GENNADY NIKOLAEVICH ZAYTSEV IS 80 YEARS OLD!

There are people in whose fate the will of God is visible to the naked eye. They are in plain sight, especially at turning points for the country and the people. Among them, General Gennady Zaitsev, who headed the unit for more than thirteen years, and twice: both under the communists and under the "democrats".

TWO BIRTHDAYS

It is difficult to write about General Zaitsev. And not because of lack of information, just the opposite. The abundance of information and various facts from the life of this man, who is one of the symbols of the Russian special forces, causes quite understandable difficulty.

His life is filled with dramatic events. The unit's employees call him "Papa". It's worth a lot ... Hardly anyone can imagine what the hot October 1993 cost him. It was one of the most difficult and tragic moments of his life: the country was on the brink of civil war.

Yes, his track record included not only Group A, but also much more: service in the Kremlin regiment, the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the personal guard of the KGB Chairman Yu. V. Andropov. However, it was precisely the "alpha" period that provided General Zaitsev with the highest authority and respect that inscribed his name in the gallery of Heroes of the Fatherland.

Among his awards are the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, Lenin, the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labor, the Red Star (two), the badges "Honorary State Security Officer" and "Honorary Officer of the FSO".

In 2009, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' awarded him the Order of the Holy Right-Believing Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy, III degree.

In August 2013, General Zaitsev headed the organizing committee of the 1st International Anti-Terror Forum held in the Hero City of Volgograd. It brought together veterans and current employees of divisions "A" of the CIS countries.

During the two days of the forum, under the leadership of Gennady Nikolayevich, professional issues were discussed, and the International Anti-Terror Charter was adopted. The commander of Group A took a direct part in its editing.

... The future commander of the Alpha Group was born in 1934 on the Chusovaya River.

- It so happened, - says Gennady Nikolaevich, - that in my life I celebrate two birthdays: on September 11th and 12th. The first is real, and the second, recorded in the passport. And to be completely accurate, the place of my birth is the village of Antybary, Chusovsky district, Perm region. All other information in the documents are later distortions due to various reasons and circumstances.

The village of Antybary is located opposite the village of Lyamino, across the Chusovaya River. She gained fame thanks to her illustrious countryman.

Father, Nikolai Yakovlevich Zaitsev, was from the village of Maly Krasny Yar, in Tatarstan. In the 1930s, he moved to the Urals and worked at the Lyaminsky house-building plant as the head of the sawmill.

Mom, Anna Petrovna, was a pious woman. She observed all the fasts and secretly from her husband, who not only preached atheism, but also planted it in practice, took her son to a neighboring village, where she baptized. The recipient was a certain nun, whose name, unfortunately, was not preserved in the Zaitsev family.

The seven-year-old Gena went to the first grade of the Lyaminsky secondary school, and it was autumn, barefoot. But the clothes were clean and with neat patches. By that time, my father had been drafted into the active army, served as deputy battery commander on the North-Western Front. Four children remained in the care of Anna Petrovna: three girls and a son.

They lived hard; Gennady Nikolaevich did not have any joyful memories of his childhood. Here are just a mother - he kept her bright image in his soul all his life.

Were she harsh?

- No, I fought only three times. The first time for the fact that I went to the first class and grappled with Pashka Shein. I was kicked out of school and told not to come without my mother. For a whole week I left the house, after school I returned home ... And my mother did not suspect anything. One fine day I'm going to school, and my mother is with me, and she has "vices" prepared - birch twigs. So my mother accompanied me to school with them. The second time she told me to shake the pillows and blankets. And I was going fishing and I say: “I won’t go.” She took my fishing rods and used them to pull me away. And for the third time, she was whipped for coming out in a new coat, bought for school. It was already deep autumn, I got it dirty. Came all wet. In other cases, it affected my psyche.

After the war, my father was in the Moscow garrison and, being the commander of the self-propelled artillery guns, participated in the parades on May 1st and 9th. I found a lady of the heart and created a new family with her. At one time, my father did not help us at all, although a court decision was made. It was very hard for my mother, but she is a wise person. She endured everything and raised the four of us. We were always washed and pressed, and even if there were patches on the elbows, we always looked very neat.

In 1948, after graduating from seven classes, Gena Zaitsev decided to enter the technical school of the Kama River Shipping Company. But fate decreed otherwise. Suddenly, his mother fell seriously ill, and he actually had to provide for his family alone.

In the summer of the same year, an apprentice electrician, Gennady Zaitsev, crossed the threshold of the Lyaminsky house-building plant. At that time, he was not even fourteen years old ... The boy was hired as an exception, having entered a difficult marital situation.

- From the first paycheck, he put the bottle to the boss and got drunk himself. I couldn't look my mother in the eyes. And she sat me opposite and said: “You, son, you can do whatever you want. And you can drink. It's your money, you earned it. But keep in mind: if there is money in the house, I guarantee you that there will be food on the table. But no, you can come, but there is no bread on the table.” She didn't say anything more.

I have an amazing mom. I say this not because she is my mother, but because she is truly an amazing person. She graduated from only two classes of the parochial school, but due to her natural talent in anticipating the situation, in choosing her place she was uniquely perspicacious. On the one hand, I would not advise anyone to have such a childhood as mine, but on the other hand, it would be useful for everyone to follow such a path.

"LIFE-GUARDS" OF THE KREMLIN

In the autumn of 1953, the year of Stalin's death, Gennady Zaitsev was drafted into the army. It was then that the finger of fate that was discussed was clearly manifested. So the “rookie” with Chusova ended up in Moscow. And not just in one of the many units, but in the "Life Guards" - a separate Red Banner Special Purpose Regiment (now Presidential), 7th company of the 2nd battalion.

However, fate is fate, but without a personal contribution, the chance that has fallen always remains only a beautiful, but unrealized opportunity. As for Gennady Nikolayevich, he had no will and determination, and, having made every effort, he backed up his chance with exceptionally good content, going from an ordinary shooter to one of the leaders of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

Each stage had its own goal, Gennady Nikolayevich did not look further, did not dream of heavenly pretzels. Senior sergeant, then extended service in the Kremlin regiment and epaulettes of a foreman of a company. A separate officer battalion of the 10th Directorate of the KGB ... In 1958, passing exams externally for the eighth to tenth grades. But even then he was not going to stay in the capital, dreaming of returning to his small homeland, where he was going to take his young wife, Zoya Ilyinichna Mikhailova.

—How did you and your wife meet?

- Once in 1958, my friend, an officer, invited me to visit on March 8, his wife had a birthday. I was then twenty-four years old. There I met my future wife.

— How was she taken care of? Probably, they gave flowers, kissed the hand? ..

No, I never kissed a hand. He accompanied her to work, met her, rode with her on the tram. Then she told me how her colleagues considered and evaluated me as a candidate for grooms. I liked her then. Visible like this. And her family was pleasant, without any “quirks” there. There are five children in the family. The elder brother is the same age as my mother. They lived modestly, without frills. Mother and father were great workers. We soon got married. I made no mistake in choosing a wife. She has a golden personality. She is a very accommodating person. Caring, economic. Knows how to support the company. He does everything from the heart. Never cried, never whined. I cried only when we lost loved ones.

