What do bat special forces do? Intelligence symbol: history of creation, description, meaning of the symbol and photo of the emblem

The special forces chevron signifies belonging to an elite unit. Special forces patches are used by the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the GRU, and the FSB. Collectors also love such patches and use them in military sports games, especially airsoft.

Airborne special forces chevrons

GRU special forces chevrons

FSIN. Here, special forces units often choose an animal emblem, after which the unit is named and which is depicted. For example, Polar bear, Peregrine falcon, Wolverine, Vulture, Bison. The FSIN emblem is also used as a basis.

Special Forces FSKN takes the FSKN coat of arms as the basis for the emblem.

By the way, special forces soldiers prefer because they are much more practical in the field.

Special forces appeared in Russia a long time ago: in 1746. Then huntsman units were organized. The emphasis in training rangers was to ensure that they did not just mindlessly follow orders, but were able to understand the situation and make the best decision on their own.

In 1817, the predecessors of the riot police were created: rapid reaction formations under the internal guard corps.

Often on websites you will find information that special forces in Russia arose in 1916 in the navy. This is incorrect information. By this year, the Russian Empire had special forces in almost all branches of the military. In the infantry these are rangers, in the Cossack units - plastun teams, in the Life Guards - the Rifle Battalion, in the internal troops - the Separate Corps of Gendarmes and rapid reaction formations. In the border troops - Separate border guard corps.

The official date of the creation of modern special forces is considered to be 1918: the organization of units for a separate purpose.

M.S. Svechnikov, a lieutenant colonel in the imperial army and a military historian and theorist, played a major role in the development of domestic special forces. He was a teacher at the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze formulated the concept of special forces in his lectures. However, during the years of repression, M.S. Svechnikov was shot, and the special forces were practically disbanded. We approached the Second World War, in fact, without special forces.

In the post-war period, special forces were rebuilt almost from scratch. Information on this issue is classified, so we can say little about the modern history of special forces.

It is known that at the beginning separate companies and battalions were created, later - brigades and educational institutions. Then the special forces took part in the war in Afghanistan and in the Chechen campaigns. Around this time, the special forces have their own.

Where did the “bat” come from, which for many years served as the emblem of military intelligence of the USSR and Russia, and even after the official replacement with a carnation with grenades, did not leave the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia?

Intermonitor conducted its own investigation into this issue.

We found a mention of the origin of the “Bat” as a symbol of military intelligence, which has authorship, in an authoritative publication - the magazine “National Forecast”, published by ITAR-TASS Ural. It is, in principle, typical for ITAR-TASS to verify information - therefore such a source deserves attention.

“The symbol of Russian military intelligence was invented by a journalist from Yekaterinburg. He claims that while serving in the Northern Fleet special forces in 1987, he drew the emblem for his group - a bat inscribed in a globe. It was used to “stencil” the overalls of all the fighters and commanders of the group. For the first time, the Severomorsk emblem was publicly “lit up” in the summer of 1988 at the championship of special forces units in Pechory (now Estonian Petseri). The group then participated in the special forces championship for the first time, but performed successfully, and the emblem on the chest of the “Navy Seals” was remembered by the intelligence elite of the USSR. A few years later, unit commander Gennady Ivanovich Zakharov, already with the rank of rear admiral, with the “core” of his combat swimmers, went to serve in the security of President Yeltsin. And the bat, invented then for internal circulation, took on a life of its own.”, - said the publication.

Former North Sea special forces (currently serving in a number of Russian special services) confirmed the information of the National Forecast. According to the eyewitnesses we interviewed, that mouse was exactly like the illustration in our material, but the globe was not round, but oval. Parallels and meridians were present on it. The mouse itself was exactly the same. And yet - there was not a single letter. The overalls had only the emblem and numbers - each fighter had his own number. For example, the number 1412 meant “141 reconnaissance group, 2nd number.”

In 2002, "Bat" was replaced by carnation. This happened after a major scandal: “Even the department of military heraldry and symbolism, specially created in 1994 at the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, was unable to organize the riot of animals, birds and skulls that were spread out on military patches. At the moment, no one can say exactly how many types of sleeve patches exist in the Russian army.

