On Monday, July 29, the servicemen of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine celebrate their professional holiday. The soldiers of the Special Operations Forces are capable of carrying out extremely complex tasks, including behind enemy lines.
What is known about this branch of the military and the operations with its participation during a full-scale war – further in the material.
Special Operations Forces – what kind of troops are these
Special Operations Forces are a separate branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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They include special forces units, information and psychological special operations units, resistance and support movements. The SOF are considered one of the most effective structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The official website of the SOF notes that they are the “military elite of the state”. The servicemen themselves call themselves “steel”.
The SOF units include well-trained and motivated military personnel who perform highly complex tasks on land and water, in temporarily occupied territories, sabotage behind enemy lines, and conduct aerial reconnaissance in the air.
Due to the specifics of the SOF's work, details of combat operations are usually not announced. The names and even call signs of the soldiers are kept secret. Their faces are hidden in photos and videos.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the Special Operations Forces were commanded by Major General Grigoriy Galagan. In July 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky carried out personnel changes and transferred Galagan to the SBU.
The new commander of the SOF was Major General Viktor Khorenko.
In November of last year, the Special Operations Forces were headed by Colonel Serhiy Lupanchuk. And in May 2024, he was replaced in this post by Brigadier General, Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Trepak.
History of the creation of the SSO in Ukraine
The history of the creation of the Special Operations Forces in our country begins back in 2007. Then, by decision of the Ministry of Defense, the Special Operations Forces Directorate was established in the General Staff. The concept for the development of the Special Operations Forces was developed, and exercises with American specialists were held.
In 2011-2012 the initiative petered out, but received new impetus after the Russian invasion of Donbass and the occupation of Crimea.
In May 2016 the first graduation of 29 instructors from the Special Operations Forces training center took place in Ukraine. They were trained within the framework of the Joint Multinational Group program (USA, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia).
And In June of the same yearThe Verkhovna Rada officially supported the creation of the SSO. The adopted law assumed the emergence of a separate branch of the military – the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In July 2016Presidential Decree No. 311 established the Day of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which has since been celebrated annually on July 29.
It is worth noting that July 29 is one of the most tragic days in the history of special forces. On this day in 2014, in the area of the village of Latyshevo (not far from Snizhne, Donetsk region), ten special forces from Kropyvnytskyi heroically died during a battle with the occupiers. The soldiers were conducting a search and rescue operation for Ukrainian attack aircraft pilots shot down by Russian air defense systems, but were ambushed.
A local traitor reported the location of the soldiers to the enemy.
Tasks and rigorous selection in the SSO
Special Operations Forces have defined their credo as “the superiority of quality over quantity”.
Among the tasks MTR:
- carrying out operations during the legal regime of martial law and a state of emergency;
- military information and psychological operations;
- organizing and supporting the activities of the resistance movement;
- ensuring the safety of maritime navigation in Ukraine;
- protecting the lives of citizens and state property outside Ukraine, ensuring their safety and evacuation;
- participation in the fight against illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs;
- fight against terrorism and piracy;
- international military cooperation.
Information about the personnel of the special forces, as well as about persons collaborating or previously collaborating with special forces, is a state secret.
The selection requirements for the special forces course are extremely high, so only 10% of candidates complete it to the end.
– Special forces soldiers are trained to be scouts, participate in raids behind enemy lines, underground work behind the front lines and create an agent network, search for and evacuate prisoners or hostages, anti-terrorist activities and provide medical care, — notes the SSO website.
Therefore, only highly motivated, experienced and stress-resistant soldiers can get into the new units.
During the selection stage of the course candidates live in tents on the training ground for three weeks without any means of communication with the outside world. Movement around the camp is only allowed by running, and there is a penalty for violation. Every day, candidates undergo heavy physical training, which not everyone can withstand. Some do not pass the psychological selection.
Those who manage to pass the first stage, master five specializations: commander, engineer, weapons specialist, medic or signalman. All of them are interchangeable, that is, all special forces must have knowledge of the basics of medicine or mining.
In general, the qualification course for the Special Operations Forces (Q-course) lasts 4 months. At the moment, only servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who, at the time of application, are in military service under contract or were called up to the army by mobilization are allowed to participate in the selection.
A special feature of the training course in the SSO is the presence of a special bell. In order to voluntarily leave the course, the candidate must necessarily hit it.
