http://www.sovietarmy.com/index.html http://www.combatsombo.com/Spetsnaz.htm Check these sites out. I think you might find them useful. I seem to recall from my reading on the old Soviet Spetsnaz that they tend to wear the insignia of whatever service they are posted with for purposes of Maskirovka (deception). Hope this helps! wmayhue7

They are run by the GRU- Which in russian military intelligence

The GRU is the main military directorate so you can say everything is overseen by them. But they have several directorates, and fullfil several roles. It fullfils the roles of CIA, FBI and NSA in one agency. The Main Intelligence Directorate (Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye, or GRU) is the all-seeing eye of the Russian military. Everybody in the West knows about the KGB but the GRU has always been Russia?s primary and most capable intelligence agency with thousands of agents all over the world. This massive intelligence organization among other means of gathering intelligence is involved in all types of electronic reconnaissance operations, including communication intelligence (COMINT), electromagnetic intelligence (ELINT), radar intelligence (RADINT), television intelligence (TELINT) and infrared sets reconnaissance. The GRU has full command of all intelligence-gathering assets of the Russian Armed Forces, including spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft, ships, submarines and other equipment. The GRU is subordinated only to the Defense Minister and to the Chief of General Staff and is not directly reporting to the political leadership of Russia. The current intelligence reporting structure denies Russian civilian leadership direct access to the intelligence produced by the GRU. For example, even Russia?s top civilian government members can get access to GRU reports only through the Defense Minister or the Chief of General Staff. The exact structure of the GRU is a state secret but it is known that the GRU consists of twelve primary directorates (departments) and nine auxiliary departments. The primary directorates are: the First directorate handling all intelligence gathering operations in Europe; the Second directorate is responsible for the regions of North and South Americas, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand; the Third directorate is covering Asia; all military intelligence gathering operations in Africa are handled by the Fourth Directorate; the Fifth directorate handles tactical reconnaissance; the Sixth directorate is responsible for all radio electronic reconnaissance and shares satellite reconnaissance responsibilities with the auxiliary satellite reconnaissance department; The Seventh directorate is tasked with gathering intelligence on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; the Eighth directorate concentrates on gathering intelligence on countries of particular interest at any given time; the Ninth directorate collects intelligence information on military technologies; the Tenth directorate deals with issues of military finances; the Eleventh directorate handles all matters relevant to military doctrines and weapon types of foreign armies; the Twelfth directorate is a counterintelligence force. The GRU possesses the largest and the most elite group of special operations forces consisting of 24 assault units numbering up to 25,000 troops. This force forms the core of the Russian Army. To serve in the GRU special force units an applicant must have already served at least five years with other special forces and have a rank of Captain. The number of agents operated by the GRU during the Soviet era was six times the number of agents operated by the KGB. The Spetsnaz GRU are considered the most secret units and most skilled soldiers we ever had. They are just shadows on the battlefield. I can apply to the GRU Spetsnaz in one year. The GRU Spetsnazthey are one of the best infantry in the world. There was a competition in the mid 1990s, in Alaska, USA, of Spetsnaz GRU and US Rangers. The Rangers managed to win only the lifting weights. The GRU Spetsnaz were better in any other aspect, including running, target shooting, stealth, etc). Also the best combat divers apply to the GRU Spetsnaz wich become on of the best combat diving unit in the world. Of course you won't find any name regarding GRU Spetsnaz designations, you'll find numeric designations of regiments. The GRU Spetsnaz were a part of the occupying force in the battle of Grozny. We had 1 to 100 casualitiy rates while GRU Spetsnaz had 1 to 200-300. I can say the GRU is the most fearsome force in Chechnya. The Chechen rebels fear nothing more. In the 70's the KGB had its own Spetsnaz regiment for foreign affairs. The KGB is called FSB now and it has its own Spetsnaz unit again. The current FSB Spetsnaz has two teams of special forces. The famous "Alfa" team (A) wich you probably heard of. Alfa is Russia's primary CT unit and wich was used in the Moscow Threatre not long ago. "Vega" team (B) (formerly "Vympel"). Alfa team specializes in counter-terrorism, and it is a well respected CT unit, in the world. Their trails would be called unorthodox in the west, well generally Spetsnaz trails are unorthodox in western eyes, but they are effective. The Vega team is a new squad, their ranks are full of the former and original MVD Vega team members. Also many Vympel vets appield to Vega. Vympel h

Well, unfortunately the majority of hostages in the theatre in Moscow would not have called that rescue attempt successful, since most of them died as a result... :-( There are a number of special op units on the planet, and no one unit is best at everything as you try to suggest the Spetsnaz are -- each has its specialties/strengths and weaknesses. If you must, using successful operations over time as a yardstick, the most successful anti-terror group in the world is the British SAS. No other counter-terror unit has been successful in such a wide range of operations over many parts of the world in the past 25+ years. NewGuy

Trying to answer the original Q from SCWilson: Spetsnaz in the Soviet military (GRU) did not have their own special uniform or badges/patches, they were "hiding" in airborne (operatives) or signal units (comms) uniforms. They would wear the same rank insignias as the normal troops, except that airborne spets never wore the guards badge. Since most of the real spets were officers, they would wear officers rank insignias. The lower class spets - recon etc. - would wear the normal insignias for all the ranks. In the Navy spets would hide with the Naval Infantry and wear their insignias. Hope this helps? CU