Alpha Group

From Wikinfo

Alpha Group, a special forces (spetsnaz) unit attached to the KGB was created in 1974 on the orders of Andropov, then head of the KGB. It was intended for secret foreign operations. The unit has continued to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been used in a variety of difficult situations, such as the Moscow Theatre Siege. Its first major operation in December, 1979 was the storming of the Presidential Palace in Kabul during which it took heavy casualties.