The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade () is a
special forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
brigade of the
Armed Forces of Belarus
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus (, ) consist of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Republic of Belarus Ministry of Defence. Being a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy.
In 20 ...
, formerly part of the Soviet
Spetsnaz GRU
Spetsnaz GRU or Spetsnaz G.U. (formally known as Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces () is the special forces (''spetsnaz'') of the G.U., the foreign military-intelligence agency of the Armed ...
.
History
It was formed at
Marjina Horka
Marjina Horka or Maryina Gorka ( be, Мар'іна Горка; russian: Марьина Горка; pl, Maryjna Górka) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus, and the administrative center of Pukhavichy District. As of 2009 its population was 22,500 ...
,
Minsk Region
Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...
, 1 January 1963 as the 5th Special Forces Brigade GRU. It initially had two battalions. On 3 April 1978 renamed 5th Independent Special Forces Brigade GRU.
The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade would be involved in the Soviet-Afghan War, Spetsnaz Forces in Afghanistan were issued
AK-74
The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet U ...
s,
RPK
The RPK (russian: Ручной пулемёт Калашникова/РПК, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova, link=no, English: "Kalashnikov hand-held machine gun"), sometimes retroactively termed the RPK-47, is a Soviet 7.62×39mm light machine ...
s,
RPDs,
AKS-74u
The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet ...
's,
Dragunovs, and were issued
KS-23
The KS-23 is a Soviet shotgun, although because it uses a rifled barrel it is officially designated by the Russian military as a carbine. KS stands for ''Karabin Spetsialniy'', "Special Carbine". It is renowned for its large caliber, firing a ...
riot shotguns.
In the last years of the Soviet Union, the brigade had an all-professional company formation manned entirely by officers and
praporshchik
( rus, Пра́порщик, 3=ˈprapərɕːɪk, ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in navies. It is usually equivalent to Warrant ...
s. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade took the oath of allegiance to Belarus on 31 December 1992, now part of the
Special Forces of Belarus )''Anywhere, anytime, any task'' (alternative)
, battles = United Nations Interim Force in LebanonLibyan Civil War (2011) 2020 Belarusian protests
, commander1 = Major General Vadim Denisenko
, commander1 ...
along with two brigades formerly part of the
103rd Guards Airborne Division
The 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Belarusian Special Forces. Its predecessor unit was the 103rd Guards Airborne Division (russian: 103-я гвардейская воздушно-десантная орден ...
.
Today
![Belarusian Special Forces in a Moscow Parade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Belarusian_Special_Forces_in_a_Moscow_Parade.jpg)
On 12 September 2002, President
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука ...
presented the commander of the brigade with a new independence-era
Battle Banner instead of the Soviet one. The brigade is considered to be one of the best formations in the Armed Forces. In 2008, commandos from the Venezuelan
National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services
DISIP (General Sectoral Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services) was an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency inside and outside of Venezuela between 1969 and 2009 when SEBIN was created by former President Hugo Chavez. DISIP was ...
visited Belarus, where they received training from the BFSO Dynamo and the brigade. It participated in the
Zapad 2009 exercise
The Zapad 2009 (russian: Запад 2009, lit=West 2009) exercise was held by the armed forces of Russia and Belarus in Belarus in September 2009. It involved a simulated nuclear attack against Poland (hitting Warsaw) and the suppression of an upri ...
joint exercise with the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
. According to some reports, in 2011, servicemen of the 334th Separate Unit of the brigade took part in the
Libyan Civil War
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
. In 2010 and 2015, the brigade represented Belarus at the
Moscow Victory Day Parade
The Moscow Victory Day Parade ( rus, Парад Победы в Москве, r= Parad Pobedy v Moskve) refers to the annual military parade of the Russian Armed Forces on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 during the Victory Day celebrations. The ...
on
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
, marching in the historical part of the parade.
In August 2020, 5th Spetsnaz Brigade participated in the suppression of the
protests in Belarus. On August 11,
Hienadz Shutau was shot in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
by captain Roman Gavrilov of 5th Spetsnaz Brigade.
Commanders
The following is a list of commanders of the brigade:
* Ivan Kovalevsky (1962–1966)
* Ivan Kovalenko (1966–1968)
* Gennady Yevtushenko (1969–1972)
* Valentin Kartashov (1973–1976)
* Yevgeny Faleev (1976–1979)
* Grigory Kolb (1979–1982)
* Eduard Ivanov (1982–1984)
* Yuri Sapalov (1984–1987)
* Dmitry Gerasimov (1987–1988)
* Vladimir Borodach (1988–1991)
* Ivan Mole (1991–1992)
* Valery Gaydukevich (1992–1995)
* Ivan Vilchkovsky (1995–1999)
* Alexander Chmyrev (1999–2003)
* Georgy Zlatin (2003–2005)
* Pavel Tikhonov (2005–2007)
* Vladimir Karuk (2007—2010)
* Alexander Naumenko (2010–2012)
* Sergey Simkin (2012—2014)
* Alexey Popov (2014–2017)
* Colonel Dmitry Kuchuk (since 2017)
References
External links
5th Independent Brigade of Special Designation (Russian)
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Brigades of Belarus
Spetsnaz brigades of the Soviet Union
Military units and formations established in 1963
Military special forces brigades
Special forces of Belarus