The last straw that broke the patience of the military commanders was the prank of one of the GRU special forces brigades. The special forces broke into the heraldry department and demanded that another scorpion be approved as a symbol of the brigade. The response was tough: a single emblem was introduced for the entire GRU.”

It is believed that the red carnation is “a symbol of perseverance, devotion, inflexibility and determination in achieving one’s goals,” and the three-flamed grenada is “the historical sign of the grenadiers, the most trained military personnel of the elite units.”

It is noteworthy that even after replacing the “Bat” with the “Red Carnation”, not only the special forces and “pear soldiers” did not stop considering “mice” as their symbol, but also the “Bat” remained on the floor in the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, adjacent to the “Carnation” attached to the wall of the hall.

Today will be celebrated with special pomp in the army special forces, or simply GRU special forces. October 24 occupies a special place in the life of any special forces soldier simply because it is a memorable day in his honor, in honor of everyone who, over the past half-century or more, has given up public life in exchange for the right to always be on the front line, even in peacetime. But this year the special forces units of the Russian Army are celebrating their 65th anniversary.

Although the special forces are more than respectable in age, their fighters are celebrating their professional day for only the ninth time. The Day of Special Forces Units - one of the 14 memorable days of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - was established only on May 31, 2006, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin No. 549 “On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

By order of Marshal Vasilevsky

The date of the memorable “special forces” day was chosen due to the fact that it was on October 24, 1950 that the directive of the Minister of the USSR Armed Forces and the Minister of War of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Sergei Shtemenko, No. Org/2/395832, was signed. With this document, 46 separate special-purpose companies were created in combined-arms and mechanized armies, as well as in military districts that do not have army formations, under the leadership of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff.

Each of these companies, according to the staffing table, had a strength of 120 people. Thus, in the first “conscription” of Soviet special forces there were 5,520 fighters. Moreover, most of them, primarily company and platoon commanders, were front-line soldiers with extensive experience. After all, despite the fact that formally the Soviet army never had special forces units, in fact special forces have existed in Russia, perhaps, since the time of Catherine II. After all, it was she who initiated the resettlement of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, who by that time already had a characteristic set of techniques and tactics, which a century later became known to the whole world under the name “Plastun grips.” Cossack plastuns should rightfully be considered the forerunner of modern special forces units.

During the First World War, there were no permanent special forces units in the Russian Imperial Army: their functions were performed in the Cossack units by the same plastuns, and in the regular units by the so-called hunting teams, engaged in both front-line and deep reconnaissance. And only in 1918, under the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, special purpose units - CHON - were formed. However, their task was different: not so much reconnaissance as sabotage, subversive and counterintelligence work, in essence, but the tactics and techniques used were essentially the same.

And only in April 1942 the first units appeared in the Red Army, the name of which included the phrase “special purpose”. During this period, several special-purpose engineering brigades were formed, which were intended to deploy mine warfare. Each such brigade consisted of five to seven battalions of engineering barriers, one or two electrical battalions, which were responsible for the construction of electrified wire barriers, and a special mining battalion, whose specialization was radio-controlled mines and landmines.

The importance attached to these units and how specific the skills that the fighters of these brigades possessed were can be judged by a simple fact. Then, in April 1942, Colonel Ilya Starinov, the “grandfather of Soviet special forces,” a saboteur, who by that time had already become a legend of the Civil War in Spain and the Winter War with Finland, was appointed commander of the 5th separate engineering special forces brigade.

From the Korean jungle to the Afghan mountains

But still, all these predecessors and forerunners were not yet fully the special forces with which, at the end of the Cold War, they frightened the most desperate thugs from NATO special forces units. First of all, because they were not given the specific tasks that the GRU army special forces were supposed to solve. And his duties were charged with deep reconnaissance, also known as special-purpose reconnaissance, which was to be conducted in the deepest rear of the enemy.