As the MTR explains, “the bell on the parade ground is a symbol of weak will, psychological unpreparedness and defeat in front of oneself”. According to SSO estimates, 90% of candidates ring the bell before reaching the end of the course.
It’s interesting that last year was the first female soldier to qualify for the Special Forces (Q-course), , whose last name is not announced.
Steel Wolves: Emblem and Motto
The SSO emblem is an image of a walking wolf of silver color, belted with a gold combat belt-nauz, against the background of a wreath of laurel leaves. Below is a bident – the princely insignia of Svyatoslav the Brave.
And under the wreath is the motto I'm coming to you! This legendary saying of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav the Brave is now the slogan of the Special Operations Forces.
Photo: Office of the President
The image of a wolf as the emblem of the Special Operations Forces was chosen, in particular, based on Ukrainian legends and tales about the Cossacks-characterniks, who were able to turn into animals (in particular, into wolves).
It should be noted that the Special Operations Forces are trying to revive the military traditions of their ancestors and establish new ones. For example, in May 2021, scouts of the 3rd separate special forces regiment swore allegiance to Ukraine in Kholodny Yar (Cherkasy region) – a historical place for the Ukrainian liberation struggle.
It was in Kholodny Yar that Ukrainian soldiers at various times consecrated their weapons and received a blessing to fight the enemy.
Photo: Special Operations Forces
Resistance Movement
The Special Operations Forces are responsible for the key role in organizing, preparing, supporting and implementing the resistance. This is provided for by the Law on the Fundamentals of National Resistance adopted in 2021.
During the full-scale war in Ukraine, a branched system of resistance movements. It includes trained units of “partisans”, who are involved in operations against Russian troops.
They can conduct reconnaissance, sabotage, collect and transmit the necessary data and coordinates to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while behind enemy lines – in temporarily occupied territories.
The Special Operations Forces have created the National Resistance Center. Its purpose is to train, coordinate, and scale the resistance movement.
SOF Operations During a Full-Scale War
SOF activities are usually classified. Details of special operations are rarely announced and not immediately after they are carried out.
However, information about some bold and victorious operations by special forces has been made public. ICTV Facts collected some of them:
- Defense of the Gostomel airfield
Special Operations Forces soldiers were among the first to take the brunt of the Russian troops on February 24, 2022.
In particular, they were involved in the defense of the Gostomel airfield in the first days of the invasion. The military received information that a Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft was supposed to arrive to land troops in Gostomel.
In the very first battle, they shot down three enemy helicopters with MANPADS – two Ka-52s and a Mi-8, eliminated the manpower that had managed to land, and simultaneously repelled attacks by enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
Thus, the military repelled the first waves of attacks by the occupiers and gained time for our forces to approach Gostomel. At the same time, National Guard fighters damaged the airfield runway with mortars.
– It wasn’t an Il-76 that arrived, but a lot of helicopters. We weren’t quite ready, but we still completed the task to the maximum… I think that this really hurt them (Russian troops, — Red.) demoralized: they were not prepared to be met with such a strong rebuff. They planned to simply enter, land, take up positions, dig in, and move on from there, — noted a special forces soldier who took part in these battles.
If the Russian Federation had been able to capture the Gostomel airfield and land a large force with armored vehicles, then all these forces would have gone on to Kyiv to occupy it.
- Defense of Nikolaev Airport
This page in the life of the special forces was little known for months. At the beginning of the invasion, when the Russian troops tried to capture the Nikolaev airport, the SSO soldiers stood in their way.
Together with the territorial defense and National Police fighters, they not only held the airfield, but also pushed back the superior enemy forces, inflicting considerable losses on them.
First, the SSO fighters cleared the premises, occupied the tower and roof of the airport building. And the enemy took up positions to attack our infantry. At this time, the SSO maneuvered and reached the rear of the occupiers, which came as a surprise to them.
The entire operation took no more than a day. The SSO suffered no losses.
Having reached the airport area, the enemy could have surrounded Nikolaev from the north. And the only way to secure the city would have been the bridge in the direction of Odessa. Therefore, the operation to defend the airport was very important.
- Battle for Moshchun
The battles that took place around the village of Moshchun in March 2022 are considered decisive in the defense of the Kyiv region.
Map: Google maps
The SSO soldiers there desperately held back the enemy, constantly striking enemy equipment and pontoon bridges.
