Almaz Special Anti-Terrorism Unit (SPBT Almaz) (russian: Специальное подразделение по борьбе с терроризмом «Алмаз» (СПБТ «Алмаз»)) is an anti-terrorist special unit of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus ( be, Міністэрства ўнутраных спраў Рэспублікі Беларусь; russian: Министерство внутренних дел Республики Беларусь) ...

History

The special-purpose detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

"Berkut" was created on January 2, 1991 in accordance with the order of the

Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел СССР (МВД)) was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1991. The MVD was established as the successor to th ...

of December 14, 1990. This was the first special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the territory of the republic.«Алмаз» специального назначения
// выпуск телепрограммы «В интересах национальной безопасности» Initially, the "Berkut" detachment was subordinate to the Department for Execution of Punishments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the BSSR. The first commander of the unit was the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

captain

Uladzimir Navumau Uladzimir Navumau ( be, Уладзімір Навумаў, russian: Владимир Наумов, Vladimir Naumov, also ''Uladzimir Naumau''; born 7 February 1956 in Smolensk, Russia) is a Belarusian politician accused of human rights violations ...

, then the commander of a patrol company. In 1994, the commander of the "Berkut" Naumov put forward an initiative to reorganize and rename the special forces. In the fall of 1994, the unit was transformed into a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus with subordination to the minister personally and received a new name - "Almaz". The unit was assigned new tasks, including participation in the fight against organized criminal groups, the detention of especially dangerous and armed criminals. In the first 15 years of its existence, SPBT Almaz was involved in combat missions 6383 times; conducted 4161 combat and special operations; freed 106 hostages; stopped a number of terrorist acts; detained 4559 criminals who committed grave and especially grave crimes; seized and defused 2,932 explosive devices; seized 464 units of firearms and 24386 pcs. ammunition, as well as 119,136 kg of drugs.Плугатарёв И. Главная ударная сила «Алмаза» — интеллект (рус.) // Оружие : журнал. — 2006. — Июль (№ 07). — С. 64—72.

Tasks

The main tasks of the unit during this period were: *hostage rescue; *detention of armed criminals; *riot control in detention facilities.

References

{{Law enforcement in Belarus Non-military counterterrorist organizations Special forces of Belarus