Russian special forces

Spetsnaz (Russian: спецназ; IPA: [spʲɪt͜s'nas]), abbreviation for Войска специального назначения, tr. Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya pronounced [vɐjsˈka spʲɪt͡sɨˈalʲnəvə nəznɐˈt͜ɕenʲɪjə] (English: Special Purpose Forces or Special Purpose Military Units), is an umbrella term for special forces in Russian and is used in numerous post-Soviet states.

Historically, the term referred to special military units controlled by the military intelligence service GRU (Spetsnaz GRU). It also describes special purpose units, or task forces of other ministries (such as the Ministry of Emergency Situations' special rescue unit) in post-Soviet countries.

As Spetsnaz is a Russian term, it is typically associated with the special forces units of Russia; but other post-Soviet states often refer to their special forces by the term as well since they inherited their special purpose units from the now-defunct Soviet security agencies. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade of Belarus or the Alpha Group of the Security Service of Ukraine are both such examples of non-Russian Spetsnaz forces.

The Russian abbreviations SPETSNAZ (spetsialnogo naznacheniya) and OSNAZ (osobogo naznacheniya), both meaning "special purpose", are general terms used for a variety of special operations (spetsoperatsiya) forces (or regular forces assigned to special tasks). They are syllabic abbreviations typical of early Soviet-era Russian, although many Cheka and Internal Troops units (such as OMSDON) used osobogo naznacheniya in their full names.

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