... Again, His Majesty intervened. The case, thanks to which Zaitsev received a room in the "Stalinist" house on the Peasant Outpost, and then, in the midst of Khrushchev's reduction of the Armed Forces, was enrolled in the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR.

However, each “case” had its own face - Gennady Nikolayevich is generally very lucky in life with people: his mother, commanders in the Kremlin regiment and the “seven”, colleagues in Group “A”, friends and partners in the non-state security system.

COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE POWERS

Gennady Zaitsev came to the "seven" in 1959 and served in it until July 1992, when he was again appointed commander of "Alpha". It can be said that a whole life has passed within its "walls" - both human and operational, full of events that Gennady Nikolayevich still does not consider it necessary to talk about.

“In general, the Seventh Directorate, or as it is called the “seven” for short, was perhaps one of the most closed divisions of the Committee,” General Zaitsev emphasizes, “because it was engaged in outdoor surveillance. Its employees can rightfully be called the workhorses of counterintelligence, performing very important and responsible work, without which no authoritative intelligence service in the world can do. Unlike other structural divisions of the Committee, for example, intelligence or, say, the fifth line, the "seven" has always remained a "thing in itself."

In 1974, the created Group "A" was assigned to the EDP Service of the Seventh Directorate, which Zaitsev headed in November 1977. However, before that he had to go through other “universities”, among which studying at the KGB Higher School was, perhaps, not the most difficult thing.

By the way, General Zaitsev does not forget his attitude to this main forge of state security personnel and for many years, accepting an invitation, speaks to its teachers and students.

In mid-1967, employees of the "seven" who were suitable for this kind of activity were specially selected to work with the Chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov. Gennady Nikolaevich was entrusted to lead this group of Chekists. Again, it seems to be an "accident", but it also played a decisive role when in 1977 the issue of a new commander of Group A was decided.

- The personality of Yuri Vladimirovich made a great impression on me, - says General Zaitsev. - We took him under guard at the dacha, where he lived almost all year round. For about twenty minutes Andropov walked around the territory. It was autumn, the leaves lay under our feet ... Then he came up to us, talked to the drivers. Greeted, as a rule, by the hand. He was interested in how things were going and each time ended a short conversation with the words: “Well, shall we go?”, After which we were heading to Moscow. Before reaching the KGB building, he invariably let go of the guards. Why? .. Apparently, he was somehow embarrassed in front of his colleagues.

Another milestone is the dramatic events known as the Prague Spring of 1968. As part of a group of state security officers, Gennady Nikolayevich was sent to Prague, where he was responsible for seizing the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Gennady Nikolaevich does not like to remember that trip, and even the finished chapter “Prague Break” was published only in the summer of 2009, in the fifth edition of the book “Alpha” is my destiny.”

It is difficult to say how much the experience in Prague influenced the principled position of the commander of Group A in October 1993. However, the fact remains that the anti-terror special forces did not storm the White House, choosing a peaceful way out of the most acute political crisis, which threatened to turn into a big disaster - a full-scale civil war.

"ANDROPOV GROUP"

Lieutenant Colonel Zaitsev came to Alpha in the fall of 1977. By that time, Hero of the Soviet Union Vitaly Bubenin, who headed the unit for two and a half years, returned to the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR.

Few people know that the issue of organizing a special unit was discussed at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

By the time the Group was created, Vitaly Bubenin had “grown up” to the position of Deputy Head of the Karelian Border Detachment,” notes Gennady Nikolaevich. - I don’t know for what reason, but Yuri Vladimirovich stopped his final choice on him. I'll give my guess. The first commander and actual creator of the famous GSG-9 was Colonel Ulrich K. Wegener, who had previously served fifteen years in the German Federal Border Police. Andropov knew this circumstance well, and therefore, I do not exclude it, he could be guided by the same logic.

With Zaitsev, I must say, Vitaly Dmitrievich shared his experiences, feeling out of place, and showed the Andropov resolution on his report: “Comrade. Matrosov V.A. Please consider carefully the request of Comrade. Bubenina V.D. and, if possible, resolve it positively. Yu. V. Andropov.

Robert Petrovich Yvon, who replaced him, received a helical fracture of his leg during parachute jumps and was out of action for a long time.

On November 10, 1977, the staff of the unit was increased to 56 people, and the Group itself began to operate as an operations department.

Here is how Gennady Nikolaevich describes his appointment:

“It was November on the calendar, when the head of the Seventh Directorate, General Beschastnov, called me to his office and said that we were talking about my appointment as the commander of Group A. I confess, as a spirit, refused this offer. But a week later, when he was called again for a conversation, he gave his consent, because he understood that they would not offer a third time. He answered: “Well, if necessary, I will lead this team.” To which Alexey Dmitrievich said: “It is necessary. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you. You are a military man. If they issued an order - and the issue is resolved, go, do it. I'm asking you about something else: do you take up this case or not? I don't need anything more from you."

After an interview with each employee and a thorough study of personal files, Gennady Nikolayevich came to the deep conviction that some officers needed to be returned to their places of former service. Some - for health reasons, others - for personal and business qualities. For one of them, Zaitsev even received a reprimand, although he had been out of the Group for eight months.

Exhausting, painstaking work began, and in the late 1970s, the “Andropov group” was ready to perform almost any task of increased complexity, which was demonstrated in Kabul during the assault on Amin’s palace. But before that, several operations were carried out that allowed Alpha employees to try themselves in business - in Havana, at the US Embassy and in New York.

The eldest in all three "episodes" was Gennady Nikolaevich. In the case of the terrorist Yuri Vlasenko, who threatened to blow up the US embassy, ​​Zaitsev, at the risk of his life, entered into negotiations with the “bomber”, thereby showing by personal example that the commander of Group A does not hide behind the backs of his employees. This was very important for raising the moral and psychological climate in the team.

In the "Zaitsev" period, a complete re-equipment of the unit took place. KGB special forces soldiers received unique products - silent pistols, machine guns and rifles, as well as special equipment, which made it possible to carry out the most complex operations in the future, which became a real classic of anti-terror.

In 1979, active work began on the creation of the famous anti-terrorist plan "Nabat". Now, in the event of an emergency, there was no need to puzzle over, since everything was described in this document to the smallest detail. The depth of its elaboration was such that to this day Nabat determines the complex actions of the authorities and all law enforcement agencies in the event of an aircraft being hijacked.

Also, the name of Gennady Nikolayevich is associated with two foreign business trips of Alfa employees - to Havana, to Liberty Island, and to New York.

In July-August 1978, the Alphas, together with the combat swimmers of the Black Sea Navy, ensured the safety of the underwater part of the ships Georgia and Leonid Sobinov, chartered to accommodate delegates of the XI World Festival of Youth and Students from the USSR.

And on April 27, 1979, at the airport in New York, a historic exchange took place of two Soviet intelligence officers, Vladimir Enger and Rudolf Chernyaev, who were sentenced in the United States to long prison terms, for five Soviet dissidents - E. Kuznetsov, M. Dymshits, A. Ginzburg , G. Vince and V. Moroz.

Despite the difficulties, everything went without a hitch. Among the “Alfa” who flew to New York was the future president of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit, Sergey Goncharov.

... Thus, having accepted the Group of only thirty people, Colonel Zaitsev handed it over to the Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Karpukhin, more than ten years later, as a powerful unit numbering over four hundred people.