Thus, the fighters, together with other units, prevented the occupiers' plans to open another route to attack Kiev.
- Operation on Snake Island
The SSO fighters were part of a group of Ukrainian troops that liberated Snake Island in the Black Sea from the occupiers.
On the night of July 7, after the Russian troops had already fled the island, combat swimmers from the 73rd Naval Center of the Ukrainian SSO approached there on submarines. They inspected the coastal area for mines, after which they signaled the main group's boats to continue the operation.
The first to reach the island were the engineers, who cleared the passage of minefields and traps of the occupiers. Later, the military inspected the territory, equipment abandoned by the enemy, and planted Ukrainian flags in different parts of the island.
Having completed the mission, the group of Ukrainian soldiers returned to base unharmed.
- Deoccupation of Kherson
Special forces of the Special Forces were among the first to enter Kherson on November 11, 2022.
During the multi-week operation to deoccupy the right bank of the Kherson region, fighters not only liberated settlements in battle, but also worked with partisans in the temporarily occupied territories.
Local residents greeted the soldiers with flowers and tears happiness.
- Lightning operation in Kharkiv region
As part of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, military special operations forces participated in the lightning-fast liberation of the territories of Kharkiv region.
During the counter-offensive in September 2022, it was possible to de-occupy almost the entire territory of the region. The Russian troops did not expect active actions of the Ukrainian army in this direction, and therefore their defense crumbled very quickly.
During the liberation of the Kharkov region, dozens of units of Russian military equipment worth about $700 million were destroyed and captured.
- Battles for Bakhmut
Special operations forces were involved in the defense of one of the hottest spots on the front – the city of Bakhmut (Donetsk region).
In this direction, Russian troops used all types of weapons against our fighters, including phosphorus ammunition, and threw former prisoners and mercenaries of the Wagner PMC into endless assaults.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian soldiers, with titanic efforts, held their positions in the area of the fortress city of Bakhmut. Fierce battles took place for every meter of land.
One of the MTR missions in the Bakhmut area was Operation Jetta. Until recently, nothing was reported about it “for reasons of operational security”.
It was held in 2023. Somehow the enemy tried once again to take a favorable position in the Kleshcheevka area in order to create a springboard for the offensive of the main forces of the Russian Federation. The occupiers advanced quickly, in small groups.
For containment, it was decided to involve MTR units. The mission plan was developed in less than 24 hours, and the operation itself lasted about three hours. About 20 people took part in it, snipers, UAV pilots, fire support with mortars, and a radio point were involved.
The military made a surprise raid on a Russian stronghold. The result is minus 12 occupiers at a time.
- Five hundred people rescued during one operation
Combat swimmers of the 73rd separate center of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine evacuated civilians from under the enemy's nose by water. During one of the operations, they saved about 500 people from occupation.
Among them were elderly people and many small children. The direction of this special operation is not disclosed.
– One of the coastal sections of our coast. People from the surrounding villages gathered in one place, and the enemy had information about this. Therefore, it was necessary to pick them up from there very quickly. We, having floating craft, approached this coast. Elderly people, even on crutches, small children – we loaded them all onto boats. They were overloaded, but we slowly and carefully retreated and were able to take up to 500 people, — said a soldier who took part in the operation.
- Operations on the Dnieper
In the Kherson region there is a cascade of islands between the left and right banks of the Dnieper. This is a kind of “gray zone”, surrounded by water on all sides.
As noted in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it became a place where for several months Ukrainian soldiers and Putin's soldiers waged a “quiet war” for superiority on the Dnieper.
The enemy tried to conduct reconnaissance, mine the territory and equip positions. However, the soldiers of the Special Operations Forces' naval center did not allow the occupiers to gain a foothold in this zone.
In addition, the Special Operations Forces destroyed the Russian invaders on one of the Dnieper islands. The special forces discovered enemy positions there and an “unknown object”, which significantly interfered with the work of aerial reconnaissance assets.
After detailed planning of the special operation, soldiers of the 73rd Special Operations Forces Marine Center went to the island in two boats and stormed the occupiers' positions. They managed to destroy the enemy boat and five Russian soldiers.
- Battles for Staromayorske
Special Operations Forces fighters took part in the deoccupation of the village of Staromayorske in the Donetsk region.
This happened during the counteroffensive operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces last summer. The village is located several kilometers from the administrative border with the Zaporizhia region.
