Talk:Alpha Group

Just a question
How is it that there is no citation at all in this paragraph? ''However, by the time Alpha arrived, one of the hostages had already been killed. Through a network of supporting KGB operatives, members of the task-force identified each of the perpetrators involved in the crisis, and once identified, began to take the relatives of these militants as hostages. Following the standard Soviet policy of no negotiations with terrorists, some of the hostages taken by Alpha Group were dismembered, and their body parts sent to the militants. The warning was clear: more would follow unless the remaining hostages were released immediately.'' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.46.123.98 (talk) 22:40, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Naming problem
There is also an Alfa_squad. What's correct? Enrico 22:02, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)

No clue. Neither or both, real name is in cyrillic. Fred Bauder 01:09, Sep 4, 2004 (UTC)

Exactly. Cyrillic f is equivalent to both English f and ph, so it's just a question of transliteration.

This article needs an edit. The Beslan School Siege has not been included in it. Given that it cost the group commander his life, I'd say that's significant.

Addyboy 4/11/05

edited and cleaned up somewhat, added Beslan School Siege, Alpha Group's involvement in hostage crisis at Beirut, with citation.

anonymous, 29/7/2006

What is "tactical EMS?" EMS links to a disambiguation page.. this should be tidied 84.67.22.131 01:55, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Inconsistent transliteration: someone should choose to use either "Alpha" or "Alfa" throughout the body of the article. Anon, 5 Dec 2006

Can someone get rid of the cocks on this page???

Official name of the team is Группа А - Gruppa A, Alfa - was invented by the journalists. Oleg_Str

The unit is known as Alfa Group in the west so that is the name as is used here in the English language Wikipedia.--Degen Earthfast (talk) 18:40, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Used 'cite book' template
Hello, regular editors of Alpha Group! I switched the style of the reference section to use the 'cite book' template. If this annoys you, feel free to revert it. EdJohnston 02:16, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Where the deuce are the citations?
(See subject heading)69.246.154.150 (talk) 17:55, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Russian abbreviations
I guess one could simply write Operation Storm-333 rather than "«Шторм-333» (English: "Storm-333")". Are any guidelines about that?Biophys (talk) 19:24, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
 * WP:COMMONNAME and WP:ENGLISH, I guess. I'd say, if it's bluelinked, use the link's name. if it's not - use a transliteration. --Illythr (talk) 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Dubious conflicts from the infobox

 * 2008 South Ossetia War
 * Civil War in Tajikistan
 * East Prigorodny conflict
 * War in Abkhazia
 * Invasion of Dagestan
 * Russo-Georgian War

Provide sources before re-adding any of them. --Niemti (talk) 02:08, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

The picture is original research


The name and the captions are only identyfying these individuals as "spetsnaz". --Niemti (talk) 12:47, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Proof/evidence?--Degen Earthfast (talk) 19:43, 2 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Exactly, there's no proof/evidence. It's armed men wearing unmarked uniforms, indentified only as "spetsnaz fighters". --Niemti (talk) 20:29, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Training and equipment (unreferenced content)
Alpha units train similar to that of British SAS, the French GIGN, and other counter-terrorism forces across the world, but the Soviet KGB wanted them to be different from western units. Their training involves characteristics of the Spetsnaz GRU, including trying to teach the operatives to "absorb" pain. Nowadays, it is about the same, except for the less brutality in their units. In Soviet times, they were trained to put the mission before their comrades. Today, it is the opposite. They are trained in climbing and rappelling, marksmanship, hostage rescue, demolition, biological, radiological and chemical warfare, parachuting, underwater tactics being able to operate any vehicle that can be used, door-to-door combat, breach and clear room tactics, operating in any environment, and negotiating.

Alpha Group wears usually black clothing with modern day technology attachments on them, including night vision goggles, weapons packs, grenade holsters, ballistic knives, saperka shovels, etc. Alpha can also wear uniforms similar to that of common ground forces, matching any environment that they are in. Uniforms that they wear when off the battlefield would be similar to that of Russian Airborne Troops (VDV). Alpha units can also use face masks to avoid identification, and large helmets that usually have face protection. They use Sfera helmets and modernized SSh-68s, which are being replaced by the new Borit-M helmet.

Even though Alpha is very similar to the Spetsnaz GRU, they use more modern weaponry. However, the saperka shovel, and the ballistic knife are both still used by Alpha and most Russian special forces. Alpha will be issued the AK-12 once it is finished production, but currently use the AK-74 variants. They also use the compact and bull pup A-91 and OTs-14. The AN-94 assault rifle, which is given mainly to more important parts of the Russian military, is frequently used by Alpha. The main light machine gun used by Alpha is the PKP Pecheneg, but is used for more open areas instead of close quarters combat. The smaller SR-3 Vikhr is used for door to door combat due to it's small stature and attachment accessibility. Other submachine guns used by Alpha and most of Russian spetsnaz are the PP-19 Bizon and the PP-2000. The Makarov pistol is their main handgun, even though the MP-443 Grach is more modern. The MP-443 Grach does however have production problems, making it hard for Alpha to get. Alpha's main shotgun is the Saiga-12, which is utilized to blast down doors, or as a fighting weapon. Sniper rifles used by Alpha are the Dragunov SVU and the VSK-94 Alpha divers use the APS, which is the first and only underwater assault rifle ever made, along with the SPP-1 underwater pistol.

Request from a GOCE editor
Hello All, I am Wikishagnik, a member of GOCE. While trying to edit this article to manage its tone and language, I came across the following problems

For these issues, I would like to understand if this article is copied from some other source and is supposed to match the format of the source? If so, please understand that I will be restructuring this article to meet WP:MOS and the changes I make will dramaticaly alter its structure and tone to make it comply with WP:NPOV. Would there be any objection to that? Please go through the appropriate policy before responding. Thanks and regards -Wikishagnik (talk) 04:34, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
 * The article uses prose like On the orders of Yuri Andropov, it was hoped that and terms like thwarting. Although this is appropriate for textbooks and formal letters, it may come across as stuffy and formal on a Wikipedia and may not be comprehendible for many users.
 * The article is not structured according to WP:MOS

No, it's no copied from anywhere. It was rewritten by me from this state: --Niemti (talk) 15:17, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
 * OK, so if I change the language and prose to a more american english version, would that be OK? -Wikishagnik (talk) 02:30, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Probably. --Niemti (talk) 02:42, 12 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Oh man, we have now this Alpha Group and another Alfa Group. I realize, they are somehow related, but it sounds strange... My very best wishes (talk) 05:07, 23 February 2013 (UTC)


 * There's "about" now in the article for Alfa Group (and for Alpha 66, a leftist group of anti-Castro Cubans). --Niemti (talk) 16:20, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

John Giduck
He's indeed a fraud, but I remember reading about it back in 1990s already. (The friendly-fire hit APC exploded and its fragments killed and wounded several Alfas.) --Niemti (talk) 16:49, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

1985 Lebanon Diplomat Hostages
The current article gives two accounts of how the hostages were rescued. The first one is cited by a reference called "Davies pg108" which looks bogus to me. I'm removing this source and marking this as requiring a reference. I suspect it is an urban myth and should not be on wikipedia — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.68.50.215 (talk) 04:16, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

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A Question
Why Dont You Guys Care About the "DEATH" Of A citizen .. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.245.251.147 (talk) 20:00, 24 June 2018 (UTC)