ON THE BLADE WITH THE TERRORISTS

In early December 1979, Lieutenant General Aleksey Beschastnov ordered the commander of Group A to come to the disposal of intelligence chief Vladimir Kryuchkov. The meeting took place in a reserve office at No. 1 in Lubyanka. During the conversation, it turned out that "Alfa" had a very responsible job - "the protection of certain comrades." Surnames were not mentioned.

Soon, Zaitsev was invited to the PSU dacha near Moscow, where he met the future head of Afghanistan, Babrak Karmal, and his closest associates - Nur, Vatanjar, Anahita Ratebzad ... And in three weeks, the KGB special forces soldiers will carry out the “Second stage of the Saur (i.e., April) revolution”, and their wards will lead the country.

Yes, Gennady Nikolayevich was not in Afghanistan, but it was he who created the combat unit that was at the forefront of the main blow and decided the outcome of the case: the object of the “Top Line” (Taj-bek) was taken, the bloody dictator Amin was destroyed. At the same time, as Gennady Nikolayevich always reminds, the “alfovtsy” acted together with the fighters of the “Zenith”, the “Muslim” battalion of the GRU and paratroopers.

The Afghan epic will end for Alpha only in 1987. Until that time, the entire personnel of the unit, on the orders of the Chairman of the KGB Viktor Chebrikov, will be tested by “combat training” and leave them without loss. At the same time, no one removed Group A from its main task, and daily combat duty and readiness to arrive at the place of hostage-taking at any moment remained an imperative, official and professional duty.

Significant special operations of that period are well described in the press and literature, and the book "Alpha" is my destiny, which is the unit's encyclopedia, created a powerful historical base and dotted all the "i". However, many psychological moments remained in the shadow of events, which the Group commander had to decide and experience at that time.

Of the special operations of the 1980s, four are best known: in Sarapul (1981), Tbilisi (1983), Ufa (1986) and Mineralnye Vody (1988). None of the hostages, including numerous children, was injured, and all the criminals were neutralized.

... December 1988. For almost nine hours, Gennady Nikolayevich had very difficult negotiations with the recidivist Pavel Yakshiyants, the leader of a gang that captured a whole class - students of a secondary school in the city of Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz). Thanks to the titanic efforts of many people in the Soviet Union and abroad, the children and the teacher were released at the airport of Mineralnye Vody without a single shot being fired, and the terrorists released into Israel were returned back - a group of Alfas led by General Zaitsev flew after them.

During his command, the unit's employees carried out the forcible capture of twelve CIA agents, who caused great military and economic damage to the security of our country. Among them are Martynov, Motorin, Smetanin, Poleshchuk, Varenik, Piguzov and others.

Also, the "Alfa" together with the employees of the Ninth Directorate of the KGB guarded the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev during his foreign visits - to Delhi, Washington and New York, as well as during his visit to the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Colonel Zaitsev was awarded the highest award of the country - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal on December 1, 1986.

TIME OF TROUBLES

In November 1988, Colonel Zaitsev became deputy head of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. In this capacity, in January 1990, he led a combined special forces group (Alfa, Vympel and Vityaz) in Baku, which was tasked by the country's leadership: neutralizing the leaders of the Popular Front, preventing the overthrow of the legitimate government of the republic, and suppressing mass riots and pogroms of apartments, identification and detention of persons suspected of subversive activities.

In addition, the employees of Group A ensured the personal security of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Abdurakhman Vizirov.

Despite the fact that Gennady Nikolayevich was “excommunicated” from the unit (the management forbade him to go there), it was he who had the opportunity to commission the heads of the regional branches of Group A in 1990. To this end, he visited Kyiv, Minsk, Alma-Ata and Sverdlovsk.

The dramatic events of August 1991, although they bypassed General Zaitsev, came as a real shock to him. Late in the evening of the 22nd, when everything was over, he arrived at the dacha. I didn't want to sleep. Kindled a fire. With his son Sergei, an officer of the KGB Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow Region, they drained a couple of bottles of vodka. Acquaintances rushed up to them. We drank a lot, but did not take alcohol - such was a strong internal shock from everything that happened.

“The events of 1991 were not in vain,” says Gennady Nikolayevich. - Then many officers wrote reports and left the unit. Their decision was also influenced by the fact that the unit from the KGB was transferred to the presidential security service, which was subordinate to the commandant of the Moscow Kremlin. The words of Minister Bakatin, who said: “I will knock the spirit of “Chekism” out of the heads of these people, also had a strong influence.

During perestroika, the Group began to be used in "hot spots": Nagorno-Karabakh, Tbilisi, Dushanbe, Armenia. A blow to morale was dealt during the operation associated with the storming of the TV center in Vilnius. Then, in January 1991, Lieutenant Viktor Shatskikh died. All the newspapers then reported that in response to inquiries to the personnel apparatus of the Ministry of Defense, the KGB, the Border Guards received answers: “We don’t have such a thing. Not listed." Moreover, Gorbachev stated that he did not know how Unit A ended up in Vilnius. It seemed that the employees themselves boarded the plane and flew ...

By the way, I want to emphasize that the events in Vilnius radically influenced the decision of the senior officers of the Group to abandon the storming of the White House in August 1991.

... In December, General Zaitsev was summoned to the Collegium of the Russian Ministry of Security. It was about approving him in the position of deputy head of the Operational Search Directorate of the MB (as the former “seven” began to be called).

Minister Viktor Barannikov read out the track record and made the only but significant remark on the candidacy: age - by that time, Gennady Nikolayevich was 56 years old. “Comrade Minister, I understand you and I promise to prepare a replacement for myself by the middle of next year.” “You understood me correctly.”

And indeed, in the middle of 1992, General Zaitsev found himself in a different place - the commander of Group A of the Main Security Directorate of Russia. So once again, fate made its significant adjustments.

CIVIL WAR IN MOSCOW

Gennady Nikolayevich perfectly understood that it is impossible to enter the same river twice. He was also aware of the fact that much in the life of the team would have to be rebuilt, quickly changed in the most decisive way. The tasks formulated by the president were unambiguous: the group should do their own thing, not commercial side jobs.

... Group A spent the winter of 1992 in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict, and in the fall of 1993, the most acute political crisis erupted in the capital, Moscow.

The role of the unit in those tragic events is well known, although it is often hushed up to please the conjuncture or the ambitions of individual politicians. In the most difficult situation, when it seemed that there was no choice, Alpha was able to save people and save face. Some "statesmen" really did not like that this face was human. But the fact remains that there is no blood spilled in the White House on the uniform of Group A.

Answering journalists' questions, General Zaitsev always adheres to the same formula: President Boris Yeltsin's decision was carried out, but in his own way, without human casualties. On their own initiative, the employees of Group A entered into negotiations with the leadership of the Supreme Council and the armed opposition, after which it was decided to end the confrontation and withdraw people from the burning building.

Subsequent events in the North Caucasus clearly showed what Yeltsin's revenge would have led to. Fortunately, the anti-terror special forces were retained (the key role in this belongs to the director of the FSB, Mikhail Barsukov, and General Zaitsev). What can not be said about the "Vympel" - a unique reconnaissance and sabotage unit, created on the initiative of General Yuri Drozdov, one of the leaders of the assault on Amin's palace.

