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CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES INTERNATIONAL

P.O. BOX 888
COFFS HARBOUR N.S.W. 2450
AUSTRALIA
Category D Sheet 0048/0501







'Spetsnaz' - The Secret Soviet Combat Troops


uring the last few years, Western intel-
ligence agents have collected informa-
tion about a large, hard-core Russian
underground army. In the advent of a
3rd World War, they will prepare the way for
an attack on Western Europe and, perhaps,
the whole of the free world. In this text, well-
known American journalist Dale Van Atta,
gives an extensive overview of these alarming
facts.
A military bus stops at the gate of an Ameri-
can Army training camp in Germany. The
guards, assuming it is bringing back person-
nel from town, approach the bus and are
about to perform their routine checks, when
they are shot down by bursts of fire from
silenced weapons. As the bus drives on,
members of the two special forces inside put
on their gas-masks.
The sentry guards at the discharge ramps of
the Pershing-II atomic missiles based in the
camp, die within a few minutes under an
invisible cloud of nerve-gas. The ramps are
then rendered useless.
A second Pershing base in Heilbronn falls in a
similar way. At the same time, five important
NATO telecommunication systems are being
destroyed - one in Maastricht, Holland, and
the others in Brfink, Kindsbach, Maweiler
and Vogelweh in the Federal Republic of
Germany. There is tremendous confusion in
NATO's High Command in Brussels. Numer-
ous high officers and politicians are unreach-
able. Some are found dead in their homes.
Near Keflavik in Iceland, a main submarine
defence base of the Atlantic Alliance, some
divers appear out of the waves. Using equip-
ment previously planted on the sea bed, they
destroy information and telecommunication
posts.
None of the NATO countries are being
spared, not even the neutral ones. In Stock-
holm, after heavy shooting near the palace,
the Swedish royal family are kidnapped by
agents who were lying in wait until they
received the green light from their counter-
parts in the city.
The elite of the Soviet special commandos
could, with the help of undercover secret
agents, put NATO in a catastrophic situation
with one blow. How would the West, with a
shattered arsenal of atomic weapons, heavily
damaged Intelligence Service connections
and diminished leadership, stop a major
Soviet attack on Western Europe?
Even though all this might be a hypothetical
test, it is serious in its planning. General Potr
Ivanovitch Ivachutin, the bullnecked, almost
bald Commander of the Soviet Military Secret
Service (GRU), has over 30,000 men and
women specially trained for such tasks.
For a long time the Western Secret Services
did not know of the existence and build-up of
these special troops, who were responsible
for incidents like the assassination of the
Afghan President in 1979, and the suffocation
of anti-Soviet initiatives in Bulgaria in the mid-
1960's. Now it is well known what danger they
present and what their official name is:
Speznas - in NATO English, Spetsnaz - a
combination of the words "Spetzalnava
naznasehchenia", which roughly means
troops for special purposes.
"The setting up of 'Spetsnaz' troops is a par-
ticularly threatening aspect of the increasing
military strength of the Soviet Union," says the
Deputy Secretary of State in the US Ministry
of Defence, Noel Koch. "It is meant to destroy
the adversary's infra-structure and kill key
D
Category D "'SPETSNAZ' - THE SECRET SOVIET COMBAT TROOPS"
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people. In the case of war, this element of the
Soviet Power apparatus could overthrow the
strategic concept of NATO and even the one
of the United States."
Cold-blooded Hardness. A typical Spetsnaz
unit consists of two officers of differing ranks,
one radio operator, and one paramedic, as
well as at least two sabotage and four recon-
naissance specialists. Part of their equipment
is usually a type of missile (a so-called
impulse bundle sender), which relays coded
messages bit by bit via satellite to the central
office, together with a list of further targets for
sabotage and reconnaissance commandos.
One hundred such units make a Spetsnaz bri-
gade; each brigade has ten superior elite units
available, consisting exclusively of active offi-
cers, whose main task is the assassination of
hostile leaders. According to estimates by the
American Secret Service, Spetsnaz have a
total war force of twenty brigades each of 900
to 1,200 men strong, and in addition, at least
four marine brigades.
To be chosen for a Spetsnaz unit is a great
honour. "Only those who have been proven to
the core are chosen," says a deserter of the
GRU, who now lives in England under the
pseudonym, Victor Suvorov. He states (this
