title: Birthday problem

text: As in earlier paragraphs, interest lies in the smallest such that ; or equivalently, the smallest such that .


title: Birthday problem

text: Therefore, the expression above is not only an approximation, but also an upper bound of . The inequality


title: Birthday problem

text: Now, is approximately 505.997, which is barely below 506, the value of attained when . Therefore, 23 people suffice. Incidentally, solving for "n" gives the approximate formula of Frank H. Mathis cited above.


title: Birthday problem

text: This derivation only shows that "at most" 23 people are needed to ensure a birthday match with even chance; it leaves open the possibility that is 22 or less could also work.


title: Birthday problem

text: Given a year with days, the generalized birthday problem asks for the minimal number such that, in a set of randomly chosen people, the probability of a birthday coincidence is at least 50%. In other words, is the minimal integer such that


title: Birthday problem

text: The classical birthday problem thus corresponds to determining . The first 99 values of are given here :


title: Birthday problem

text: The bounds are sufficiently tight to give the exact value of in most of the cases. For example, for 365 these bounds imply that and 23 is the only integer in that range. In general, it follows from these bounds that always equals either


title: Birthday problem

text: holds for all , but it is conjectured that there are infinitely many counterexamples to this formula.


title: Birthday problem

text: It is possible to extend the problem to ask how many people in a group are necessary for there to be a greater than 50% probability that at least 3/4/5/etc. of the group share the same birthday.


title: Birthday problem

text: The first few values are as follows: >50% probability of 3 people sharing a birthday - 88 people; >50% probability of 4 people sharing a birthday - 187 people .


title: Birthday problem

text: Conversely, if denotes the number of random integers drawn from to obtain a probability that at least two numbers are the same, then


title: Birthday problem

text: The birthday problem in this more generic sense applies to hash functions: the expected number of -bit hashes that can be generated before getting a collision is not , but rather only . This is exploited by birthday attacks on cryptographic hash functions and is the reason why a small number of collisions in a hash table are, for all practical purposes, inevitable.


title: Birthday problem

text: The theory behind the birthday problem was used by Zoe Schnabel under the name of capture-recapture statistics to estimate the size of fish population in lakes.


title: Birthday problem

text: The basic problem considers all trials to be of one "type". The birthday problem has been generalized to consider an arbitrary number of types. In the simplest extension there are two types of people, say men and women, and the problem becomes characterizing the probability of a shared birthday between at least one man and one woman. (Shared birthdays between two men or two women do not count.) The probability of no shared birthdays here is


title: Birthday problem

text: This variation of the birthday problem is interesting because there is not a unique solution for the total number of people . For example, the usual 50% probability value is realized for both a 32-member group of 16 men and 16 women and a 49-member group of 43 women and 6 men.


title: Birthday problem

text: A related question is, as people enter a room one at a time, which one is most likely to be the first to have the same birthday as someone already in the room? That is, for what is maximum? The answer is 20—if there is a prize for first match, the best position in line is 20th.


title: Birthday problem

text: In the birthday problem, neither of the two people is chosen in advance. By contrast, the probability that someone in a room of other people has the same birthday as a "particular" person (for example, you) is given by


title: Birthday problem

text: In the standard case of , substituting gives about 6.1%, which is less than 1 chance in 16. For a greater than 50% chance that one person in a roomful of people has the same birthday as "you", would need to be at least 253. This number is significantly higher than : the reason is that it is likely that there are some birthday matches among the other people in the room.


title: Birthday problem

text: For any one person in a group of "n" people the probability that he or she shares his birthday with someone else is formula_46, as explained above. The expected number of people with a shared (non-unique) birthday can now be calculated easily by multiplying that probability by the number of people ("n"), so it is:


title: Birthday problem

text: (This multiplication can be done this way because of the linearity of the expected value of indicator variables). This implies that the expected number of people with a non-shared (unique) birthday is:


title: Birthday problem

text: Similar formulas can be derived for the expected number of people who share with three, four, etc. other people.


title: Birthday problem

text: The expected number of people needed until every birthday is achieved is called the Coupon collector's problem. It can be calculated by formula_49, where formula_50 is the formula_51-th harmonic number. For 365 possible dates (the birthday problem), the answer is 2365.


title: Birthday problem

text: Another generalization is to ask for the probability of finding at least one pair in a group of people with birthdays within calendar days of each other, if there are equally likely birthdays.


title: Birthday problem

text: The number of people required so that the probability that some pair will have a birthday separated by days or fewer will be higher than 50% is given in the following table:


title: Birthday problem

text: Thus in a group of just seven random people, it is more likely than not that two of them will have a birthday within a week of each other.


title: Birthday problem

text: The expected number of different birthdays, i.e. the number of days that are at least one person's birthday, is:


title: Birthday problem

text: which follows from the probability that a particular day is no one's birthday, formula_55, easily summed because of the linearity of the expected value.


title: Birthday problem

text: For instance, with "d = 365", you should expect about 21 different birthdays when there are 22 people, or 46 different birthdays when there are 50 people. When there are 1000 people, there will be around 341 different birthdays (24 unclaimed birthdays).


title: Birthday problem

text: The above can be generalized from the distribution of the number of people with their birthday on any particular day, which is a Binomial distribution with probability 1/"d". Multiplying the relevant probability by "d" will then give the expected number of days. For example, the expected number of days which are shared; i.e. which are at least two (i.e. not zero and not one) people's birthday is:


title: Birthday problem

text: The probability that the th integer randomly chosen from will repeat at least one previous choice equals above. The expected total number of times a selection will repeat a previous selection as such integers are chosen equals


title: Birthday problem

text: In an alternative formulation of the birthday problem, one asks the "average" number of people required to find a pair with the same birthday. If we consider the probability function Pr[ people have at least one shared birthday], this "average" is determining the mean of the distribution, as opposed to the customary formulation, which asks for the median. The problem is relevant to several hashing algorithms analyzed by Donald Knuth in his book "The Art of Computer Programming". It may be shown that if one samples uniformly, with replacement, from a population of size , the number of trials required for the first repeated sampling of "some" individual has expected value , where


title: Birthday problem

text: With days in a year, the average number of people required to find a pair with the same birthday is , somewhat more than 23, the number required for a 50% chance. In the best case, two people will suffice; at worst, the maximum possible number of people is needed; but on average, only 25 people are required


title: Birthday problem

text: An analysis using indicator random variables can provide a simpler but approximate analysis of this problem. For each pair ("i", "j") for k people in a room, we define the indicator random variable "X", for formula_61, by


title: Birthday problem

text: For , if , the expected number of people with the same birthday is formula_66 Therefore, we can expect at least one matching pair with at least 28 people.


title: Birthday problem

text: An informal demonstration of the problem can be made from the list of prime ministers of Australia, of which there have been 29 , in which Paul Keating, the 24th prime minister, and Edmund Barton, the first prime minister, share the same birthday, 18 January.


title: Birthday problem

text: In the 2014 FIFA World Cup, each of the 32 squads had 23 players. An analysis of the official squad lists suggested that 16 squads had pairs of players sharing birthdays, and of these 5 squads had two pairs: Argentina, France, Iran, South Korea and Switzerland each had two pairs, and Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Honduras, Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Spain and USA each with one pair.