In the meantime, one after another, mass hostage-taking took place, for which the Chechens demanded a ransom. And in Rostov-on-Don, armed bandits broke into a school and captured a whole class. The situation that was in Sarapul and Ordzhonikidze was repeated. And again, "Alpha" and its commander were at the forefront of events.

In the autumn of 1994, General Zaitsev flew to Mozdok and, despite the insulting abuse of the Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev (“General, are you a coward ?!”), He obtained a written order and took Alfa employees, led by Anatoly Saveliev, to Moscow. According to the plan of the "strategists", they were to break through to Grozny and storm the presidential palace of Dzhokhar Dudayev, located in the center of the Chechen capital. And, therefore, die heroically.

"ALFA" - MY FATE "

Psychological fatigue set in. General Zaitsev realized that it was time to end the service. Wrote a report. After waiting six months, he became interested in his fate. “The report was lost,” was the reply. Wrote a new one, asked to be fired for seniority. On January 31, 1995, the final decision was made, and on March 1, Gennady Nikolayevich was excluded from the list of personnel.

“When I retired,” explains General Zaitsev, “the calculation of the length of service was made. It turned out that I served forty-one calendar years, five months and six days. Naturally, all these years the service took the lion's share of the time. When we were alerted, my wife didn't know exactly where Team A was going. She could only guess. Of course, Zoya Ilyinichna was very worried about me, but over the years she has developed strong immunity and an understanding of the realities of my profession. She is smart enough not to ask unnecessary questions, providing a solid rear.

By the way, smiling is a whole problem for me - the profession leaves its mark. But my wife helps me with this. She generously distributes smiles to our friends. What to hide, I have a difficult and complex character. Fortunately, we never had a serious disagreement in our family.

Sergei Zaitsev, my son is a colonel, serves in the FSB. Granddaughter Anna graduated from the Veterinary Academy and got married. A few years ago, she had two sons, so my two great-grandchildren. They were christened in the Church of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, which is opposite the Novospassky Monastery. Close to the house where we lived for a long time. The second granddaughter Zoya graduated from the State Institute of Management and the State Law Academy named after Kutafin. They, the young, like millions of their peers, live in this world. And I don't want them growing up under the roar of terrorist attacks and the hysterical howl of the ambulance sirens.

... After retiring, General Zaitsev did not settle in the country. Not the character! Together with Generals Viktor Aleinikov and Yuri Lukonin, he created from scratch the Alfa-95 Security Agency, one of the most respected structures in Moscow operating in the security services market.

At the same time, Gennady Nikolayevich is doing a great deal of public work, including through the International Association of Veterans of the Anti-Terror Unit "Alpha" and the Association of Veterans of State Security Bodies "Devyatichi". Through his efforts, in the summer of 2000, a monument-chapel was erected at the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery, from which, in fact, the Special Forces Memorial begins.

Evidence of the authority of General Zaitsev was his election to the first composition of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. And there, Gennady Nikolaevich was in full view, showing indifference and activity. I remember his participation in the trial in the scandalous case of Alexander Ponosov, director of the secondary school in the village of Sepychevo, Perm Territory, who was acquitted in 2008 in the case of using unlicensed software.

And, of course, among the affairs of General Zaitsev, a special place is occupied by the book "Alpha" - my destiny. The fruit of many years of work, the history of a great country, passed through his heart. The history of the legendary special forces, which became his fate.

The book went through five editions, was translated into English and Bulgarian, and was awarded the prestigious literary prize "Faithful Sons of Russia" named after Alexander Nevsky. The preface to it was written by Academician Yevgeny Primakov.

The works of General Zaitsev have been marked by many prestigious public awards, including the International Prize of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called "For Faith and Loyalty" (2004).

General Zaitsev does not forget about fellow countrymen, visiting the Urals and providing various assistance. He is a board member of the Perm community in Moscow. Evidence of his merits was the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Chusovoy", awarded in the summer of 2004, and the prestigious Stroganov Prize, awarded in 2011 in the nomination "For Honor and Dignity".

On January 24, 2013, the Legislative Assembly of the Perm Territory named the Lyaminskaya Primary School in the city of Chusovoy after its illustrious countryman. The request for this was sent by the staff of the educational institution, deputies and the head of the district.

FATE OF THE GENERAL

The 80th anniversary of the Lyaminsky school and the naming of it after the commander of Group A were celebrated at the Palace of Culture of Metallurgists - a wonderful and spacious building built in the "imperial style".

One of the key moments, which, however, was not reported in the press, was Gennady Nikolayevich's visit to the revived Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, in which he was baptized in 1934.

- In the now distant 1953, I, a guy from the Chusovaya River, first stepped onto the cobblestones of Red Square and, passing through the Spassky Gates, found myself in the Moscow Kremlin - the heart of our Motherland. If they had told me then what fate awaits me, I would not have believed it for anything. And no one would believe...

—Have you seen your father yet?

- No, why not. Having become older, I decided to find him, it was in 1952, shortly before being drafted into the army.

—To look into his eyes?

- Maybe. I arrived in the Sverdlovsk region ... I remember that there was a forest on the left and a forest on the right, it was not clear where to go. Came to the factory, asked Zaitsev. I was sent to the sawmill, and his adopted son worked there. He got out and caught up with me. "Who are you?" - "Son". - "So I'm a son!" He told me where to find my father. When I arrived at the house, he was doing housework. “You,” he says, “on what question? According to the trade union or the party? - "All at once." He looked at me carefully and suddenly began to cry: “Gen, you? Well, let's go to the dining room. I told him: “I won’t go there.”

— Why?

— I knew that his new wife worked in the cafeteria. We talked and I left. Then my father came to Moscow to visit us - and to the Urals, to the Perm region, he talked with my mother. And she would forgive him everything and accept if he returned to her. My father died in January 1985, and my mother exactly ten years later, also in January ... My mother proved the most basic commandments with her behavior. She was a very clean person. Don't lie, don't insult. Help, and then think about yourself.

— What was your wife's job, Zoya Ilyinichna?

- For the last thirty years, he has been a senior engineer in one of the laboratories of the All-Union Institute of Aviation Materials, which is engaged in equipping civil and military aircraft. This is a mailbox.

— But if they were to blame for something, did they ask Zoya Ilyinichna for forgiveness?

- As a matter of fact, I will say - never! Even if he was guilty, he tried in every possible way to get away from this topic. Although once I had to apologize, but not to my wife. Publicly offended his subordinate, and offended undeservedly. Then he figured out the situation, and it turned out that he was wrong. And, despite the fact that it was very difficult to do this, he apologized to everyone. You know, the team is wise, even if the conversation takes place behind closed doors, nothing can be hidden from them. By mood, behavior, the team will draw a conclusion about how this conversation went. And then I committed an injustice in public. Could have become the subject of discussion, as they say, "in the corners", if he had not apologized.

— Tell me frankly: in Group "A" you were loved, feared or hated? ..

- I was not a despot, but I know from the words of my subordinates - by the way, many of whom have long been generals - that they were very afraid of me. But as you understand, any military collective or collective close to the military, and especially a special unit, does not tolerate laxity. And the successful execution of the operation depends on the degree of discipline, the degree of responsibility of each. I repeat: everyone. So I deliberately kept the guys in constant tension so that they would be able to complete the task at any time. Did they love me? Hated? Don't know. They were treated differently. Especially when I appeared in the Group for the second time, in 1992, and began to “wrap” everything there in my own way.