Despite the traditional name, such reconnaissance pursued completely unconventional goals. In the event of the outbreak of the Third World War, the newly formed special forces units were supposed to move far beyond the line of contact of ground forces and operate in close proximity to command posts and other strategic targets of the enemy. It was there that the GRU special forces were supposed to engage in sabotage and reconnaissance activities, depending on the situation, giving preference either to sabotage or data collection.

Therefore, the tasks of the SpN GRU - this is the abbreviation that very soon began to denote these units - included the destruction of control centers, silo and ground launchers of operational-tactical and ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, strategic bombers and nuclear submarines - carriers of nuclear weapons. And there is no need to talk about such usual matters for saboteurs as violating the enemy’s control, communications, power supply and communications systems. In practice, the special forces - at least as far as is known, but not everything or even half is known about its activities! - I’ve never had to do exactly this kind of work. But in fact, it was possible to organize and wage a guerrilla war in the second half of the twentieth century.

By the end of 1963, the original special forces companies had grown into entire brigades. Initially there were only ten of them, but in the end, after a few years, each Soviet military district and each fleet had one such unit, plus there was another unit reporting directly to the GRU of the General Staff - that is, in total there were 21 GRU special forces brigades in the Soviet army. As far as we know, Soviet special forces carried out individual combat missions during the Korean War of 1950–1953, and in several local conflicts in the Middle East, and during the Vietnam War in 1965–1975.

But the largest and most difficult test for them was the Afghan War of 1979–1989. Groups, detachments, separate battalions, and regiments from two GRU special forces brigades - the 15th and 22nd - operated on Afghan soil, and they had the most difficult missions. Complete statistics on these units are, of course, not and cannot be publicly available. But from those fragmentary data that began to leak to the press (and sometimes openly declassified - for reasons that one can only guess about), it is possible to put together such a mosaic. The 15th Special Forces Brigade alone, in 1985–1989 alone, lost 140 soldiers and officers killed, and itself managed to destroy and capture about 9,000 dushmans, including several dozen major leaders of gangs.

Always on guard

The GRU special forces did the same colossal work as in Afghanistan a decade later during two Chechen campaigns and many local conflicts on the territory of the former USSR. It is difficult to calculate how many Russian soldiers and officers of ordinary units were saved by soldiers whose chevrons bear the silhouette of a bat - the traditional emblem of the Russian GRU special forces. But there is no doubt that the people who in the 90s survived the consistent collapse of the army and who, only thanks to their enthusiasm and loyalty to the oath, preserved domestic special forces units, did much more than they say.

Today, the special forces units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation include 14 units: eight separate brigades scattered across four military districts, a separate special forces regiment and a separate special purpose center “Senezh”, as well as four naval reconnaissance points - the so-called naval units special forces

The total number of these units is classified - as it should be. But we can say with confidence that modern Russian special forces, both professional officers and soldiers and sergeants of conscript and contract service, number in the thousands. And all of them today, for sure - except perhaps those who are on combat duty - will make three traditional toasts: to us, to the special forces and to those who are no longer with them. But who we must always remember are those whose peace was and is being protected by soldiers of Russian special forces units.

The presented flag depicts the emblem of the GRU special forces - a bat against the backdrop of the full moon.

History of our intelligence

The birthday of Russian (in those days, Soviet) intelligence is considered to be November 5, 1918. It was then that the Revolutionary Military Council approved the structure of the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, which included the Registration Directorate, which was then the prototype of today’s GRU.

Special purpose units and units in the GRU appeared in 1950 after the signing of a secret directive from the USSR Military Ministry. New formations were intended for operations carried out deep behind enemy lines. To have direct affiliation with the emblem of the GRU special forces was highly honorable. Even now, when serving to guard the interests of the Motherland is not a priority for many, people who have completed special forces school are respected among friends and acquaintances.

Created and trained to penetrate the territories of aggressive states, GRU Spetsnaz units often participated in carrying out tasks far from their main profile.

Soldiers and officers of the GRU special forces were involved in all military operations in which the Soviet Union took part. Thus, many units conducting combat operations in Afghanistan were reinforced by military personnel from various reconnaissance brigades. Although these guys no longer served directly under the emblem, as you know, there are no former special forces soldiers. They remained the best in any of the combat specialties, be it a sniper or a grenade launcher and many others.

