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Alpha Group (Belarus)

The Belarusian Alpha Group is a special unit of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus, tasked to handle counter-terrorism operations throughout Belarus when regular Belarusian law enforcement units are underequipped to handle the task. It also assists law enforcement units in anti-crime operations.

History
The Soviet KGB has designed the creation of Alpha Group on July 28, 1974, when Yuri Andropov was head of the KGB after the 1972 Munich massacre. It's suggested that the order was done to respond West Germany's creation of Grenzschutzgruppe 9. The unit was created on March 3, 1990, stationed at the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and tasked to tackle anti-terrorist assignments throughout the BSSR and the Baltic States The unit was initially staffed by 45 operators. Post-USSR breakup In 1992, the unit officially received its official name She was rescued and the criminal was detained. In June 2006, the KGB has reaffirmed Alpha Group's mandate to combat terrorism. AG operators were involved in anti-terrorist exercises throughout the year alongside Belarusian military and law enforcement forces. AG negotiators were involved in getting him to surrender himself On November 29, 2014, AG participated in anti-terrorist exercises due to the World Ice Hockey Championship Games being held at Minsk alongside the Belarusian Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR). On June 20, 2017, AG operators participated in an anti-terrorist operation exercise at Minsk National Airport in recapturing a hijacked Boeing 737. Alpha Group celebrated its 30th anniversary on March 3, 2020. On August 9, 2020, it was reported that AG operators were deployed to intervene against the growing protests towards President Lukashenko. On August 16, 2020, Minsk-based AG veterans have released a statement to condemn violence used against the protests. On 6 November 2020, the Council of the European Union included Alpha's commander Col. Sergei Zubkov in the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006. Zubkov was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom, and Canada. On 24 November, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the November EU sanctions against 15 Belarusian individuals, while Switzerland did the same on 11 December. On 23 December 2020, the unit was officially listed under the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List) due to being regime actors. On 21 June 2021, Col. Zubkov, the commander of the unit, was also added to the SDN list. Since 2022, Alfa is also under the sanctions of the EU, Switzerland and Japan. ==Requirements==
Requirements
According to Colonel Oleg Chernyshev, 80% of its potential recruits are experienced personnel from other Belarusian law enforcement agencies while others are trained athletes. A recruit is placed through interviews and lie detector tests in order to remove anyone who is motivated to join AG for financial or vanity reasons. Women are not allowed to serve in the unit. ==Training==
Training
Once in training, AG recruits study laws and regulations regarding the activities of the KGB before they are trained in weapons and tactics. These are taught by experienced AG operators who are in the unit for at least five years. Any recruit who fails the tests are allowed to retake it. AG recruits are awarded dark blue berets once they pass. AG trains with the FSB's CSN, URNA, Cobra and various German and Italian counter-terrorism units. ==Equipment==
Equipment
Weapons AG purchased Glock 17s in the 2000s in order to replace their Soviet and Russian-made Makarov PM pistols. There are indications that the latter are Turkish-made MP5s under MKE. The Sako TRG and the Accuracy International AX 338 are used by the unit when snipers are deployed. ==Notes==
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