— What was it expressed in?

- First of all, I shuffled the shifts, changed the schedule for going to work in order to exclude left side jobs. Naturally, this caused discontent. Understand! The time was difficult, vague. But, as they say, one cannot serve God and mammon at the same time - special forces require the full dedication of strength, emotions, this is a constant focus on results: in combat training or, say, during the execution of a task. All distractions hurt the cause. Especially when it comes to people's lives and the neutralization of especially dangerous criminals.

Later, after a while, many employees sincerely thanked me: “Gennady Nikolaevich, we were so angry at you then, offended, and only then did we understand what trouble you saved us from.” In my work, I was guided by the main thing: the interests of the unit, which had to solve problems of exceptional complexity. Ahead was a full-scale war, Budyonnovsk and much more. When I realized that I had done everything in my power, I resigned.

In fact, this is what any commander should do. You need to leave on time, opening the way for the young. But at the same time, do not step aside, but keep in touch with your native team, help it, which is what our Association is doing. "Alpha" is our destiny, there is neither subtract nor add. And everyone is in sight.

We wish you, dear Gennady Nikolayevich, many years of life and inexhaustible energy, great creative powers, good luck in all life's accomplishments, happiness, strong and indestructible "alf" health! Both for you and your family.

The newspaper "SPETSNAZ RUSSIA" and the magazine "SCOUT"

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Retired

Gennady Nikolaevich Zaitsev(genus. 11 September ( 19340911 ) ) - Soviet and Russian military man, statesman. Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of Group "A" ("Alpha") of the KGB of the USSR -GUO RF in 1977-1988 and 1992-1995. Former Deputy Head of the 7th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR.

Biography

In 1953 he was drafted into the army. For three years he served in a separate special-purpose regiment of the Moscow Kremlin Commandant's Office and in a separate officer battalion, first as a rifleman, then as a squad leader. Refusing to be transferred to the reserve, Zaitsev continued his service.

In 1959, the 9th Directorate of the KGB was merged with the department of the commandant of the Moscow Kremlin, which was engaged in the protection of the top leaders of the USSR. Zaitsev was transferred to the 7th Directorate of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In 1966, he graduated in absentia from the Higher School of the KGB named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky, having received the specialty of a lawyer-jurist.

In 1968 - the head of the group of the 7th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR during the operation "Danube".

On July 29, 1974, by order of the chairman of the KGB, Yu. V. Andropov, the anti-terrorist group "A" ("Alpha") was created. November 10, 1977 Zaitsev was appointed its commander. Zaitsev was one of the developers of the anti-terrorist plan "Nabat".

In his post, he repeatedly led special operations to free hostages and eliminate dangerous criminals: the American Embassy in Moscow (March 1979), Sarapul of the Udmurt ASSR (December 1981), Tbilisi (November 1983), Ufa of the Bashkir ASSR (September 1986) and Mineralnye Vody (December 1988).

In the summer of 1978, in Cuba, he was the head of a group of Alpha employees and combat swimmers of the Black Sea Navy, which ensured the safety of the underwater part of the Soviet ships Georgia and Leonid Sobinov, which housed some of the delegates of the XI World Festival of Youth and Students. In April 1979, employees of Group A, led by Zaitsev, exchanged two Soviet intelligence officers, Vladimir Enger and Rudolf Chernyaev, at the New York airport, for five dissidents brought from Moscow. In 1985-1986, under his leadership, twelve CIA spies were captured, who were Soviet citizens.

On December 1, 1986, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for great services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, courage and courage shown in the neutralization of especially dangerous criminals.

From November 1988 to July 1992 - Deputy Head of the 7th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Deputy Head of the Operational Search Directorate of the Ministry of Security of the Russian Federation. In January-February 1990, in Baku, during the crisis in the Azerbaijan SSR, he led a combined special forces detachment of Alpha, Vympel and Vityaz fighters. In October 1993, during the dispersal of the country's parliament - the Supreme Council of Russia, Yeltsin's troops "Alpha" refused to storm the besieged.

In March 1995, he retired with the rank of major general. He headed the private security company Alfa-95 Security Agency.

Awards, prizes and titles

• Medal "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union (12/1/1986, No. 11551);
• medals.
• Laureate of the international award of St. Andrew the First-Called "For Faith and Loyalty".
• Laureate of the literary award "Faithful Sons of Russia" named after Alexander Nevsky.

Bibliography

• G. N. Zaitsev. Alpha is my destiny. - St. Petersburg: Slavia, 2006. - 599 p. - ISBN 5-9501-0099-9.

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An excerpt characterizing Zaitsev, Gennady Nikolaevich (commander of the Alpha group)

- He said he was sick, zavtg "and ordered pg" and by order to exclude, - Denisov said.
“This is a disease, otherwise it cannot be explained,” said the captain of the staff.
- Already there, the disease is not a disease, and if he doesn’t catch my eye, I’ll kill you! Denisov shouted bloodthirstyly.
Zherkov entered the room.
- How are you? the officers suddenly turned to the newcomer.
- Walk, gentlemen. Mack surrendered as a prisoner and with the army, absolutely.
- You're lying!
- I saw it myself.
- How? Have you seen Mac alive? with arms or legs?
- Hike! Campaign! Give him a bottle for such news. How did you get here?
“They sent him back to the regiment, for the devil, for Mack. The Austrian general complained. I congratulated him on the arrival of Mack ... Are you, Rostov, just from the bathhouse?
- Here, brother, we have such a mess for the second day.
The regimental adjutant entered and confirmed the news brought by Zherkov. Tomorrow they were ordered to speak.
- Go, gentlemen!
- Well, thank God, we stayed too long.

