'Crimean Spring': GRU Special Forces Kill Ukrainian Marines

Russia has just held a "referendum" and blockaded and disarmed more than 20,000 Ukrainian combat troops on the Crimean peninsula without firing a single bullet.

Referendum and disarming of the Ukrainian army

Less than 20 days had passed since pro-Russian forces seized power on February 27 until the peninsula was annexed by Russia on March 18. During this time, Russia had to both organize a referendum and continue to besiege and force Ukrainian military bases to surrender.

A year ago, the quiet, polite soldiers in green uniforms suddenly appeared throughout Crimea, determined to prevent the Ukrainian army from leaving their barracks, foil terrorist plots by extremists from Kiev, and ensure that the referendum day of the people on the peninsula went extremely smoothly.

During President V. Putin's online conversation with the Russian people on April 17, 2014, Mr. Putin officially acknowledged the presence of "polite people" or "strange soldiers" behind the Cossaks self-defense force and Berkut special forces, in the process of disarming Ukrainian military forces on this peninsula.

“...Behind the Crimean defense forces were our soldiers. They acted very properly, resolutely and professionally.” This was Mr. V. Putin’s first public response to the mysterious masked people, equipped with modern equipment, behaving politely, protecting the safety of Crimea’s annexation to the Russian Federation at the end of February 2014.

Wearing regular green uniforms, but without unit or rank insignia, their faces are usually covered, and they are equipped with modern weapons. Western media describes the “green soldiers” (named after the color of their uniforms) as having cold faces, always refusing all questions from the press, and in a combat-ready position.

However, the “strange soldiers” although quiet, behaved “very politely”.

When they came to occupy and guard the above-mentioned important locations, they did not show any threatening attitude towards Ukrainian soldiers and acted very harmoniously with the people on the peninsula such as lining up to buy things in supermarkets, playing with children or taking pictures with "Crimean long-legged girls"...

Russian special forces were also assigned to guard rather strange places such as kindergartens, nurseries... That means the Russian side also anticipated the possibility of terrorists kidnapping hostages. An interesting piece of information is that the special forces team guarding in front of the Alusta nursery were also required to lock their guns to ensure safety.

Russian special forces successfully completed their mission in Crimea.

That is why the search term and the phrase “polite people” quickly became popular on Russian-language websites on the Internet. The digital era is marked when a title appears on social networks, enters everyday life and becomes a term that characterizes an event.

Looking up the phrase “polite people” on Russian Wiki, one reads: “They are armed people of unknown origin, without identifying insignia, who appear to be Russian soldiers.”

The first time the phrase “polite people” appeared on the Internet was on a blog of a netizen with the address (colonelcassad.livejournal.com/1440088.html), reporting the events of the evening of February 28 in Crimea: “Around 1 a.m., Simferopol airport was occupied by people in military uniforms, carrying weapons. They politely asked the Captain of the Airport Guard and his men to politely leave.”

“Polite People”: The Cover of GRU Spetsnaz Special Forces

So far, Russia has not officially revealed the name of the force that participated in this campaign, although it has admitted that it was Russian special forces. This has led to many different judgments from the media and military experts.

The vast majority of experts believe that these “gentlemen” are definitely Russian military special forces, including GRU special forces or VDV special forces (airborne troops), but judging by their equipment, it is more likely that they are Spetsnaz military special forces commanded by the GRU.

Experts paid attention to the uniforms and weapons of these soldiers. They wore the latest 6B43 bulletproof vests (Russian Interior Ministry special forces usually wear the older 6B23) which were issued to Russian military units in 2013, the latest Kevlar helmets, SMERSH-BAZA field equipment, etc., along with modern means of communication.

“Polite people” line up to buy things in supermarkets, guard kindergartens, play with children, take pictures with Crimean girls

They are armed with the latest Kalashnikov AK-100 submachine guns, equipped with grenade launchers, optical and optoelectronic sights, night sights and thermal targeting systems. They are also equipped with 12.7mm silenced sniper rifles - the type used by FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia) special forces and some special units of the Ministry of Defense.

Another piece of information that could confirm this possibility is that in March 2013, a source from a Russian defense official said that the Russian Defense Ministry would establish a new Special Operations Force (SSO) with the core component being special forces of the GRU to operate both on Russian territory and abroad.

The new special forces are being created on the basis of existing special units in all the country's armed forces. The SSO will help Russia solve special tasks in war or to prevent war, including tasks outside the territory of Russia.

