=29 February 2008 }}</ref> yet was hailed by the group's officers as their "... first successful operation for years".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/27/russia.chechnya Troops bring freedom and death to theater of blood], ''The Guardian'', 27 October 2002.</ref> In 2011, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (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.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} Russia failed to uphold the ECHR ruling, paying the compensation to victims but not launching an investigation into the violations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20120904/264573778.html |title=Russia fails to uphold ECHR court ruling on 2002 terrorist attack, lawyer {{pipe}} Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) |date=4 September 2012 |publisher=Rapsinews.com |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

Another controversy was the use of tank cannons, portable flamethrowers, and other weapons such as grenade launchers in [[Beslan]], North Ossetia. On 3 September 2004, the local school was taken over by Chechen-led militants from [[Ingushetia]], and was subsequently raided by the heavily armed FSB special forces of Alpha and Vympel.<ref name=echr/><ref>Uwe Klussmann, [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], Spiegel Online, 27 August 2005.</ref><ref>Yaroslav Lukov, [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4205208.stm Beslan siege still a mystery], BBC News, 2 September 2005.</ref><ref>Yuri Zakharovitch, [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?], ''TIME'', 31 August 2006.</ref><ref name=crime/> The operation was overseen by the head of the Special Purpose Center, Gen. Alexander Tikhonov, who forbade extinguishing the fire in the school,<ref name=crime>David Satter, [https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/01/beslan-putin-politkovskaya-basaev-dzasokhov-chechen-opinions-contributors-david-satter.html Remembering Beslan: A crime against humanity.], Forbes.com, 10.01.09.</ref> while the actual attack was personally led by Gen. Pronichev, and supported by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and attack helicopters. [[John McAleese]], a member of the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS) team which had [[Iranian Embassy siege|liberated the Iranian Embassy in London]] in 1980, immediately called it one of the worst hostage rescue attempts he had seen or heard about.<ref name=disaster/> 

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.<ref>Nick Paton Walsh, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/06/chechnya.russia Frantic search for missing as Beslan begins to bury its dead], ''The Guardian'', 6 September 2004.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ria.ru/incidents/20061222/57561669.html|title=Захват школы в Беслане изначально планировался как теракт-самоубийство|trans-title=Beslan school hostage crisis initially was the suicide terrorist attack|publisher=[[RIA Novosti]]|language=ru|date=2006-12-22|access-date=2017-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814163020/https://ria.ru/incidents/20061222/57561669.html|archive-date=2017-08-14}}</ref> No ballistic tests were carried out, and prosecutors were not allowed to examine the special forces' weapons to determine who exactly killed the hostages.<ref>Madina Sageyeva, [http://iwpr.net/report-news/beslan-%E2%80%93-search-truth-goes Beslan&nbsp;– The Search for the Truth Goes on] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928045941/http://iwpr.net/report-news/beslan-%E2%80%93-search-truth-goes |date=28 September 2013 }}, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 18 August 2005.</ref> 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.<ref name="echr">[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] (ECHR document about the siege).</ref>

==In other post-Soviet states==
===Ex-Soviet regional Alpha units===

====In Belarus====
{{main|Alpha Group (Belarus)}}

The Minsk territorial unit of Alpha continues to exist within the [[State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus|State Security Committee (KGB)]] of Belarus, known simply as "Alfa" («Альфа»).<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.kgb.by/press/inform/22.html О проведении тактико-специальных учений «Блок 2006» / 19 июня 2006&nbsp;– КГБ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927142346/http://www.kgb.by/press/inform/22.html |date=27 September 2013 }}.</ref>

====In Kazakhstan====
The Almaty territorial unit of Alpha was turned into the special unit Arystan (meaning "Lions" in [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]) of the [[National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan|National Security Committee (KNB)]] of Kazakhstan.<ref>Mariya Y. Omelicheva, ''Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia'', page 119.</ref> In 2006, five members of Arystan were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of the opposition politician [[Altynbek Sarsenbayuly]], his driver, and his bodyguard; the three victims were then allegedly delivered to the people who murdered them.<ref>[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-142419667/kazakh-security-officers-suspected.html Kazakh security officers suspected of kidnapping, not murdering oppositionist.], BBC Monitoring International Reports, 22 February 2006.</ref>

====In Ukraine====
{{main|Alpha Group (Ukraine)}}

'''Special Group "Alpha"''' is a branch of the [[Security Service of Ukraine]]; and a successor of the [[Soviet Union]]'s Alpha Group.<ref name="Cox2001"/> It has continued to be informally called "Alpha".