Kutuzov retreated to Vienna, destroying the bridges on the rivers Inn (in Braunau) and Traun (in Linz). On October 23, Russian troops crossed the Enns River. Russian carts, artillery and columns of troops in the middle of the day stretched through the city of Enns, along this and that side of the bridge.
The day was warm, autumnal and rainy. The expansive vista that opened up from the elevation where the Russian batteries stood defending the bridge was suddenly covered by a muslin curtain of slanting rain, then suddenly expanded, and in the light of the sun objects, as if covered with varnish, became far and clearly visible. You could see the town under your feet with its white houses and red roofs, the cathedral and the bridge, on both sides of which, crowding, the masses of Russian troops poured. At the turn of the Danube one could see ships, and an island, and a castle with a park, surrounded by the waters of the confluence of the Enns with the Danube, one could see the left bank of the Danube, rocky and covered with pine forests, with a mysterious distance of green peaks and blue gorges. The towers of the monastery could be seen, standing out from behind a pine, seemingly untouched, wild forest; far ahead on the mountain, on the other side of the Enns, the enemy patrols could be seen.
Between the guns, at a height, stood in front the head of the rearguard, a general with a retinue officer, examining the terrain through a pipe. A little behind, sitting on the trunk of the gun, Nesvitsky, sent from the commander-in-chief to the rearguard.
The Cossack accompanying Nesvitsky handed over a purse and a flask, and Nesvitsky treated the officers to pies and real doppelkumel. The officers joyfully surrounded him, some on their knees, some sitting in Turkish on the wet grass.
- Yes, this Austrian prince was not a fool that he built a castle here. Nice place. What don't you eat, gentlemen? Nesvitsky said.
“I humbly thank you, prince,” answered one of the officers, talking with pleasure to such an important staff official. - Beautiful place. We passed by the park itself, saw two deer, and what a wonderful house!
“Look, prince,” said another, who really wanted to take another pie, but was ashamed, and who therefore pretended to look around the area, “look, our infantrymen have already climbed there. Over there, on the meadow, behind the village, three people are dragging something. "They're going to take over this palace," he said with visible approval.
“This and that,” said Nesvitsky. “No, but what I would like,” he added, chewing the pie in his beautiful wet mouth, “is to climb up there.
He pointed to a monastery with towers, visible on the mountain. He smiled, his eyes narrowed and lit up.
“It would be nice, gentlemen!
The officers laughed.
- If only to scare these nuns. Italians, they say, are young. Really, I would give five years of my life!
"They're bored, after all," said the bolder officer, laughing.
Meanwhile, the retinue officer, who was standing in front, pointed out something to the general; the general looked through the telescope.
“Well, it’s true, it’s true,” the general said angrily, lowering the receiver from his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, “it’s true, they’ll start hitting the crossing. And what are they doing there?
On the other side, with a simple eye, the enemy and his battery were visible, from which a milky white smoke appeared. Following the smoke, a long-range shot rang out, and it was clear how our troops hurried at the crossing.
Nesvitsky, panting, got up and, smiling, approached the general.
“Would your Excellency want to have a bite to eat?” - he said.
- It's not good, - said the general, without answering him, - ours hesitated.
“Would you like to go, Your Excellency?” Nesvitsky said.
“Yes, please go,” said the general, repeating what had already been ordered in detail, “and tell the hussars to be the last to cross and light the bridge, as I ordered, and to inspect the combustible materials on the bridge.
“Very well,” answered Nesvitsky.
He called a Cossack with a horse, ordered him to put away his purse and flask, and easily threw his heavy body onto the saddle.
“Really, I’ll stop by the nuns,” he said to the officers, who looked at him with a smile, and drove along the winding path downhill.
- Nut ka, where he will inform, captain, stop it! - said the general, turning to the gunner. - Get rid of boredom.
“Servant to the guns!” the officer commanded.
And a minute later the gunners merrily ran out of the fires and loaded.
- First! - I heard the command.
Boyko bounced 1st number. The cannon rang metallically, deafeningly, and a grenade flew whistling over the heads of all our people under the mountain and, far from reaching the enemy, showed the place of its fall with smoke and burst.
The faces of the soldiers and officers cheered up at this sound; everyone got up and took up observations of the visible, as in the palm of your hand, movements below our troops and in front - the movements of the approaching enemy. The sun at that very moment completely emerged from behind the clouds, and this beautiful sound of a single shot and the brilliance of the bright sun merged into one cheerful and cheerful impression.

Two enemy cannonballs had already flown over the bridge, and there was a crush on the bridge. In the middle of the bridge, dismounting from his horse, pressed with his thick body to the railing, stood Prince Nesvitsky.
He, laughing, looked back at his Cossack, who, with two horses in a lead, was standing a few steps behind him.
As soon as Prince Nesvitsky wanted to move forward, the soldiers and wagons again pressed against him and again pressed him against the railing, and he had no choice but to smile.
- What are you, brother, my! - said the Cossack to the Furshtat soldier with a wagon, who was pushing against the infantry crowded v the very wheels and horses, - what a you! No, to wait: you see, the general must pass.
But the furshtat, ignoring the name of the general, shouted at the soldiers blocking his way: “Hey! compatriots! keep to the left, stop! - But the countrywomen, crowding shoulder to shoulder, clinging with bayonets and without interruption, moved along the bridge in one continuous mass. Looking down over the railing, Prince Nesvitsky saw the fast, noisy, low waves of the Enns, which, merging, rippling and bending near the piles of the bridge, overtook one another. Looking at the bridge, he saw equally monotonous living waves of soldiers, kutas, shakos with covers, knapsacks, bayonets, long guns and from under the shakos faces with wide cheekbones, sunken cheeks and carefree tired expressions, and moving legs along the sticky mud dragged onto the boards of the bridge . Sometimes, between the monotonous waves of soldiers, like a splash of white foam in the waves of Enns, an officer in a raincoat, with his physiognomy different from the soldiers, squeezed between the soldiers; sometimes, like a piece of wood winding along the river, a foot hussar, orderly or inhabitant was carried away across the bridge by waves of infantry; sometimes, like a log floating on a river, surrounded on all sides, a company or officer's wagon, superimposed to the top and covered with skins, floated across the bridge.
“Look, they burst like a dam,” the Cossack said, stopping hopelessly. – How many of you are still there?
- Melion without one! - Winking, a cheerful soldier, passing close in a torn overcoat, said and disappeared; behind him passed another, old soldier.
“When he (he is an enemy) starts frying a taperich across the bridge,” the old soldier said gloomily, turning to his comrade, “you will forget to itch.
And the soldier passed. Behind him, another soldier rode in a wagon.

Author of the book “Alpha is my destiny” (St. Petersburg: Slavia, 2005).

Born on September 12, 1934 in the village of Solomatovo, Chusovsky District, Perm Region, in the family of an employee. Father - Zaitsev Nikolai Yakovlevich (1906-1985). Mother - Zaitseva Anna Petrovna (1914-1995). Wife - Zaitseva (Mikhailova) Zoya Ilyinichna (born in 1935). Son - Zaitsev Sergey Gennadievich (born in 1959).

G.N. Zaitsev's father worked at the Lyaminsky woodworking plant. Shortly after the start of the Great Patriotic War, he was drafted into the army as a reserve officer. Gennady, who was then 7 years old, and his three sisters remained in the care of their mother. After the war, the father did not return to the family. So all four were raised and raised by one mother.

In 1948, after graduating from the seven classes of the Lyaminsky school, Gennady Zaitsev decided to enter the technical school of the Kama River Shipping Company. But fate decreed otherwise. His mother suddenly fell ill, and he had to go to work at the same Lyaminsky woodworking plant, where his father had worked before the war.

At the plant, Gennady worked for 5 years as an electrician. He was elected a member of the trade union committee, secretary of the Komsomol committee, was a propagandist ...

In the autumn of 1953 he was drafted into the army. In a separate special-purpose regiment of the Office of the Commandant of the Moscow Kremlin, he served for 3 years - first as a shooter, then as a squad leader. At the end of 1956, before being transferred to the reserve, Gennady was offered to stay on extra urgent, and he agreed.

Served as a sergeant major. Soon he was recommended for work in the state security agencies. In two years, Gennady Zaitsev graduated from the 8th-10th grades as an external student, after which he was invited to serve in a separate officer battalion, commanded by Colonel Nikolai Petrovich Gushchin.

In 1959, the 9th Directorate of the KGB merged with the office of the commandant of the Moscow Kremlin, who were engaged in the protection of the country's top leaders. When Khrushchev's reduction in the army and law enforcement agencies began, G.N. Zaitsev was not fired, but on the advice of Colonel Gushchin, he was transferred to the 7th Directorate of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR and then sent to the Higher School of the KGB named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. In 1966, he graduated from it in absentia and received the specialty of a lawyer-jurist.

