Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) is recalling it’s highly elite GRU Spetsnaz special forces operators from across the world including Africa, and Syria to help stem the recent incursion into Kursk by Ukraine.
The GRU Spetsnaz are special covert forces under the Russian Federation’s Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (GU/GRU). The GU is Russia’s main wing of foreign military intelligence, and reports directly to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of General Staff. Above all, it closely resembles the United State’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) in purpose.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions, facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic as tens of thousands of civilians fled. Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed last week that his forces had advanced across 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) of the region, although it was not possible to independently verify what Ukrainian forces effectively control.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday the daring military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border.
It was the first time Zelenskyy clearly stated the aim of the operation that began Aug. 6. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling.
Zelenskyy said “it is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory -– our operation in the Kursk region,” he said in his nightly address.
In response, Russia is deploying highly mobile and specialized infantry instead of its usual heavy armoured formation which includes main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
Moscow’s armoured corps are still pushing headlong into Ukraine and taking more territories. Redeploying them may impede their momentum, hence the recall of the Spetsnaz GRU.
The absence of a highly mobile trained force in the Russian army is forcing the Kremlin to send waves of conscripts who have a small chance against the trained Ukrainian troops.
Despite the situation in Kursk, the Russians keep advancing on the eastern front.
Russia’s Spetsnaz is a shortened ambiguation of spetsial’noe naznacheniya, meaning “of special purpose” or “of special designation.” These types of units were created to perform reconnaissance and covert actions behind enemy lines. Their doctrinal basis hails from that of Michael Svechnykvoc and Ilya Strarinov, the former influencing the latter to replicate unconventional tactics seen in the Spanish Civil War into Soviet doctrine.
The GRU Spetnaz’s main purposes are espionage, reconnaissance, sabotage, counterintelligence and even assassination of military and political officials.
In Africa, their operations are kept a secret, but they are known to provide intelligence support to Wagner PMC, and the new Africa Corps.
The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organization, also described as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, and a de facto unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) or Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. It has conducted operations in various countries in the African continent since 2017. In November 2023 it was announced that an Africa Corps was being formed as “part of a special structure of the Ministry of Defence”; a US government source said that the Africa Corps was a rival to Wagner that aimed to absorb its personnel and activities in Africa.
This latest development highlights the impact of the Russian-Ukraine on Africa’s security.
Similarly, in June 2022, Ukraine withdrew its troops and equipment, including helicopters, involved in U.N. peacekeeping missions in Africa and Europe to counter Russia’s invasion at home.
Ukrainian peacekeepers across Africa were deployed to another conflict, fighting tens of thousands of Russian forces in urban warfare. Around 308 Ukrainians were deployed across six missions with the UN, with the Congo having the highest number.
The redeployment left MINUSMA in urgent need of armed helicopters to protect civilians following the untimely withdrawal of the Ukrainian helicopter fleet.
Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February of 2022 has seen Russian Special Forces deployed across eastern Ukraine. In effect, it is hard to note the exact operations the GRU Spetsnaz are in, it is possible to identify what units/battalions are in active combat through death records and reports.
The GRU Spetsnaz remain one of Russia’s elite covert operations unit classes. Operating away from tradition structure, these operators train and deploy with high levels of skill and capability. The GRU Spetsnaz has operated across the world.