title: Birthday problem

text: Voracek, Tran and Formann showed that the majority of people markedly overestimate the number of people that is necessary to achieve a given probability of people having the same birthday, and markedly underestimate the probability of people having the same birthday when a specific sample size is given. Further results showed that psychology students and women did better on the task than casino visitors/personnel or men, but were less confident about their estimates.


title: Birthday problem

text: the greatest for which the probability is smaller than the given , or the smallest for which the probability is greater than the given .


title: Birthday problem

text: Some values falling outside the bounds have been colored to show that the approximation is not always exact.


title: Birthday problem

text: A related problem is the partition problem, a variant of the knapsack problem from operations research. Some weights are put on a balance scale; each weight is an integer number of grams randomly chosen between one gram and one million grams (one tonne). The question is whether one can usually (that is, with probability close to 1) transfer the weights between the left and right arms to balance the scale. (In case the sum of all the weights is an odd number of grams, a discrepancy of one gram is allowed.) If there are only two or three weights, the answer is very clearly no; although there are some combinations which work, the majority of randomly selected combinations of three weights do not. If there are very many weights, the answer is clearly yes. The question is, how many are just sufficient? That is, what is the number of weights such that it is equally likely for it to be possible to balance them as it is to be impossible?


title: Birthday problem

text: Often, people's intuition is that the answer is above . Most people's intuition is that it is in the thousands or tens of thousands, while others feel it should at least be in the hundreds. The correct answer is 23.


title: Birthday problem

text: The reason is that the correct comparison is to the number of partitions of the weights into left and right. There are different partitions for weights, and the left sum minus the right sum can be thought of as a new random quantity for each partition. The distribution of the sum of weights is approximately Gaussian, with a peak at and width , so that when is approximately equal to the transition occurs. 2 is about 4 million, while the width of the distribution is only 5 million.


title: Birthday problem

text: Arthur C. Clarke's novel "A Fall of Moondust", published in 1961, contains a section where the main characters, trapped underground for an indefinite amount of time, are celebrating a birthday and find themselves discussing the validity of the birthday problem. As stated by a physicist passenger: "If you have a group of more than twenty-four people, the odds are better than even that two of them have the same birthday." Eventually, out of 22 present, it is revealed that two characters share the same birthday, May 23.


title: Golden eagle

text: The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes. Immature eagles of this species typically have white on the tail and often have white markings on the wings. Golden eagles use their agility and speed combined with powerful feet and large, sharp talons to hunt a variety of prey, mainly hares, rabbits, and marmots and other ground squirrels.


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles maintain home ranges or territories that may be as large as . They build large nests in cliffs and other high places to which they may return for several breeding years. Most breeding activities take place in the spring; they are monogamous and may remain together for several years or possibly for life. Females lay up to four eggs, and then incubate them for six weeks. Typically, one or two young survive to fledge in about three months. These juvenile golden eagles usually attain full independence in the fall, after which they wander widely until establishing a territory for themselves in four to five years.


title: Golden eagle

text: Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many areas that are heavily populated by humans. Despite being extirpated from or uncommon in some of its former range, the species is still widespread, being present in sizeable stretches of Eurasia, North America, and parts of North Africa. It is the largest and least populous of the five species of true accipitrid to occur as a breeding species in both the Palearctic and the Nearctic.


title: Golden eagle

text: For centuries, this species has been one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry. Because of its hunting prowess, the golden eagle is regarded with great mystic reverence in some ancient, tribal cultures. It is one of the most extensively studied species of raptor in the world in some parts of its range, such as the Western United States and the Western Palearctic.


title: Golden eagle

text: This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of "Systema Naturae" as "Falco chrysaetos". Since birds were grouped largely on superficial characteristics at that time, many species were grouped by Linnaeus into the genus "Falco". The type locality was given simply as "Europa"; it was later fixed to Sweden. It was moved to the new genus "Aquila" by French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. "Aquila" is Latin for "eagle", possibly derived from "aquilus", "dark in colour" and "chrysaetos" is Ancient Greek for the golden eagle from "khrusos", "gold" and "aetos", "eagle".


title: Golden eagle

text: The golden eagle is part of a broad group of raptors called "booted eagles" which are defined by the feature that all species have feathering over their tarsus, unlike many other accipitrids which have bare legs. Included in this group are all species described as "hawk eagles" including the genera "Spizaetus" and "Nisaetus", as well as assorted monotypical genera such as "Oroaetus", "Lophaetus", "Stephanoaetus", "Polemaetus", "Lophotriorchis" and "Ictinaetus". The genus "Aquila" is distributed across every continent but for South America and Antarctica. Up to 20 species have been classified in the genus, but more recently the taxonomic placement of some of the traditional species has been questioned. Traditionally, the "Aquila" eagles have been grouped superficially as largish, mainly brownish or dark-colored booted eagles that vary little in transition from their juvenile to their adult plumages. Genetic research has recently indicated the golden eagle is included in a clade with Verreaux's eagle in Africa as well as the Gurney's eagle ("A. gurneyi") and the wedge-tailed eagle (clearly part of an Australasian radiation of the lineage). This identification of this particular clade has long been suspected based on similar morphological characteristics amongst these large-bodied species. More surprisingly, the smaller, much paler-bellied sister species Bonelli's eagle ("A. fasciatus") and African hawk-eagle ("A. spilogaster"), previously included in the genus "Hieraaetus", have been revealed to be genetically much closer to the Verreaux's and golden eagle lineage than to other species traditionally included in the genus "Aquila". Other largish "Aquila" species, the eastern imperial, the Spanish imperial, the tawny and the steppe eagles, are now thought to be separate, close-knit clade, which attained some similar characteristics to the prior clade via convergent evolution. Genetically, the "spotted eagles" ("A. pomarina, hastata and clanga"), have been discovered to be more closely related to the long-crested eagle ("Lophaetus occipitalis") and the black eagle ("Ictinaetus malayensis"), and many generic reassignments have been advocated. The genus "Hieraaetus", including the booted eagle ("H. pennatus"), little eagle ("H. morphnoides") and Ayres's hawk-eagle ("H. ayresii"), consists of much smaller species, that are in fact smallest birds called eagles outside of the unrelated "Spilornis" serpent-eagle genus. This genus has recently been eliminated by many authorities and is now occasionally also included in "Aquila", although not all ornithological unions have followed this suit in this re-classification. The small-bodied Wahlberg's eagle ("H. wahlbergi") has been traditionally considered a "Aquila" species due to its lack of change from juvenile to adult plumage and brownish color but it is actually genetically aligned to the "Hieraaetus" lineage. Cassin's hawk-eagle ("H. africanus") is also probably closely related to the "Hieraaetus" group rather than the "Spizaetus/Nisaetus" "hawk-eagle" group (in which it was previously classified) which is not known to have radiated to Africa.


