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| Russia's Elite Special Forces 'SOF' in the War in Ukraine |
Moscow - Russia's elite Special Operations Forces have an important role in the war against Ukraine. Quoted from the article "Russian Special Operations Forces in Crimea and Donbas" written by Dr. Tor Bukkvoll, these troops carry out covert tasks and are involved in reconnaissance missions.
These troops were once stationed in the territory of Ukraine, namely Crimea and Donbass. The Special Operations Forces (SOF) was founded in 2009 and is the youngest force of the entire Russian military force.
Unlike other Russian special forces, SOF is made up of highly qualified professionals. In structure, these military forces are directly under the General Staff. Therefore, in carrying out its mission these troops do not require approval from other branches of the armed forces.
Having tasks related to covert and reconnaissance missions, Special Operations Forces is a troop unit that contains a military that is trained and ready for combat. These troops were specifically built to carry out the task of "special operations" military at home and abroad.
The military operation methods used by SOF are reconnaissance, sabotage, subversive, counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, guerrilla, anti-partisan, and other methods. No less important than these methods, SOF has other capabilities that are very helpful in dealing with war.
Special Operations Forces have the ability to collaborate with local military formations. For example while on a mission in Syria. At that time SOF interacted quite closely with one of the Syrian military named Hezbollah soldiers
As one of his achievements, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave medals to four SOF officers on May 10, 2017 as an appreciation. This appreciation is given to praise the courage of SOF when it is involved in handling terrorists in Syria. At that time, SOF forces managed to repulse the attacks of 300 jihadists.