During the operation, soldiers of the 3rd separate special forces regiment captured an enemy position in Staromayorskoye and captured soldiers from the 247th parachute regiment of the Russian Federation. And in the phone of one of the liquidated occupiers, a list was found that recorded significant losses of this unit.
- Strike on the occupiers' base in Makeyevka
One of the operations in which special forces participated was a strike on the enemy base in occupied Makeyevka, Donetsk region, on New Year's Eve (January 1, 2023). This was stated in an interview by the former commander of the Special Operations Forces, Viktor Khorenko.
Mobilized soldiers of the Russian army were stationed there in the building of Vocational School No. 19. There was information that the strike was carried out using HIMARS rocket artillery systems.
– We must recall the operations that were carried out even on New Year's Eve. This is the city of Makeyevka, when a large logistics center of the enemy was hit, where it had accumulated and had to use new units on our territory, which were transferred from the territory of the Russian Federation, — said Khorenko.
According to him, the enemy then received “its 400 black packages”, about 300 occupiers were wounded. The vocational school building was completely destroyed.
- Damage to the Minsk landing craft and the Rostov-on-Don submarine
On the night of September 13, 2023 in still occupied Sevastopol, a naval plant burned during a missile attack. Then the large landing ship Minsk and the diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don were seriously damaged.
The Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were also involved in this successful operation. Thus, the Special Operations Forces received information about the probable location of the ships at the ship repair facility in Sevastopol.
For reconnaissance, guidance and fire adjustment, the Special Operations Forces fighters approached a safe place in boats and moved to the shore using underwater vehicles. After that, using special technical means, they carried out targeting.
According to the Special Operations Forces, the Minsk landing craft was supposed to go on combat duty the next day, so the personnel were present on the ship. Irrecoverable losses amounted to more than 60 occupiers.
Ukrainian intelligence noted that the Minsk landing ship and the Rostov-on-Don submarine are most likely not subject to restoration.
- Special Operation Crab Trap SSO
That was the name of the special operation during which the precise missile strike was carried out to the command staff of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol.
This happened on September 22, 2023, when the leadership of the Russian fleet had just gathered for a meeting.
All the necessary data from the Special Operations Forces was transmitted to the Ukrainian Air Force for the strike.
It was reported that the senior officer corps of the Russian Federation was destroyed – about 34 officers. More than 100 occupiers were wounded.
Shortly before this, the Special Operations Forces, together with other units of the Defense Forces, hit the facilities of the 126th Coast Guard Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Perevalnoye (occupied Crimea).
During that attack, several attack UAVs were used, which struck the location of this unit of the occupiers.
- Operation Dragonfly
This is a successful special operations operation of the Special Operations Forces, carried out on the night of October 17, 2023. At that time, airfields in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk and Lugansk were hit.
At that time, the enemy had deployed a significant amount of aircraft and special equipment, as well as ammunition, there.
First, the Special Operations Forces received data on the occupiers' military equipment at the airfields. When the information was confirmed after verification, the coordinates were transmitted to the units of the Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for destruction.
Thanks to this, it was possible to destroy: nine Russian helicopters of various modifications; special equipment; an air defense launcher; an ammunition depot. The runways of the airfields were also damaged.
The ammunition depot in Berdyansk detonated before four in the morning. And the detonation in Lugansk continued until 11:00 am.
The Russian Army lost dozens of invaders killed and wounded.
- Operation Citadel
Special operations forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces blew up an important Russian facility in the Black Sea – one of the illegally seized mining platforms.
The Russians used it to enhance the work of the Iranian reconnaissance UAV Mohajer-6. The enemy installed equipment on the platform that increased the range and radius of the drone.
The occupiers used Mohajer-6 drones for reconnaissance and further attacks by Shahed kamikaze drones on critical infrastructure facilities in southern Ukraine.
On the same platform, the enemy installed a radar station for detecting surface objects Neva-B, with the help of which he could control the situation in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
An extremely complex operation to neutralize the object was carried out by soldiers of the 73rd maritime center of the special forces. At night, in boats, they came close to a mining platform in the Black Sea, cleared it there and mined it. After this, the combat group retreated to a safe distance and blew up the object.
This MTR special operation created safer conditions for the movement of ships and limited the enemy’s capabilities in the Black Sea.
Thus, the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are unconquered, courageous warriors who defend their native land in the most fierce and difficult battles, destroying the intentions and plans of the invaders.