title: Golden eagle

text: There are six extant subspecies of golden eagle that differ slightly in size and plumage. Individuals of any of the subspecies are somewhat variable and the differences between the subspecies are clinal, especially in terms of body size. Other than these characteristics, there is little variation across the range of the species. Some recent studies have gone so far as to propose that only two subspecies be recognized based on genetic markers: "Aquila chrysaetos chrysaetos" (including "A. c. homeyeri") and "A. c. canadensis" (including "A. c. japonica", "A. c. daphanea" and "A. c. kamtschatica").


title: Golden eagle

text: The larger Middle Pleistocene golden eagles of France (and possibly elsewhere) are referred to a paleosubspecies "Aquila chrysaetos bonifacti", and the huge specimens of the Late Pleistocene of Liko Cave (Crete) have been named "Aquila chrysaetos simurgh" (Weesie, 1988). Similarly, an ancestral golden eagle, with a heavier, broader skull, larger wings and shorter legs when compared to modern birds, has been found in the La Brea Tar Pits of southern California.


title: Golden eagle

text: The golden eagle is a very large raptor, in length. Its wings are broad and the wingspan is . The wingspan of golden eagles is the fifth largest among living eagle species. Females are larger than males, with a bigger difference in larger subspecies. Females of the large Himalayan golden eagles are about 37% heavier than males and have nearly 9% longer wings, whereas in the smaller Japanese golden eagles, females are only 26% heavier with around 6% longer wings. In the largest subspecies ("A. c. daphanea"), males and females weigh typically , respectively. In the smallest subspecies, "A. c. japonica", males weigh and females . In the species overall, males average around and females around . The maximum size of golden eagles is debated. Large subspecies are the heaviest representatives of the genus "Aquila" and this species is on average the seventh-heaviest living eagle species. The golden eagle is the second heaviest breeding eagle in North America, Europe and Africa and the fourth heaviest in Asia. For some time, the largest known mass authenticated for a wild female was the specimen from the "A. c. chrysaetos" subspecies which weighed around and spanned across the wings. American golden eagles are typically somewhat smaller than the large Eurasian species, but a massive female that was banded and released in 2006 around Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest became the heaviest wild golden eagle on record, at . Captive birds have been measured with a wingspan of and a mass of , though this mass was for an eagle bred for falconry, which tend to be unnaturally heavy.


title: Golden eagle

text: The standard measurements of the species include a wing chord length of , a tail length of and a tarsus length of . The culmen (upper ridge of beak) reportedly averages around , with a range of . The bill length from the gape measures around . The long, straight and powerful hallux-claw (hind claw) can range from , about one centimetre longer than in a bald eagle and a little more than one centimetre less than a harpy eagle.


title: Golden eagle

text: Adults of both sexes have similar plumage and are primarily dark brown, with some grey on the inner wing and tail, and a paler, typically golden colour on the back of the crown and nape that gives the species its common name. Unlike other "Aquila" species, where the tarsal feathers are typically similar in colour to the rest of the plumage, the tarsal feathers of golden eagles tend to be paler, ranging from light golden to white. In addition, some full-grown birds (especially in North America) have white "epaulettes" on the upper part of each scapular feather tract. The bill is dark at the tip, fading to a lighter horn colour, with a yellow cere. As in many accipitrids, the bare portion of the feet is yellow. There are subtle differences in colouration among subspecies, described below.


title: Golden eagle

text: Juvenile golden eagles are similar to adults but tend to be darker, appearing black on the back especially in East Asia. They have a less faded colour. Young birds are white for about two-thirds of their tail length, ending with a broad, black band. Occasionally, juvenile eagles have white patches on the remiges at the bases of the inner primaries and the outer secondaries, forming a crescent marking on the wings which tends to be divided by darker feathers. Rarely, juvenile birds may have only traces of white on the tail. Compared to the relatively consistently white tail, the white patches on the wing are extremely variable; some juveniles have almost no white visible. Juveniles of less than 12 months of age tend to have the most white in their plumage. By their second summer, the white underwing coverts are usually replaced by a characteristic rusty brown colour. By the third summer, the upper-wing coverts are largely replaced by dark brown feathers, although not all feathers moult at once which leaves many juvenile birds with a grizzled pattern. The tail follows a similar pattern of maturation to the wings. Due to the variability between individuals, juvenile eagles cannot be reliably aged by sight alone. Many golden eagles still have white on the tail during their first attempt at nesting. The final adult plumage is not fully attained until the birds are between 5 and a half and 6 and a half years old.


title: Golden eagle

text: This species moults gradually beginning in March or April until September or October each year. Moulting usually decreases in winter. Moult of the contour feathers begins on the head and neck region and progresses along the feather tracts in a general front-to-back direction. Feathers on head, neck, back and scapulars may be replaced annually. With large feathers of the wing and tail, moult begins with the innermost feathers and proceeds outwards in a straightforward manner known as "descendant" moult.


title: Golden eagle

text: While many accipitrids are not known for their strong voices, golden eagles have a particular tendency for silence, even while breeding. That being said, some vocalization has been recorded, usually centering around the nesting period. The voice of the golden eagle is considered weak, high, and shrill, has been called "quite pathetic" and "puppy-like", and seems incongruous with the formidable size and nature of the species. Most known vocalisations seem to function as contact calls between eagles, sometimes adults to their offspring, occasionally territorial birds to intruders and rarely between a breeding pair. In western Montana, nine distinct calls were noted: a "chirp", a , a , a , a "cluck", a "wonk", a "honk" and a "hiss".


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles are sometimes considered the best fliers among eagles and perhaps among all raptorial birds. They are equipped with broad, long wings with somewhat finger-like indentations on the tips of the wing. Golden eagles are unique among their genus in that they often fly in a slight dihedral, which means the wings are often held in a slight, upturned V-shape. When they need to flap, golden eagles appear at their most laboured, but this is less common than soaring or gliding––. Flapping flight usually consists of 6–8 deep wing-beats, interspersed with 2–3 second glides. While soaring, the wings and tail are held in one plane with the primary tips often spread. A typical, unhurried soaring speed in golden eagles is around . When hunting or displaying, the golden eagle can glide very fast, reaching speeds of up to . When stooping (diving) in the direction of prey or during territorial displays, the eagle holds its legs up against its tail, and holds its wings tight and partially closed against its body. When diving after prey, a golden eagle can reach . Although less agile and manoeuvrable, the golden eagle is apparently quite the equal and possibly even the superior of the peregrine falcon's stooping and gliding speeds. This makes the golden eagle one of the two fastest living animals. Although most flight in golden eagles has a clear purpose (e.g., territoriality, hunting), some flights, such as those by solitary birds or between well-established breeding pairs, seem to be play.