Thus, according to Russian military analysts, it is almost certain that the “gentlemen” in Crimea were GRU special forces. Because at that time, Crimea had not yet been annexed by Russia, so the combat mission here was considered to be on “foreign territory”, under the responsibility of Spetsnaz.

Spetsnaz are military special forces units under the command of the GRU (Main Military Intelligence Directorate - General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) - the most mysterious special forces of all the special forces of countries in the world.

Spetsnaz is an abbreviation of the phrase “Spetsialnogo Naznacheniya” (Russian transliteration), roughly translated as “special combat forces”. The existence and development of Spetsnaz is very secretive, the time this unit was formed is still not exactly determined but only estimated in the 50s of the last century.

Russian special forces were given the extremely difficult task of surrounding, restraining, disarming or at least forcing some 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers to refrain from using weapons of resistance during the referendum and the transition of power from Ukraine to Russia.

Russian armored vehicles move through the streets of Sevastopol in March 2014

However, not being allowed to use offensive weapons also posed difficult problems for them when many units refused to surrender, even when Crimea officially belonged to Russia. For example, soldiers at Belbeck air base did not lower the Ukrainian flag and leave the peninsula until March 22.

GRU special forces fight hand-to-hand, subdue Ukrainian marines

Typical of the behavior of Russian soldiers and also the most interesting situation in this chain of events was the capture of the headquarters of the 1st Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy stationed in Feodosia, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Delyatitski, whose unit was the last to raise the Ukrainian flag on the peninsula.

By then, more than half of the Ukrainian marines in Crimea had defected to the Russian side, but the most stalwarts remained under his command. By the time Russian special forces entered the headquarters, there were still about 80-120 troops loyal to Lieutenant Colonel Delyatitski.

The “strange soldiers” used an armored vehicle to break through the main gate of the base, broke the door, threw flash grenades into the barracks and called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their weapons and leave the base, but they resolutely refused to surrender. A temporary solution to avoid bloodshed was proposed, the commanders of both sides decided to lay down their weapons and fight hand-to-hand.

Ukrainian soldiers from the barracks lined up one by one, forming a wall. On the Russian side, 40 special forces soldiers stepped out. It was hard to imagine a more heroic scene than this, with both sides fighting each other bare-handed, as if on “Maslenitsa”.

As a result of the fight, Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Delyatitskii and his deputy Brigadier General - Major Rosticlav Lomtev - who participated in the first round of close combat, were sent to the hospital with several broken ribs. The Ukrainian forces agreed to abandon the base, having made every effort to hold the barracks.

Three days later, Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Delyatitski left Crimea for Ukraine, the officers who had sworn allegiance to Ukraine were sent home, while the soldiers who decided to continue serving were welcomed back to their barracks. Out of four officers and soldiers, three went to the Crimean side, including Major Lomtev.

Video of a Ukrainian soldier participating in close combat between Russian special forces and Ukrainian marines recounts

The Ukrainian Marines did their best as soldiers, but they knew their limits and no one could blame them. The Russians, on the other hand, showed great discipline and perseverance, and it would not have ended well for either side if a shot had been fired.

By the end of March 20, Mr. Putin signed a decree recognizing 72 military units and defense enterprises, including Ukrainian personnel, vehicles, and weapons stationed in Crimea, into the ranks of the Russian army. There was only one final raid on the Belbek air base on March 22.

Before the “Crimea Spring” campaign, the West often criticized the Russian army as “big but empty; poorly equipped and outdated; poor command capabilities and relying only on nuclear weapons”. However, the US and NATO have now had to rethink the surprising new faces of Russia.

In fact, what the Russian army demonstrated in this campaign has surprised Western military experts. The weapons, equipment and electronic warfare means of the Russian army in general and the Russian special forces in particular are no less modern than those of the US-NATO army.

During the campaign, the Russian army skillfully combined many military elements such as the art of intelligence and deception; command and coordination ability; mobility ability... At the same time, the human qualities of the soldiers such as individual combat ability; civil/enemy mobilization skills; perseverance and patience are also truly admirable.

This helped Russia disarm all Ukrainian forces, foil the plot to oust the US aircraft carrier group from the Black Sea fleet, disrupt plots to cause division and incite war, and ensure the safety of the referendum and the process of transferring territory from Ukraine to Russia.

However, Russia still has a lot of work to do, the most important of which is to reconcile ethnic conflicts between ethnic minorities on the peninsula before, during and after the peninsula's annexation to Russia.

We will find out in the next installment titled "Crimean Spring: The Power of Putin's National Flag".

According to Baodatviet