has been confirmed by secret service
sources) that many of the existing Soviet
sportsmen, i.e. Olympic competitors, are
Spetsnaz people. International competitions
not only give them the opportunity to improve
their shooting, skiing and swimming skills, but
also give them the chance to get to know the
countries better to which they might one day
be assigned as saboteurs.
Spetsnaz officers and soldiers receive better
wages, rations and more holidays than other
army members. They are also promoted
quicker and can retire earlier. On the other
hand, much is required of them. For survival
training they are dropped in isolated areas
where they have to survive on their own for
days or weeks, often without even sleeping-
bags.
In combat, every Spetsnaz soldier has a light
automatic Kalaschnikov rifle with 300 bullets
and a bayonet (which can also be used as a
saw and wire-cutters), a P6 pistol with
silencer, six hand grenades or a fire cup for
rifle grenades, as well as a James Bond style
knife which, by pressing a button, silently
shoots out a deadly blade to a distance of ten
metres.
The Spetsnaz troops apply the most brutal
methods. One of their main training centres -
Scheltia Vodij in the Ukraine - lies near a con-
centration camp where the prisoners are,
according to Suvorov, used for close combat
training, i.e. beaten up, kicked and often muti-
lated. "That is, of course, much more real than
only stabbing sandbags," he says.
Sabotage and Murderous Assaults. Intelli-
gence service reports about a secret
Spetsnaz training camp west of the Urals
clearly state that manoeuvres against
American and NATO objectives are being
practised. There are replicas of commercial
planes (to practise kidnappings), American
and French jet-fighters, discharge ramps for
nuclear weapons, Pershing missiles and
ground supported projectiles. Strangely, a
model of these American Pershing-II missiles
already stood in this Soviet training camp
before they were even stationed in the
Federal Republic of Germany in 1983.
In the eventuality of war, Spetsnaz troops
would have already moved into Western
Europe and the United States before a Soviet
declaration of war. They would come in the
dead of night with parachutes and midget-
submarines, or as divers; at the same time an
unusual number of Soviet sporting and cul-
tural delegations would visit those countries
chosen as targets for future invasions.
Personnel of the Soviet Embassies and Con-
sulates would be reinforced with young men
and women of extraordinary physical fitness,
who would work as guards, chauffeurs and
gardeners.
They would call into action the so-called
"sleeping" agents who had already settled a
long time beforehand around the military
bases, weapons depots and telecommuni-
cation centres. They would observe the situ-
ation, report about what they had seen and
give shelter to the Spetsnaz troops, if
necessary.
If the Soviets wanted to launch a surprise
attack, the troops would mark or attack
nuclear weapon stations, immobilise com-
mand and control systems, disable military
bases, destroy power stations and radio net-
works, as well as assassinate top politicians
and high officers.
Assassinations are normally the nucleus of
Soviet "blitz" war planning. As the atomic
weapons of NATO are only allowed to be acti-
vated after agreement by the political leader-
Category D "'SPETSNAZ' - THE SECRET SOVIET COMBAT TROOPS"
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ship, the removal of these leaders would
drastically delay an atomic counter-attack.
"The Soviet Union must disable the political
decision-making centres of the leading NATO
states within the shortest possible period of
time," says C. N. Donnelly, the leader of the
Soviet Union Research Centre of the Royal
British Military Academy.
This audacious strategy takes advantage of
the slow decision-making process within
NATO. The structure of the Alliance firstly
demands a mutual consultation of all sixteen
member states. Apart from this, the mobilisa-
tion of the front-line of defence takes several
days. This means the lorries which pick up the
nuclear warheads from the Western European
depots have to wait their turn, then have to
transport the dangerous freight on public
roads to their destinations providing an ideal
target for Spetsnaz attacks. "The major dan-
ger is not a grand invasion," as the British
Defence Minister found out in 1984, "but the
specially trained sabotage troops."
Mysterious Submarines. According to the
findings of the American Secret Service, the
Russians have already made use of Spetsnaz
units for years. John Dziak of the American
Defence Ministry Secret Service, writes in his
book Special Operations in U.S. Strategy:
"When the Soviet Union invaded Czecho-
slovakia in 1968, Prague airport was occupied
by Spetsnaz troops as ordered by the KGB.
Party leader, Alexander Dubcek, was arrested