title: Golden eagle

text: Size readily distinguishes this species from most other raptors when it is seen well. Most other raptors are considerably smaller. "Buteo" hawks, which are perhaps most similar to the golden eagle in structure among the species outside of the "booted eagle" group, are often counted among the larger very common raptors. However, a mid-sized "Buteo" is dwarfed by a golden eagle, as an adult female eagle has about double the wingspan and about five times the weight. "Buteos" are also usually distinctly paler below, although some species occur in dark morphs which can be darker than a golden eagle. Among raptorial birds that share the golden eagle's range, only some Old World vultures and the California condor are distinctly larger, with longer, broader wings, typically held more evenly in a slower, less forceful flight; they often have dramatically different colour patterns. In North America, the golden eagle may be confused with the turkey vulture from a great distance, as it is a large species that, like the golden eagle, often flies with a pronounced dihedral. The turkey vulture can be distinguished by its less controlled, forceful flying style (they frequently rock back and forth unsteadily in even moderate winds) and its smaller, thinner body, much smaller head and, at closer range, its slaty black-brown colour and silvery wing secondaries. Compared to "Haliaeetus" eagles, the golden eagle has wings that are only somewhat more slender but are more hawk-like and lack the flat, plank-like wing positioning seen in the other genus. Large northern "Haliaeetus" species usually have a larger bill and larger head which protrudes more distinctly than a golden eagle's in flight. The tail of the golden eagle is longer on average than those of "Haliaeetus" eagles, appearing to be two or three times the length of the head in soaring flight, whereas in the other eagles the head is often more than twice the length of the tail. Confusion is most likely between juvenile "Haliaeetus" and golden eagles, as the adult golden has a more solidly golden-brown coloration and all "Haliaeetus" eagles have obvious distinctive plumages as adults. "Haliaeetus" eagles are often heavily streaked in their juvenile phase. Juvenile golden eagles can have large patches of white on their wings and tail that are quite different from the random, sometimes large and splotchy-looking distribution of white typical of juvenile "Haliaeetus".


title: Golden eagle

text: Distinguishing the golden eagle from other "Aquila" eagles in Eurasia is more difficult. Identification may rely on the golden eagle's relatively long tail and patterns of white or grey on the wings and tail. Unlike golden eagles, other "Aquila" eagles do not generally fly in a pronounced dihedral. At close range, the golden to rufous nape-shawl of the golden eagle is distinctive from other "Aquila". Most other "Aquila" eagles have darker plumage, although the smaller tawny eagle is often paler than the golden eagle (the overlap in range is verified only in Bale Mountains, Ethiopia). Among Eurasian "Aquila", the adult eastern imperial and Spanish imperial eagle come closest to reaching the size of golden eagles, but both are distinguished by their longer necks, flatter wings in flight, white markings on their shoulder forewing-coverts, paler cream-straw coloured nape patch and generally darker colouration. Juvenile imperial eagles are much paler overall (caramel-cream in the Spanish; cream and tawny streaks in the eastern) and are not likely to be confused. Steppe eagles can also approach golden eagles in size but are more compact and smaller headed with little colour variation to their dark earth-brown plumage, apart from juvenile birds which have distinctive cream-coloured bands running through their coverts and secondaries. Verreaux's eagles are most similar in size and body shape to the golden, the body of the Verreaux's eagle being slightly longer overall but marginally less heavy and long-winged than the golden eagle's. The plumage is very distinctly different, however, as Verreaux's eagles are almost entirely jet-black except for some striking, contrasting white on the wing primaries, shoulders and upper-wing. This closely related species is known to co-occur with the golden eagle only in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. Other booted eagles in the golden eagle's range are unlikely to be confused due to differences in size and form. The only species in the genus "Aquila" that exceeds the golden eagle in average wingspan and length is the wedge-tailed eagle of Australasia; however, the wedge-tailed eagle is a slightly less heavy bird.


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles are fairly adaptable in habitat but often reside in areas with a few shared ecological characteristics. They are best suited to hunting in open or semi-open areas and search them out year-around. Native vegetation seems to be attractive to them and they typically avoid developed areas of any type from urban to agricultural as well as heavily forested regions. In desolate areas (e.g., the southern Yukon), they can occur regularly at roadkills and garbage dumps. The largest numbers of golden eagles are found in mountainous regions today, with many eagles doing a majority of their hunting and nesting on rock formations. However, they are not solely tied to high elevations and can breed in lowlands if the local habitats are suitable. Below are more detailed descriptions of habitats occupied by golden eagles in both continents where they occur.


title: Golden eagle

text: In the Arctic fringe of Eurasia, golden eagles occur along the edge of the tundra and the taiga from the Kola peninsula to Anadyr in eastern Siberia, nesting in forests and hunting over nearby arctic heathland. Typical vegetation is stunted, fragmented larch woodland merging into low birch-willow scrub and various heathland. In the rocky, wet, windy maritime climate of Scotland, Ireland, and western Scandinavia, the golden eagle dwells in mountains. These areas include upland grasslands, blanket bog, and sub-Arctic heaths but also fragmented woodland and woodland edge, including boreal forests. In Western Europe, golden eagle habitat is dominated by open, rough grassland, heath and bogs, and rocky ridges, spurs, crags, scree, slopes and grand plateaux. In Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States, Belarus and almost the entire distribution in Russia all the way to the Pacific Ocean, golden eagles occur sparsely in lowland taiga forest. These areas are dominated by stands of evergreens such as pine, larch and spruce, occasionally supplemented by birch and alder stands in southern Scandinavia and the Baltic States. This is largely marginal country for golden eagles and they occur where tree cover is thin and abuts open habitat. Golden eagle taiga habitat usually consists of extensive peatland formations caused by poorly drained soils. In central Europe, golden eagles today occur almost exclusively in the major mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, and the Caucasus. Here, the species nests near the tree line and hunt subalpine and alpine pastures, grassland and heath above. Golden eagles also occur in moderately mountainous habitat along the Mediterranean Sea, from the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, to Greece, Turkey and Iraq. This area is characterized by low mountains, Mediterranean maquis vegetation, and sub-temperate open woodland. The local pine-oak vegetation, with a variety of Sclerophyllous shrubs are well-adapted to prolonged summer droughts. From Turkey and the southern Caspian Sea to the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan, the typical golden eagle habitat is temperate desert-like mountain ranges surrounded by steppe landscapes interspersed with forest. Here the climate is colder and more continental than around the Mediterranean. Golden eagles occupy the alpine ranges from the Altai Mountains and the Pamir Mountains to Tibet, in the great Himalayan massif, and Xinjiang, China, where they occupy the Tien Shan range. In these mountain ranges, the species often lives at very high elevations, living above tree line at more than , often nesting in rocky scree and hunting in adjacent meadows. In Tibet, golden eagles inhabit high ridges and passes in the Lhasa River watershed, where they regularly join groups of soaring Himalayan vultures ("Gyps himalayensis"). One golden eagle was recorded circling at above sea-level in Khumbu in May 1975. In the mountains of Japan and Korea, the golden eagle occupies deciduous scrub woodland and carpet-like stands of Siberian dwarf pine ("Pinus pumila") that merge into grasslands and alpine heathland. The golden eagle occurs in mountains from the Adrar Plateau in Mauritania to northern Yemen and Oman where the desert habitat is largely bereft of vegetation but offers many rocky plateaus to support both the eagles and their prey. In Israel, their habitat is mainly rocky slopes and wide wadi areas, chiefly in desert and to a lesser extent in semi-desert and Mediterranean climates, extending to open areas. In Northeastern Africa, the habitat is often of a sparse, desert-like character and is quite similar to the habitat in Middle East and the Arabian peninsula. In Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, where the vegetation is more lush and the climate is clearly less arid than in Northeastern Africa, the golden eagle occupies verdant mountains.