GRU special forces and intelligence during the collapse of the USSR

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was turmoil in many union republics. Thus, after the elections held in Tajikistan, an open conflict began between supporters of the authorities and the opposition. The main responsibilities of the soldiers of the GRU brigades included ensuring the security of the government and the Russian consulate. By the way, around these years the tradition of tattoos appeared, mainly on the shoulder. Also, strategic objects of the newly formed republic were placed under the responsibility of the special forces.

Military intelligence and GRU special forces brigades in the North Caucasus

Naturally, the GRU special forces did not stand aside during the Chechen campaigns.

The collapse of the Union was marked by a catastrophic drop in the overall level of combat readiness of army formations. As a result, it was literally necessary to “patch the holes” with elite units. Units trained to participate in complex operations behind enemy lines were sent to escort vehicle convoys and perform other unusual actions. As a result of the monstrous miscalculations of the command, the country lost its best forces. This period is one of the most tragic in the history of GRU special forces. However, despite all the difficulties, the soldiers of the army elite did not disgrace the GRU special forces.

The Second Chechen War also took place not without the participation of special forces. From the very beginning, the formations fought against sabotage detachments of terrorist organizations, blocked weapons transportation channels, and supplied the regular army troops with intelligence data.

The bat is a symbol of military intelligence

The symbol of military intelligence is the bat. The choice of symbol is far from accidental. The bat has always been considered one of the most mysterious and secretive creatures operating under the cover of darkness. Well, secrecy, as we know, is the key to a successful intelligence operation. That is why this night wanderer settled on the flag of the Russian special forces.

Where did the “bat” come from, which for many years served as the emblem of military intelligence of the USSR and Russia, and, even after its official replacement with the “carnation with grenades”, did not leave the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia?

Here are some hypotheses on this issue that are present on the Internet:

An investigation conducted by the website Intermonitor.ru: “We found a mention of the origin of the “Bat” as a symbol of military intelligence, which has authorship, in an authoritative publication - the magazine “National Forecast”, published by ITAR-TASS Ural. It is, in principle, typical for ITAR-TASS to verify information - therefore such a source deserves attention.

“The symbol of Russian military intelligence was invented by a journalist from Yekaterinburg. He claims that while serving in the Northern Fleet special forces in 1987, he drew the emblem for his group - a bat inscribed in a globe. It was used to “stencil” the overalls of all the fighters and commanders of the group. For the first time, the Severomorsk emblem was publicly “lit up” in the summer of 1988 at the championship of special forces units in Pechory (now Estonian Petseri). The group then participated in the special forces championship for the first time, but performed successfully, and the emblem on the chest of the “Navy Seals” was remembered by the intelligence elite of the USSR. A few years later, unit commander Gennady Ivanovich Zakharov, already with the rank of rear admiral, with the “core” of his combat swimmers, went to serve in the security of President Yeltsin. And the bat, invented then for internal circulation, took on a life of its own.”

Thanks to the fact that the Intermonitor editorial office is located in Yekaterinburg, it was possible to find eyewitnesses of this event and question them.

Former North Sea special forces (currently serving in a number of Russian special services) confirmed the information of the National Forecast. According to the eyewitnesses we interviewed, that mouse was exactly like the illustration in our material, but the globe was not round, but oval. Parallels and meridians were present on it. The mouse itself was exactly the same. And yet - there was not a single letter. The overalls had only the emblem and numbers - each fighter had his own number. For example, the number 1412 meant “141 reconnaissance group, 2nd number.”

Since the early 1990s, the GRU had an emblem in the form of a black bat spreading its wings over the globe, but in 2000 this emblem was replaced by another - a red carnation, which was proposed by the famous heraldist Yu.V. Abaturov. Initially, it appears on the breastplate “For Service in Military Intelligence”, in 2000 it becomes an element of the large emblem and the new sleeve insignia of the GRU and, finally, in 2005 it finally occupies a central place on all heraldic insignia, including sleeve patches.