and deported to Moscow. Other enemies on
the KGB list were annihilated."
The invasion of Afghanistan, in Christmas
1979, was a classic Spetsnaz operation. High
officers in the Afghan army were lured to a
reception held in honour of the "Afghan-Soviet
friendship". They were then locked into the
banqueting hall and slaughtered by a
Spetsnaz unit.
The main task of the Spetsnaz force, a group
of several hundred men who had been flown
into Kabul was, according to the KGB-
deserter Major Vladimir Kuszetschkin, the
murder of the president Hafisullah Amin. On
December 27th, Spetsnaz troops in Afghan
uniforms attacked the Daulaman Palace from
three sides. Led by the KGB, they forced their
way through to Amin and killed him, his family
and bodyguards.
According to secret service reports from the
West, which obtains information mainly from
intercepted radio messages and statements
by fugitives and deserters, Afghanistan is the
centre of current Spetsnaz operations.
The special task forces help the 120,000 men
of the Red Army in their fight against parti-
sans.
"The costs arising from the war with Afghani-
stan are high," says Dziak, "but it is the first
opportunity since the 2nd World War for the
Soviet military to exercise their armed forces
in a real situation."
Careful Planning. According to the American
Defence Minister, John Marsh, "The influence
of the Spetsnaz troops reach far beyond the
borders of the Soviet Union. They are an
excellent instrument for the furtherance of the
revolution thanks to their unconventional
warfare tactics." Not only Afghan soldiers, but
also soldiers from Cuba and other Third World
countries have been in Spetsnaz-Training
camps in the USSR.
Spetsnaz units are regularly deployed to test
the reaction capacity of the Western Secret
Service and military. The Soviets particularly
like to use a midget-submarine for this pur-
pose. It has caterpillar tracks similar to those
on tanks, enabling them to drive on the sea
bed. Using this they spy on Swedish naval
bases, looking for suitable landing grounds for
their combat swimmers. At one point, they
managed to get within 1.5 kilometres of the
Stockholm shelf.
In March 1984, the Swedish army chased
Spetsnaz frogmen near a major naval base
with machine-gun fire and hand grenades. Not
long ago, such submarines were sighted near
the straits of Gibraltar and caterpillar tracks
were discovered on the sea bed near Japa-
nese naval bases.
The well-known military expert Edward Lutt-
wak, from the Centre for Strategic and Inter-
national Studies at Georgetown University in
Washington, sees these Spetsnaz operations
as, "a further sign of the care with which the
Soviet Union prepare their plans of attack."
The Western European countries in NATO are
already focusing on the existence of Spetsnaz
troops. Great Britain is in the process of rein-
forcing their Territorial Army. In addition the
British have, through the Home Service Force,
produced another instrument of national
defence and improved methods of protection
for vital installations. This seems to be within
good reason as can be seen in an article from
Jane's Defence Weekly in January which
states:
Category D "'SPETSNAZ' - THE SECRET SOVIET COMBAT TROOPS"
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"The Soviet Union keep a command of female
Spetsnaz soldiers at the air base in
Greenham Common, since land-operated
Tomahawk weapons from the American
Airforce were stationed there in December
1983. According to statements made by
Soviet deserters, trained female agents
infiltrated the ranks of protesters and took part
in all the events."
The American Ministry of Defence believes
that a variety of measures are necessary to
put a stop to the practices of Spetsnaz troops.
First of all, people affected, like top officials in
public life, would have to be informed of their
combat tactics. Offices and organisations like
the criminal investigation police and border
police of the United States, whose field of
investigation would include tracking down and
engaging Spetsnaz troops in combat, would
have to know exactly what to look out for.
Finally, intensive work would have to be car-
ried out to obtain information about Spetsnaz
in order to find out early enough how, when,
and where these troops might strike next.
"Spetsnaz came into being very quickly and
we are only now realising the danger it pre-
sents to us," says the Deputy Secretary of
State Noel Koch. "In order to be prepared for
it we have to improve our security precautions
drastically."

Translated from the German: "Spetsnaz, die geheime Kampftruppe der Sowjets"

Source: 'The Best of The Reader's Digest'





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CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES INTERNATIONAL, P.O. BOX 888, COFFS HARBOUR N.S.W. 2450, AUSTRALIA