title: Golden eagle

text: The biomes occupied by golden eagles are roughly concurrent with those of Eurasia. In western and northern Alaska and northern Canada to the Ungava Peninsula in Quebec, the eagles occupy the Arctic fringe of North America (the species does not range into the true high Arctic tundra), where open canopy gives way to dwarf-shrub heathland with cottongrass and tussock tundra. In land-locked areas of the sub-Arctic, golden eagles are by far the largest raptor. From the Alaska Range to Washington and Oregon, it is often found in high mountains above the tree line or on bluffs and cliffs along river valleys below the tree line. In Washington state, golden eagles can be found in clear-cut sections of otherwise dense coniferous forest zones with relatively little annual precipitation. From east of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to the mountains of Labrador, the golden eagle is found in small numbers in boreal forest peatlands and similar mixed woodland areas. In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the United States are plains and prairies where golden eagles are widespread, especially where there is a low human presence. Here, grassland on low rolling hills and flat plains are typical, interrupted only by cottonwood stands around river valleys and wetlands where the eagles may build their nests. Golden eagles also occupy the desert-like Great Basin from southern Idaho to northern Arizona and New Mexico. In this habitat, trees are generally absent other than junipers with vegetation being dominated by sagebrush ("Artemisia") and other low shrub species. Although the vegetation varies a bit more, similar habitat is occupied by golden eagles in Mexico. However, golden eagles are typically absent in North America from true deserts, like the Sonora Desert, where annual precipitation is less than . Golden eagles occupy the mountains and coastal areas of California and Baja California in Mexico where hot, dry summers and moist winters are typical. The golden eagles here often nest in chaparral and oak woodland, oak savanna and grassland amongst low rolling hill typified by diverse vegetation. In the Eastern United States, the species once bred widely in the Appalachian Plateau near burns, open marshes, meadows, bogs and lakes. In Eastern North America, the species still breeds on the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec. Until 1999, a pair of golden eagles were still known to nest in Maine but they are now believed to be absent as a breeding bird from the Eastern United States. The golden eagles who breed in eastern Canada winter on montane grass and heath fields in the Appalachian Plateau region, especially in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. Most sightings in the Eastern United States recently are concentrated within or along southwestern border of the Appalachian Plateau (30% of records) and within the Coastal Plain physiographic region (33% of records).


title: Golden eagle

text: Though they do regularly nest in the marsh-like peatland of the boreal forest, golden eagles are not generally associated with wetlands and, in fact, they can be found near some of the most arid spots on earth. In the wintering population of Eastern United States, however, they are often associated with steep river valleys, reservoirs, and marshes in inland areas as well as estuarine marshlands, barrier islands, managed wetlands, sounds, and mouths of major river systems in coastal areas. These wetlands are attractive due to a dominance of open vegetation, large concentrations of prey, and the general absence of human disturbance. In the midwestern United States, they are not uncommon during winter near reservoirs and wildlife refuges that provide foraging opportunities at waterfowl concentrations.


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles usually hunt during daylight hours, but were recorded hunting from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset during the breeding season in southwestern Idaho. The hunting success rate of golden eagles was calculated in Idaho, showing that, out of 115 hunting attempts, 20% were successful in procuring prey. A fully-grown golden eagle requires about of food per day but in the life of most eagles there are cycles of feast and famine, and eagles have been known to go without food for up to a week and then gorge on up to at one sitting.


title: Golden eagle

text: The diet of golden eagles is composed primarily of small mammals such as rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots. They also eat other birds (usually of medium size, such as gamebirds), reptiles, and fish in smaller numbers. Golden eagles occasionally capture large prey, including seals, ungulates, coyotes, and badgers. They have also been known to capture large flying birds such as geese or cranes. They have also been known to prey on other raptors, including owls and falcons.


title: Golden eagle

text: Despite the dramatic ways in which they attain food and interact with raptors of their own and other species, the daily life of golden eagles is often rather uneventful. In Idaho, adult male golden eagles were observed to sit awake on a perch for an average of 78% of daylight, whereas adult females sat on nest or perched for an average of 85% of the day. During the peak of summer in Utah, hunting and territorial flights occurred mostly between 9:00 and 11:00 am and 4:00 and 6:00 pm, with the remaining 15 or so hours of daylight spent perching or resting. When conditions are heavily anticyclonic, there is less soaring during the day. During winter in Scotland, golden eagles soar frequently in order to scan the environment for carrion. In the more wooded environments of Norway during autumn and winter, much less aerial activity is reported, since the eagles tend to avoid detection by actively contour-hunting rather than looking for carrion. Golden eagles are believed to sleep through much of the night. Although usually highly solitary outside of the bond between breeding pairs, exceptionally cold weather in winter may cause eagles to put their usual guard down and perch together. The largest known congregation of golden eagles was observed on an extremely cold winter's night in eastern Idaho when 124 individuals were observed perched closely along a line of 85 power poles.


title: Golden eagle

text: Most populations of golden eagles are sedentary, but the species is actually a partial migrant. Golden eagles are very hardy species, being well adapted to cold climates, however they cannot abide declining available food sources in the northern stretches of their range. Eagles raised at latitudes greater than 60° N are usually migratory, though a short migration may be untaken by those who breed or hatch at about 50° N. During migration, they often use soaring-gliding flight, rather than powered flight. In Finland, most banded juveniles move between due south, whereas adults stay locally through winter. Further east, conditions are too harsh for even wintering territorial adults. Golden eagles that breed from the Kola peninsula to Anadyr in the Russian Far East migrate south to winter on the Russian and Mongolian steppes, and the North China Plains. The flat, relatively open landscapes in these regions hold relatively few resident breeding golden eagles. Similarly the entire population of golden eagles from northern and central Alaska and northern Canada migrates south. At Mount Lorette in Alberta, approximately 4,000 golden eagles may pass during the fall, the largest recorded migration of golden eagles on earth. Here the mountain ranges are relatively moderate and consistent, thus being reliable for thermals and updrafts which made long-distance migrating feasible. Birds hatched in Denali National Park in Alaska traveled from to their winter ranges in western North America. These western migrants may winter anywhere from southern Alberta and Montana to New Mexico and Arizona and from inland California to Nebraska. Adults who bred in northeastern Hudson Bay area of Canada reached their wintering grounds, which range from central Michigan to southern Pennsylvania to northeastern Alabama, in 26 to 40 days, with arrival dates from November to early December. The departure dates from wintering grounds are variable. In southwestern Canada, they leave their wintering grounds by 6 April to 8 May (the mean being 21 April); in southwestern Idaho, wintering birds leave from 20 March to 13 April (mean of 29 March); and in the Southwestern United States, wintering birds may depart by early March. Elsewhere in the species' breeding range, golden eagles (i.e., those who breed in the contiguous Western United States, all of Europe but for Northern Scandinavia, North Africa and all of Asia but for Northern Russia) are non-migratory and tend to remain within striking distance of their breeding territories throughout the year. In Scotland, among all recovered, banded golden eagles (36 out of 1000, the rest mostly died or disappeared) the average distance between ringing and recovery was , averaging in juveniles and in older birds. In the dry Southwestern United States, golden eagles tend to move to higher elevations once the breeding season is complete. In North Africa, populations breeding at lower latitudes, like Morocco, are mostly sedentary, although some occasionally disperse after breeding to areas outside of the normal breeding range.


