Little green men (GRU)

Little green men (Russian: зелёные человечки zelyonye chelovechki, Ukrainian: зелені чоловічки zeleni cholovichki), also known as Polite People (Russian: вежливые люди vezhlivye lyudi, Ukrainian: ввічливі люди vvichlyvi lyudy), refers to masked soldiers in unmarked green army uniforms and carrying modern Russian military weapons and equipment that appeared during the Ukrainian crisis of 2014. The term was first used during the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, when those soldiers occupied and blockaded the Simferopol International Airport, most military bases in Crimea, and the parliament in Simferopol.

In April 2015, retired Russian Admiral Igor Kasatonov (Игорь Касатонов ()) said that the "little green men" were members of Russian Spetsnaz special forces units. According to his information, Russian troop deployment in Crimea included six helicopter landings and three landings of Il-76 with 500 people.

On 17 December 2015, Russian president Putin confirmed the presence of Russian people in Ukraine who were engaged in certain tasks, including in the military sphere, and added that this did not mean the presence of regular Russian army in Ukraine.

In March 2014, the Finnish magazine Suomen Sotilas (Soldier of Finland) published an analysis of the weapons and equipment seen on photos of "little green men".

The article points to a number of weapons and pieces of equipment that it asserts are issued only to armed forces in the Russian Federation:

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Wikipedia