According to some media, this happened after a major scandal: “Even the department of military heraldry and symbolism, specially created in 1994 at the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, was unable to organize the riot of animals, birds and skulls that were spread out on military patches. At the moment, no one can say exactly how many types of sleeve patches exist in the Russian army.

The last straw that broke the patience of the military commanders was the prank of one of the GRU special forces brigades. The special forces broke into the heraldry department and demanded that another scorpion be approved as a symbol of the brigade. The response was tough: a single emblem was introduced for the entire GRU.”

The situation with the special forces who broke into the heraldry department, of course, is more like a fairy tale, but, nevertheless, the new emblem with a carnation went to the special forces!

Elements of the GRU emblems symbolize:
three-flame grenada (the historical sign of the grenadiers - the most trained military personnel of the elite units of the Russian army, distinguished by high combat skill, training and ability to perform complex combat and service tasks) - a continuation of the glorious combat traditions of the Russian army;
The red carnation (a symbol of perseverance, devotion, inflexibility and determination in achieving set goals) is the most important quality of the military personnel of the Directorate, formations and special purpose military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

It is noteworthy that even after replacing the “Bat” with the “Red Carnation”, not only the special forces and “pear soldiers” did not stop considering “mice” as their symbol, but also the “Bat” remained on the floor in the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, adjacent to the “Carnation” attached to the wall of the hall.

Here's the story... But on the Internet, there are also other eyewitness accounts who claim to have seen the bat emblem much earlier than the 1988 event described above by Intermonitor.

Here are some of them:

• In the spring of 1987, during the annual training of officers-listeners of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, demonstration classes were held, where two officers already had a similar emblem. While working at a training place in the RU SF, all officers of the Directorate saw this, including Vice Admiral Motsak.
• Other eyewitnesses met the unofficial “mouse” in the early 80s... And in Afghanistan in 1986-88. from the GRU special forces.
• Those who served in the Special Forces of the GRU in 1987-89 saw some of their warrant officers on the shoulder. But, not against the backdrop of the globe, but separately. And ensigns have served since the early 80s, so the “mouse” was already there then.
• And here is the opinion of military intelligence officers of the Pacific Fleet:
  “In 1993, domestic military intelligence was preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its creation. For this anniversary, someone interested in heraldry from among the GRU employees decided to present a gift to his colleagues in the form of new symbols. This proposal received the support of the head of the GRU, Colonel General F.I. Ladygina. By that time, as is known, the Airborne Forces, as well as the Russian contingent of peacekeeping forces in Transnistria (the letters “MS” on a blue rectangular patch) had already acquired their own officially approved sleeve insignia. In the second half of October, the GRU prepared a draft report from the Chief of the General Staff addressed to the Minister of Defense, with a description and drawings of two sleeve insignia attached: for military intelligence agencies and special-purpose military units. October 22 F.I. Ladygin signed it “by hand” from the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General M.P. Kolesnikov, and the next day the Minister of Defense, Army General P.S. Grachev approved descriptions and drawings of sleeve insignia for military personnel of military intelligence agencies and special-purpose military units.” Both sleeve insignia featured a bat. The bat should be gold on a blue globe (or on the background of a target for special forces).

So the bat became a symbol of military intelligence and special forces units. However, in the GRU, as well as in the intelligence departments of the armed forces, districts and fleets, the sleeve insignia approved for them was never worn for obvious reasons. But its numerous varieties quickly spread throughout military, artillery and engineering reconnaissance units and units, as well as anti-sabotage warfare. In special-purpose formations and units, various versions of sleeve insignia, made based on the approved design, were also widely used.

So, what is the question of when did the bat appear on the emblems of special forces and military intelligence? and who is its author? remains open...

It remains to add that the palm in the use of the image of a bat belongs to the air forces of Great Britain and the United States: bats first appeared on the emblems of British and American squadrons during the First World War. In the early 1920s, they became widespread in the aviation of the US Navy and Marine Corps, and in the Second World War in the Royal Air Forces of Canada and the Union of South Africa. The image of a bat is used on the emblem of South Korean military intelligence and Israeli naval intelligence.