title: Golden eagle

text: Territoriality is believed to be the primary cause of interactions and confrontations between non-paired golden eagles. Golden eagles maintain some of the largest known home ranges (or territories) of any bird species but there is much variation of home range size across the range, possibly dictated by food abundance and habitat preference. Home ranges in most of the range can vary from . In San Diego County in California, the home ranges varied from , with an average of . However, some home ranges have been much smaller, such as in southwestern Idaho where, possibly due to an abundance of jackrabbits, home ranges as small as are maintained. The smallest known home ranges on record for golden eagles are in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, where they range from . 46% of undulating displays in Montana occurred shortly after the juvenile eagles left their parents range, suggesting that some residents defend and maintain territories year-round. Elsewhere it is stated that home ranges are less strictly maintained during winter but hunting grounds are basically exclusive. In Israel and Scotland, aggressive encounters peaked from winter until just before egg-laying and were less common during the nesting season. Threat displays include undulating flight and aggressive direct flapping flight with exaggerated downstrokes. Most displays by mature golden eagles (67% for males and 76% for females) occur, rather than around the nest, at the edge of their home ranges. In Western Norway, most recorded undulating flight displays occur during the pre-laying period in late winter/early spring. Display flights seem to be triggered by the presence of other golden eagles. The use of display flights has a clear benefit in that it lessens the need for physical confrontations, which can be fatal. Usually, non-breeding birds are treated aggressively by the golden eagle maintaining their home range, normally being chased to the apparent limit of the range but with no actual physical contact. The territorial flight of the adult golden eagle is sometimes preceded or followed by intense bouts of undulating displays. The invader often responds by rolling over and presenting talons to the aggressor. Rarely, the two eagles will lock talons and tumble through the air; sometimes fall several revolutions and in some cases even tumble to the ground before releasing their grip. In some parts of the Alps, the golden eagle population has reached the saturation point in appropriate habitat and apparently violent confrontations are more common than in other parts of the range. Golden eagles may express their aggression via body language while perched, typically the adult female when confronted by an intruding eagle: the head and body are upright, feathers on head and neck are erect; the wings may be slightly spread and beak open; often accompanied by intense gaze. They then often engage in a similar posture with wings spread wide and oriented toward the threat; sometimes rocking back on tail and even flopping over onto the back with talons extended upward as defense. Such behavior may be accompanied by wing slap against the threatening intruder. When approached by an intruder, the defending eagle turns away, partially spreads tail, lowers head, and remains still; adults on the nest may lower head and "freeze" when approached by a person or a helicopter. Females in Israel displayed more than males and mostly against interspecific intruders; males apparently displayed primarily as part of courtship. Five of 7 aggressive encounters at carcasses during winter in Norway were won by females; in 15 of 21 conflicts, the younger bird dominated an older conspecific. However, obvious juvenile eagles (apparent to the adult eagles due to the amount of white on their wings and tail) are sometimes allowed to penetrate deeply into a pair's home range and all parties commonly ignore each other. In North Dakota, it was verified that parent eagles were not aggressive towards their own young after the nesting period and some juveniles stayed on their parents territory until their 2nd spring and then left by their own accord.


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles usually mate for life. A breeding pair is formed in a courtship display. This courtship includes undulating displays by both in the pair, with the male bird picking up a piece of rock or a small stick, and dropping it only to enter into a steep dive and catch it in mid-air, repeating the maneuver 3 or more times. The female takes a clump of earth and drops and catches it in the same fashion. Golden eagles typically build several eyries within their territory (preferring cliffs) and use them alternately for several years. Their nesting areas are characterized by the extreme regularity of the nest spacing. Mating and egg-laying timing for golden eagle is variable depending on the locality. Copulation normally lasts 10–20 seconds. Mating seems to occur around 40–46 days before the initial egg-laying. The golden eagle chick may be heard from within the egg 15 hours before it begins hatching. After the first chip is broken off of the egg, there is no activity for around 27 hours. Hatching activity accelerates and the shell is broken apart in 35 hours. The chick is completely free in 37 hours.


title: Golden eagle

text: In the first 10 days, chicks mainly lie down on the nest substrate. They are capable of preening on their second day but their parents keep them warm until around 20 days. They grow considerably, weighing around . They also start sitting up more. Around 20 days of age, the chicks generally start standing, which becomes the main position over the course of the next 40 days. The whitish down continues until around 25 days of age, at which point it is gradually replaced by dark contour feathers that eclipse the down and the birds attain a general piebald appearance. After hatching, 80% of food items and 90% of food biomass is captured and brought to the nest by the adult male. Fledging occurs at 66 to 75 days of age in Idaho and 70 to 81 days in Scotland. The first attempted flight departure after fledging can be abrupt, with the young jumping off and using a series of short, stiff wing-beats to glide downward or being blown out of nest while wing-flapping. 18 to 20 days after first fledging, the young eagles will take their first circling flight, but they cannot gain height as efficiently as their parents until approximately 60 days after fledging. In Cumbria, young golden eagles were first seen hunting large prey 59 days after fledging. 75 to 85 days after fledging, the young were largely independent of parents. Generally, breeding success seems to be greatest where prey is available in abundance.


title: Golden eagle

text: Golden eagles are fairly long-living birds in natural conditions if they survive their first few years. The survival rate of raptorial birds tends to increase with larger body size, with a 30–50% annual loss of population rate in small falcons/accipiters, a 15–25% loss of population rate in medium-sized hawks (e.g., "Buteo"s or kites) and a 5% or less rate of loss in eagles and vultures. The oldest known wild golden eagle was a bird banded in Sweden which was recovered 32 years later. The longest-lived known wild golden eagle in North America was 31 years and 8 months. The longest-lived known captive golden eagle, a specimen in Europe, survived to 46 years of age. The estimated adult annual survival rate on the Isle of Skye in Scotland is around 97.5%. When this extrapolated into an estimated lifespan this results in 39 and half years as the average for adult golden eagles in this area, which is probably far too high an estimate. Survival rates are usually much lower in juvenile eagles than in adult eagles. In the western Rocky Mountains, 50% of golden eagles banded in the nest died by the time they were 2 and a half years and an estimated 75% died by the time they were 5 years old. Near a wind turbine facility in west-central California, estimated survival rates, based on conventional telemetry of 257 individuals, were 84% for first-year eagles, 79% for 1- to 3-year-olds and adult floaters and 91% for breeders; with no difference in survival rates between sexes. Survival rates may be lower for migrating populations of golden eagles. A 19–34% survival rate was estimated for juvenile eagles from Denali National Park in their first 11 months. The average life expectancy of golden eagles in Germany is 13 years, extrapolated from a reported mere 92.5% survival rate.