On July 29, 1974, in the department where G.N. Zaitsev, according to the order of the Chairman of the State Security Committee Yu.V. Andropov, the famous anti-terrorist group "A" was created, or, as journalists later dubbed it, "Alpha". The first commander of this unit was the border guard Hero of the Soviet Union, then Major, and now Major General Vitaly Bubenin, and Major Robert Yvon as his deputy.

In April 1977, Bubenin asked to be returned to the border troops, and the group was headed by Major Yvon. And six months later, Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov appointed G.N. Zaitsev.

One of the first combat missions of the group was an operation to neutralize a terrorist who threatened to blow up the US Embassy in Moscow. On March 28, 1979, one of the visitors, threatening an explosion, demanded that he be immediately sent to the United States.

G.N. Zaitsev then had to enter into negotiations with the terrorist, posing as an employee of the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For two and a half hours, he persuaded the criminal to give up his demands.

However, he was nervous, and the explosion could not be avoided. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the employees of group A, and the terrorist himself was seriously injured and soon died.

In subsequent years, the Alpha group under the leadership of G.N. Zaitseva had to participate in hostage rescue operations more than once, including in air transport. And in all cases, the criminals were neutralized, and no one from the hostages and employees of the unit was injured.

One of the most dangerous incidents was in the city of Ufa in the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in September 1986. Then, on the night of September 20, three servicemen of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs: junior sergeant N.R. Matsnev, Corporal A.B. Konoval and Private S.V. Yagmurzhi - stole an RPK light machine gun, an SVD sniper rifle and an assault rifle equipped with 220 rounds of ammunition, arbitrarily left the unit and headed to the airport. Having killed two policemen along the way, Matsnev and Yagmurzhi entered the airfield, broke into a Tu-134 aircraft flying along the route Lviv - Kiev - Ufa - Nizhnevartovsk, with 76 passengers on board and 5 crew members, closed the door and, having shot two hostages , demanded to fly to Pakistan.

At the direction of the chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.M. Chebrikov, group "A" urgently flew to Ufa to free the hostages and neutralize the terrorists.

Local officials negotiated with the terrorists, hoping to persuade them to give up their criminal intentions. However, the bandits, threatening with weapons, continued to hold the crew members and passengers on board as hostages and placed them in the tail section of the aircraft.

One of the bandits, armed with a machine gun, was at the entrance to the salon from the side of the pilot's cabin. And the other, armed with a machine gun, hiding behind a stewardess, was hiding at the end of the cabin. The bandits sealed the peephole in the door of the pilot's cabin, and the emergency hatches were blocked from the inside.

First, the terrorists were asked to move to another plane, where the capture group had previously been placed. However, they replied that they would fly only on “their” plane, agreeing to let only one specialist into the cabin for inspection and carry out repairs from the outside. A group of 5 people headed towards the plane, who installed stepladders in the places of possible penetration into the plane and adjusted the gangway. However, the terrorists suddenly refused to let a specialist on board and demanded that the gangway be removed. But the special forces officers prepared and carried out other operational measures, as a result of which the hostages were released. However, there was a threat of an explosion of the aircraft and the lives of those in the pilot's cabin. In the conditions of the created critical situation, one of the bandits had to be eliminated.

On December 19, 1986, the chairman of the KGB, V.M. Chebrikov, for great services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, courage and bravery shown in the neutralization of especially dangerous criminals, in the presence of members of the KGB collegium, presented G.N. Zaitsev the gold star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

In total, over the years of service in Alpha and subsequently G.N. Zaitsev had a chance to participate in many very dangerous operations. But perhaps the most complex and surprising in its cruelty was the operation to free the hostages, which began in Ordzhonikidze and ended in Mineralnye Vody. There has never been such a sophisticated and cynical deceit that the gang of Pavel Yakshiyants showed. Here the children became hostages. On December 1, 1988, four bandits hijacked a bus with 32 4th grade students and their teacher.

The criminals threatened to burn all the hostages in case of non-fulfilment of their demands ($2 million and the provision of an aircraft for departure abroad): they placed three three-liter cans of gasoline under each seat of the bus. Conducting a military operation in these conditions was extremely dangerous.

The negotiations lasted seven hours. During these "bargaining" the terrorists demanded first a flight to Pakistan, then to South Africa, and finally to Israel. During this time, 20 children were released.

Through diplomatic channels, the Soviet side agreed with the Israeli government to land a plane with terrorists and hand them over to Soviet justice.

Some hotheads offered to arrange a shootout on the plane and punish the bandits. However, G.N. Zaitsev categorically refused to take extreme measures: it was impossible to risk the lives of the hostages and crew members under these conditions.

I had to put up with the demands of the terrorists for a while. They brought money.

As a result of subsequent negotiations, it was possible to "exchange" all the hostages, and the plane flew away with only 9 crew members. By agreement with the Israeli authorities, the criminals were immediately arrested and soon handed over to the Soviet side. Thus, it was possible to save the lives of all the hostages.

In November 1988, the leadership of the KGB appointed G.N. Zaitsev as deputy head of the 7th department of the KGB of the USSR.

October 22, 1990 G.N. Zaitsev was awarded the rank of general. In August 1991, he, along with all the "Alfa" survived the events that took place in Moscow. And a year later, on July 2, he was summoned to the Kremlin and received an offer to head Alfa again.

In this post, G.N. Zaitsev survived the tragedy of October 1993, when the officers of the special forces, despite the demand of President Yeltsin, did not shoot at the defenders of the White House and ensured their exit and the deputies of the Supreme Council from the burning building.

In March 1995, Gennady Nikolaevich retired with the rank of major general. After that, he took part in the creation of a private security company - Alfa-95 Security Agency - and headed it.

He is a member of the Advisory Council under the FSB of Russia and a member of the Coordinating Council under the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Moscow. In 1999, he was elected vice-president of the Association of Veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit, and in May 1999, a member of the central committee of the All-Russian trade union of workers of non-governmental security organizations. In 2006 he was elected a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Hero of the Soviet Union G.N. Zaitsev was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Red Star, and many medals. He is an honorary member of the state security of the USSR.

Lives and works in Moscow.

Interview with the Hero of the Soviet Union, former commander of the legendary "A" group

Is there a panacea for terrorism? How is the selection to the legendary group? Major General Gennady Nikolaevich Zaitsev, Hero of the Soviet Union, answers questions from a Centennial correspondent. Of all the commanders of the Alpha group, he is the only one who happened to lead this special unit both in the USSR (from 1977 to 1988) and in the Russian Federation (from 1992 to 1995). On September 12, Gennady Nikolayevich turns 74 years old. The editors of "Century" congratulate the Hero of the Soviet Union on his birthday!

Gennady Nikolaevich, you teach "Tactics of negotiating with terrorists who have taken hostages" at the FSB Academy. What are the basic rules you teach the audience? How to overcome fear in a moment of real danger?

To answer this kind of question means, to some extent, to give an educational program to those who are plotting a crime. I can only say that when conducting a military operation to free the hostages, it is necessary to negotiate with the terrorists. This often reduces the level of aggression of attackers.

- How is the selection to the "Alpha"?