===Self-styled new units===
====In Georgia====
[[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] established its own Alpha unit in 1992.<ref name=rulers/> 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, [[Igor Giorgadze]], were blamed for the failed bombing attempt on the life of President [[Eduard Shevardnadze]]. After that, Giorgadze fled to Moscow, and Georgia's Alpha was purged and reorganised.<ref>Aaron Belkin, ''United We Stand?: Divide-and-Conquer Politics And the Logic of International Hostility'', pages 106–107.</ref>

====In Kyrgyzstan====
A special unit named "Alfa" Special Operations Executive (ASOE) was established within the [[State Committee for National Security (Kyrgyzstan)|State Committee on National Security]] (GKNB) of [[Kyrgyzstan]]. In 2010, eight members of ASOE, including five snipers and the unit's commander, were charged with shooting and killing unarmed people during the [[Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010|Second Kyrgyz Revolution]]. Criminal cases were brought to the court under the articles: 97 (murder), and 305 part 2 (exceeding the limits of authority).<ref>[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] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927174302/http://www.memo.ru/eng/news/2010/11/17/1711102.htm |date=27 September 2013 }}, Memorial, 16 November 2010.</ref>

==== In Tajikistan ====
{{Main|Alpha Group (Tajikistan)}}

[[File:FSB Alpha (ФСБ Альфа) reversible armbands.svg|thumb|FSB Alpha (ФСБ Альфа) reversible armbands]]

==Equipment==
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
Alpha Group operators have access to a wide array of small arms.

;Assault rifles
*Various [[AK-74]] variants
*[[AS Val]]
*[[AK-12]]
*[[AK-105]]
*[[M4A1]] or [[AR-15]] variants (Limited Use)
*[[HK417]]
*[[AN-94]] (Limited Use)

;Light machine guns
*[[PKP Pecheneg]]
*[[PK machine gun|PKM]]

;Sniper and designated marksman rifles
*Various [[Dragunov sniper rifle|Dragunov]] variants
*H&K MR308 (civilian version of the [[Heckler & Koch HK417|HK417]]).
*[[Vintorez]]
*[[Accuracy International AWM]]
*[[Orsis T-5000]]
*[[Lobaev Arms]] M2 Urbana and M4 Dark Matter

;Submachine guns and personal defense weapons
*[[Heckler & Koch MP5]]
*[[Vityaz-SN]]
*[[Brügger & Thomet MP9]]

;Handguns
*[[Glock 19]]
*[[Glock 17]]
*[[Arsenal Firearms Strike One|Strizh]]
*[[MP-443]]
*[[Stechkin APS]]
*[[Makarov PM]]
*[[OTs-33 Pernach]]

==See also==
* [[Vympel]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== General sources ==
* {{cite book | author = [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]] and [[Vasili Mitrokhin]] | title = The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB | publisher = Basic Books | location = New York | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-465-00310-9 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/swordshieldmitro00andr |pages= 389–391}}
* {{cite book | author = Barry Davies | title = The Spycraft Manual: The Insider's Guide to Espionage Techniques | publisher = Carlton Books Ltd | year = 2005| isbn = 1-84442-577-0}}
* {{cite book | author = [[David Satter]] | title = Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven, Conn | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-300-08705-5 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{in lang|ru|cap=yes}} [http://www.alphagroup.ru Alpha Group veterans association]
* {{in lang|ru|cap=yes}} [http://www.specnaz.ru Alpha Group veterans association magazine]
* {{in lang|ru|cap=yes}} [http://alfa.org.ua Alpha Group veterans association (Ukraine)]

{{Beslan school siege}}

[[Category:Beslan school siege]]
[[Category:Federal Security Service]]
[[Category:KGB]]
[[Category:Moscow theater hostage crisis]]
[[Category:Military counterterrorist organizations]]
[[Category:Law enforcement units]]
[[Category:Special forces of Russia]]