title: Golden eagle

text: Natural sources of mortality are largely reported in anecdotes. On rare occasions, golden eagles have been killed by competing predators or by hunting mammalian carnivores, including the aforementioned wolverine, snow leopard, cougar, brown bear and white-tailed eagle attacks. Most competitive attacks resulting in death probably occur at the talons of other golden eagles. Nestlings and fledglings are more likely to be killed by another predator than free-flying juveniles and adults. It has been suspected that golden eagle nests may be predated more frequently by other predators (especially birds, which are often the only other large animals that can access a golden eagle nest without the assistance of man-made climbing equipment) in areas where golden eagles are regularly disturbed at the nest by humans. Jeff Watson believed that common raven occasionally eats golden eagle eggs but only in situations where the parent eagles have abandoned their nesting attempt. However, there are no confirmed accounts of predation by other bird species on golden eagle nests. Occasionally, golden eagles may be killed by their prey in self-defense. There is an account of a golden eagle dying from the quills of a North American porcupine ("Erethizon dorsatum") it had attempted to hunt. On the Isle of Rùm in Scotland, there are a few cases of red deer trampling golden eagles to death, probably the result of a doe having intercepted a bird that was trying to kill a fawn. Although usually well out-matched by the predator, occasionally other large birds can put up a formidable fight against a golden eagle. An attempted capture of a great blue heron by a golden eagle resulted in the death of both birds from wounds sustained in the ensuing fight. There is at least one case in Scotland of a golden eagle dying after being "oiled" by a northern fulmar, a bird whose primary defense against predators is to disgorge an oily secretion which may inhibit the predator's ability to fly. Of natural sources of death, starvation is probably under-reported. 11 of 16 dead juvenile eagles which had hatched in Denali National Park had died of starvation. Of 36 deaths of golden eagles in Idaho, 55% were possibly attributable to natural causes, specifically 8 (26%) from unknown trauma, 3 (10%) from disease and 6 (19%) from unknown causes. Of 266 golden eagle deaths in Spain, only 6% were from unknown causes that could not be directly attributed to human activities. Avian cholera caused by bacteria ("Pasteurella multocida") infects eagles that eat waterfowl that have died from the disease. The protozoan "Trichomonas" sp. caused the deaths of four fledglings in a study of wild golden eagles in Idaho. Several further diseases that contribute to golden eagle deaths have been examined in Japan. A captive eagle died from two malignant tumors – one in the liver and one in the kidney.


title: Golden eagle

text: In December 2016, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed allowing wind-turbine electric generation companies to kill golden eagles without penalty, so long as "companies take steps to minimize the losses". If issued, the permits would last 30 years, six times the current 5-year permits.


title: Golden eagle

text: Human beings have been fascinated by the golden eagle as early as the beginning of recorded history. Most early-recorded cultures regarded the golden eagle with reverence. In pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, the eagle was a major Mexica (Aztec) symbol: the tribal and sun god, Huitzilopochtli, had told his people that when they saw the sun (i.e., Huitzilopochtli) in the form of an eagle perched on a cactus whose fruit was red and shaped like a human heart, there they should build their city, Tenochtitlan. The scene—shown on a well-known sculpture, in early manuscripts, and on the present-day Mexican flag—surely had astronomical and geomantic, as well as mythological meaning.


title: Golden eagle

text: It was only after the Industrial Revolution, when sport-hunting became widespread and commercial stock farming became internationally common, that humans started to widely regard golden eagles as a threat to their livelihoods. This period also brought about the firearm and industrialized poisons, which made it easy for humans to kill the evasive and powerful birds.


title: Golden eagle

text: In 2017 the French Army trained golden eagles to catch drones. The golden eagle is officially Utah's state bird of prey.


title: Golden eagle

text: At one time, the golden eagle lived in a great majority of temperate Europe, North Asia, North America, North Africa, and Japan. Although widespread and quite secure in some areas, in many parts of the range golden eagles have experienced sharp population declines and have even been extirpated from some areas. The number of golden eagles from around the range is estimated to be between 170,000 and 250,000 while the estimates of breeding pairs are from 60,000 to 100,000. It has the largest known range of any member of its family, with a range estimated at 140 million square kilometers. If its taxonomic order is considered, it is the second most wide-ranging species after only the osprey ("Pandion haliaetus"). Few other eagle species are as numerous, though some species like the tawny eagle, wedge-tailed eagle and bald eagle have total estimated populations of a similar size to the golden eagle's despite their more restricted distributions. The world's most populous eagle may be the African fish eagle ("Haliaeetus vocifer"), which has a stable total population estimated at 300,000 and is found solely in Africa. On a global scale, the golden eagle is not considered threatened by the IUCN.


title: James Haven

text: James Haven (né Voight; born May 11, 1973) is an American actor. He is the son of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, and the older brother of actress Angelina Jolie.


title: James Haven

text: Haven was born on May 11, 1973 in Los Angeles, California, to actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. His younger sister is Angelina Jolie, who became an actress. Their uncles are the singer-songwriter Chip Taylor and the geologist and volcanologist Barry Voight. On his father's side, Haven is of German and Slovak descent, and he is of French-Canadian, Dutch, Polish and German ancestry on his mother's side. Although Bertrand said she had Iroquois ancestry, Voight stated that Bertrand was "not seriously Iroquois", and a Huron woman born in 1649 is her only known Native American ancestor.


title: James Haven

text: After his parents' separation in 1976, Haven and his sister were raised by their mother. She moved with them to Palisades, New York, giving up acting. A decade later, when Haven was 13, the family moved back to Los Angeles, where he attended Beverly Hills High School. Following graduation, he enrolled at the USC School of Cinema-Television. While at the University of Southern California, he received a George Lucas Award for a student film he directed starring his sister.


title: James Haven

text: Haven began his professional acting career in 1998. He had minor roles in several films starring his sister, Angelina Jolie, namely "Gia" (1998), "Hell's Kitchen" (1998), and "Original Sin" (2001). He also appeared in "Monster's Ball" (2001), which starred his sister's then-husband, Billy Bob Thornton. He appeared in a 2004 episode of "" and a 2007 episode of "The Game".


title: James Haven

text: In 2005, Haven was the executive producer of the documentary "Trudell", which chronicles the life and work of Santee Sioux musician and activist John Trudell. "Trudell" was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival; it won the Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival. In 2011, he served as executive producer to the short comedy film "That's Our Mary", which follows two actresses awaiting the final casting decision for the role of the Virgin Mary at a faith-based film studio.


title: James Haven

text: Since 2006, Haven has been the executive board director of Artivist, a festival in Los Angeles that highlights films addressing human rights, animal rights, and environmental issues.


title: James Haven

text: Like his sister, Haven was estranged from their father for several years, during which he legally dropped "Voight" as his surname. In the wake of his mother's death from ovarian cancer on January 27, 2007, he reconciled with his father after a six-year estrangement. Haven became a born-again Christian in 2009.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from ; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)


title: Spetsnaz

text: Historically, the term "spetsnaz" referred to the Soviet Union's Spetsnaz GRU, special operations units of the GRU, the main military intelligence service. It also describes task forces of other ministries (such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs' ODON and Ministry of Emergency Situations' special rescue unit) in post-Soviet countries.


