Circling the Lion's Den

Special operations forces

In Counterterrorism

The FSB, the Interior Ministry and military intelligence the GRU all were making use of special operations in the Chechen republic by September 2004.

Military Intelligence was conducting these operations with two Spetsnaz special forces battallions, termed East and West, which are comprised of ethnic Chechens. The primary role of both brigades is the liquidations of suspected insurgents and their work is held in high esteem by Moscow. In August 2004 Sergey Ivanov, Russian minister of defence, had met with the Spetsnaz commanders to declare his support and supply them with more advanced arms.

The FSB has two different structures engaged in this arena. First, the so-called Summary special groups (SSG), which consist of operatives of regional FSB divisions and soldiers from Spetsnaz troups from the Interior Ministry. Ten such groups were created in April 2002 to carry out special duties in the Chechen Republic. They are engaged in the liquidations of insurgents, operating independently from local FSB units. The FSB has also deployed elements of its Special Purpose Center units, who report to the FSB divisional command in Chechnya.

The Interior Ministry also deploys liquidation groups from other Russian regions to gain combat experience. These so-called mobile groups operate in the Chechen Republic, but also in Dagestan and Ingushetia. In May 2004, President Putin ordered the creation of a special unit to serve the Chechen President. Called the "Kadyrov guards" because they were former bodyguards of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, they are assigned to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, and serve a role similar to the SSG. Thus Ramzan Kadyrov continues to supervise the activity of the regiment.

These practices were to expand in the mid-2000s onto other regions of the North Caucasus.