- "Alpha" are top-class specialists who are able to complete the task, regardless of the degree of risk and the level of counteraction. The main condition for enrolling in Alpha has always been and will be a clear understanding by the candidate of the nature of the work to be done in the unit. Everyone knows the potential sacrifices to be made. And if even the slightest hesitation is guessed in his eyes, the candidacy is rejected. Therefore, the selection is serious. First, a conversation with the unit commander follows, from which a general impression of a person is formed, his service experience and skill are taken into account, a positive characteristic. The second is acquaintance with his life and family members. It is known that work at Alfa is often associated with a risk to life, so you need to know, for example, about parental consent. Without fail, the applicant undergoes a medical examination and a psychophysical examination, which reveals his personal qualities, the ability to communicate in a team, how he manifests himself in difficult situations. If all these components are positive, then the candidate passes quite difficult tests in general physical training. And, after all the standards are passed, in the end, his candidacy is considered by the credentials committee.

- And how many people want to pass such a difficult exam?

A lot of. It would seem that the risk to life that accompanies service in Alpha should, to some extent, scare away. Recall at least the operation in Beslan, when three officers from the Alpha group were killed. However, after such events, the number of people wishing to serve in the unit increases significantly.

- When was the most difficult period for Alpha?

There have been many such periods. December 1979 in Afghanistan in Kabul became especially difficult.

The operation to capture Amin's palace in the history of the world's special services is considered unique. Gennady Zaitsev was in the hospital at that time, so the unit was left without its commander. The building, located on the top of the hill, was well guarded by professionals and was practically impregnable. The fighters of group "A" - 22 people - completed the task in 43 minutes. They did not act alone, they were helped by other special forces, but the main burden fell on the "A" group.

- And now Alpha is on the rise?

She is always on the rise and is in a state of combat readiness. On the first order, the special unit will enter into a combat operation.

- Which anti-terrorist operation was the most difficult for you?

In my practice - the capture in 1988 by a gang of 32 students and a teacher of the 4th grade of one of the schools in the city of Ordzhonikidze.

There has never been such a vile capture that the gang of Pavel Yakshiyants made. Children became hostages. For more than 10 hours they were in the bus, under each seat of which there were three-liter cans of gasoline. The criminals threatened to burn all the hostages if their demands (2 million dollars and the provision of an aircraft for flying abroad) were not met. The negotiations lasted seven hours. The terrorists demanded first a flight to Pakistan, then to South Africa and, in the end, agreed to Israel. During this time, 20 children were released. Through diplomatic channels, the Soviet side agreed with the Israeli government to land a plane with terrorists and hand them over to Soviet justice. In this situation, there were proposals to arrange a shootout on the plane and destroy the criminals. However, Gennady Zaitsev categorically refused to take extreme measures, to risk the lives of hostages and crew members. I had to put up with the demands of the terrorists for a while. They brought money. As a result, it was possible to rescue all the hostages, and the plane flew away only with the crew members. By agreement with the Israeli authorities, the criminals were immediately arrested and soon handed over to the Soviet side. Thus, none of the hostages died.

- In your opinion, Gennady Nikolaevich, which country's special forces operate most professionally?

In 2001, the terrorist Idiev with a machine gun, grenades and other explosives seized the Nevinnomyssk-Stavropol regular bus. The operation to free the hostages was carried out so brilliantly that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (himself a special forces officer at one time) said: “The Russians carried out this operation at the highest professional level and today, in their training, they are not inferior to the best special forces in the world, and maybe even surpass them. I would also put Alpha in first place. As for other units, the Israeli special forces operate very professionally. One can note a powerful combat special group in the UK. SAS is the oldest anti-terrorist unit in the world. It was formed during the Second World War in 1941 by Colonel David Stirling from the most persistent and determined volunteers in the British army.

Their slogan is: "He who risks, he wins." The unit is stationed at the heavily guarded Bradbury Lines camp in Hereford, west of London. The barracks are protected by barbed wire and equipped with TV cameras along the perimeter; security checks are carried out at the entrance. SAS fighters are very rarely photographed, their names are carefully hidden.

- Which of the anti-terrorist operations in world practice do you consider the most effective?

When a group of terrorists seized 19 employees of the Iranian embassy in London in the mid-70s, the SAS fighters carried out an excellent operation to free them. The actions of the Israeli special forces in Uganda at the Entebbe airport were also brilliant. You need to understand that the actions were carried out on foreign territory in violation of all international norms.

On the day of the operation, Israeli commandos were airlifted from Tel Aviv to Kenya. At night, one of the aircraft, equipped with special equipment to jam the airport's radar system, landed in Entebbe. During the fast-paced battle, the fighters of the anti-terror group seized the terminal in which the criminals were holding the hostages. All intruders were killed. The Israeli unit lost one man, out of ninety hostages, three died.

- Are there serious teams in the CIS?

Of course, a powerful structure has developed in Ukraine, called Department "A", in Belarus.

- Are they reaping the fruits of the achievements of the Soviet Union?

Yes, the structures that were in our unit in Kyiv and Minsk are Soviet initiatives. Now they have escalated. In Kazakhstan, the Soviet group also laid the foundation for a special unit. In general, anti-terrorist units appeared in the former Soviet republics. Most often they are referred to as "A" groups. They constantly interact with Alpha, there is an exchange of experience, joint training operations.

- Is there a panacea for terrorism? How should public policy be implemented in this regard?

Preventive measures at the level of public policy have always been implemented. And now they are receiving special attention. Simultaneously with the creation of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, anti-terrorist commissions were formed in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. To manage counter-terrorist operations, the Committee operates the Federal Operational Headquarters and relevant structures in the regions.

Does this mean that such an effective policy is now being pursued, as a result of which we will get rid of the misfortune of terrorism?

I would not say that we have already defeated terrorism. But anyone who plans such a thing must take into account that he will face a very powerful organized rebuff.

Reference

Antiterrorist Group A (now known as Alpha) was formed on July 29, 1974. Hero of the Soviet Union Vitaly Bubenin was appointed the first commander of this unit. In 1977, the group "A" was headed by Gennady Zaitsev. One of the group's first combat missions was an operation on March 28, 1979 to neutralize a terrorist who threatened to blow up the US embassy in Moscow if he was not sent to the States. Gennady Nikolayevich then had to negotiate with the attacker, posing as an employee of the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For two and a half hours, he persuaded the criminal to abandon his intentions. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the employees of group A, the terrorist was seriously injured and soon died. In the future, Gennady Zaitsev had a chance to participate in many dangerous operations. In November 1988, the leadership of the KGB appointed him deputy head of the 7th department of the KGB of the USSR. October 22, 1990 Gennady Nikolaevich was awarded the rank of general. And two years later he was offered to head Alfa again. In October 1993, despite the order of President Yeltsin, the "Alfa" did not carry out a military operation, but found arguments to convince the people in the White House to leave the building, guaranteeing them immunity. In March 1995, Gennady Nikolaevich retired with the rank of major general. After that, he took part in the creation of a private security company - the Alfa-95 Security Agency in Moscow and is now one of its leaders. He was elected vice-president of the Association of Veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit, and was also elected a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. He passes on his unique experience to young employees. Hero of the Soviet Union Zaitsev was also awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Red Star, and many medals. He is an honorary member of the state security of the USSR. And four years ago Gennady Zaitsev's book "Alpha" - my destiny" was published. The work contains information about anti-terrorist operations of the last 30 years, which you will not find in other sources.

Interviewed by Anna Petrosova

Special for the Centenary