title: Spetsnaz

text: As "spetsnaz" is a Russian term, it is typically associated with the special units of Russia, but other post-Soviet states often refer to their special forces units by the term as well, since these nations also inherited their special purpose units from the now-defunct Soviet security agencies. The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade of Belarus is an example of a non-Russian spetsnaz force.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The Russian abbreviations "spetsnaz" and "osnaz" are syllabic abbreviations of Soviet era Russian, for "spetsialnogo naznacheniya" and "osobovo naznacheniya", both of which may be interpreted as "special purpose". As syllabic acronyms they are not normally capitalized.


title: Spetsnaz

text: They are general terms that were used for a variety of Soviet special operations ("spetsoperatsiya") units. In addition, many "Cheka" and Internal Troops units (such as "OMSDON" and "ODON") also included "osobovo naznacheniya" in their full names. Regular forces assigned to special tasks were sometimes also referred to by terms such as "spetsnaz" and "osnaz".


title: Spetsnaz

text: "Spetsnaz" later referred specifically to special ("spetsialnogo") purpose ("naznacheniya") or special operations (spetsoperatsiya; "spec ops") forces, and the word's widespread use is a relatively recent, post-"perestroika" development in Russian language. The Soviet public used to know very little about their country's special forces until many state secrets were disclosed under the "glasnost" ("openness") policy of Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. Since then, stories about "spetsnaz" and their purportedly incredible prowess, from the serious to the highly questionable, have captivated the imagination of Russians. A number of books about the Soviet military special forces, such as 1987's "Spetsnaz: The Story Behind the Soviet SAS" by defected GRU agent Viktor Suvorov, helped introduce the term to the Western public.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In post-Soviet Russia, "spetsnaz" became a colloquial term as special operations ("spetsoperatsiya"), from police raids to military operations in internal conflicts, grew more common. Coverage of these operations, and the celebrity status of special operations forces in state-controlled media, encouraged the public to identify many of these forces by name: SOBR, Alpha, Vityaz, Vympel. The term "spetsnaz" has also continued to be used in several other post-Soviet states such as Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan for their own special operations forces. In Russia, foreign special operations forces are also referred to as "spetsnaz" (for example, United States special operations forces would be called "amerikanskiy spetsnaz").


title: Spetsnaz

text: The Imperial Russian Army had hunter-commando units, formed by a decree of Emperor Alexander III in 1886, which saw action in World War I prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Also during World War I, General Aleksei Brusilov became one of the first senior commanders to utilize the tactics of fast-action shock troops for assaults following concentrated accurate artillery fire in what would be later be known as the Brusilov Offensive of 1916. Such tactics, considered revolutionary at the time, would later inspire people like Prussian Captain Willy Rohr in the development of the Prussian Stormtroopers (founded in 1915).


title: Spetsnaz

text: The origins of the Spetsnaz can be found in the Russian Civil War. To act against anti-Communist workers and farmers the Soviet regime set up so called "Tschasti Osobogo Nasatschenia" (Units for special use) in 1918. In the next year they were expanded to the so called "Cheka" (The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission), fighting counterrevolution and (alleged) sabotage. They took part in the Kronstadt rebellion 1921, setting up machine guns behind units of the Red Army, to "increase their motivation". The "GRU" and "NKVD" descended from the "Cheka." Since 1927 Russians were experimenting with parachutes. Airborne units where used against central Asian and Afghan isurgents.


title: Spetsnaz

text: GRU and NKVD derived from the tcheka and participated in the spanish civil war fighting faschists behind their lines using guerilla and terror strategies. Fighting Germany, Japan and Finland in the Second World War, new units of storm pioneers, parachuters, NKVD and GRU were set up. Thereby the soviets merged existing experiences and started to unify different military branches.


title: Spetsnaz

text: It became clear early on for Soviet leadership that it had an urgent need for immediate intelligence on German land forces in northern Norway and Finland. On 5 July 1941 Admiral Arseniy Golovko of the Northern Fleet authorized the formation of a ground reconnaissance detachment. This unit, the 4th Special Volunteer Detachment, was to be recruited from the fleet's athletes and have an initial fill of 65 to 70 personnel. Later the unit was renamed the 181st Special Reconnaissance Detachment. They were trained as frogmen. The most prominent of these new recruits was Viktor Leonov, who joined the Soviet Navy in 1937. He was assigned to a submarine training detachment and then transferred to a repair station in the Northern Fleet at Polyarnyy. Leonov had trained as a scuba diver, after which he joined 4th Special Volunteer Detachment, where he proved his daring and leadership skills conducting numerous clandestine operations and twice being awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Initially the unit was confined to performing small scale reconnaissance missions, platoon sized insertions by sea and on occasion on land into Finland and later Norway. They began conducting sabotage missions and raids to snatch prisoners for interrogation. They would also destroy German ammunition and supply depots, communication centers, and harass enemy troop concentrations along the Finnish and Russian coasts.


title: Spetsnaz

text: When the European conflict ended, the Naval Scouts were sent to fight the Japanese. Leonov along with Capt. Kulebyakin and 140 men, landed on a Japanese airfield at Port Vonsan, not realizing they were opposed by over 3,500 enemy soldiers. A tense standoff ensued, until the commanding officers of the unit managed to bluff the Japanese forces into surrendering.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Each soviet front/army had had up to 1942 their own independent guard-battalion ("Otdelnly Gwardieskij Batalion Minerow), OGBM," so called miners, for reconnaissance and commando missions. The soldiers had to be younger than 30 years, were mostly athletes or hunters and had to identify 100% with their mission. Many exhausted and wounded soldiers were, even in training, left to their own devices. They had a hardcore selection qualifying them to be elite but caused high numbers of casualties. They infiltrated foreign occupied areas by air and land, cooperated with and trained local partisans.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Right before the major Russian offensive at Smolesk in 1943 316 "OGBM," were dropped with parachutes in nine groups behind the enemy lines. Up to 300 km behind the enemies lines they blew up 700 km of railways, cooperating with local partisans, using 3500 explosive charges.


title: Spetsnaz

text: By the end of the 2nd World War the soviet union dissolved most of the special units. At the End of the 50s KGB and GRU set up new special forces. In 1966 the 3rd guard special-reconnaissance-brigade was found, being stationed in Fürstenberg/Havel with the soviet forces in eastern Germany. Up to the knockdown of the Prague Spring in 1968 there is only the Crabb Affair reported.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Lieutenant-Commander Lionel Crabb was a British Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver who vanished during a reconnaissance mission around a Soviet cruiser berthed at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1956. On 16 November 2007, the BBC and the "Daily Mirror" reported that Eduard Koltsov, a former Soviet frogman, claimed to have caught Crabb placing a mine on the "Ordzhonikidze" hull near the ammunition depot and cut his throat. In an interview for a Russian documentary film, Koltsov showed the dagger he allegedly used as well as an Order of the Red Star medal that he claimed to have been awarded for the deed. Koltsov, 74 at the time of the interview, stated that he wanted to clear his conscience and make known exactly what happened to Crabb. (It is perhaps worth noting that Peter Mercer of the Special Boat Service describes this incident in his autobiography: "The cruiser [Ordzhonikidze] was carrying the two Soviet leaders, Khrushchev and Bulganin, on a goodwill visit to Britain. His [Crabb's] task was to measure the cruiser's propeller and to discover how the ship managed to travel at twice the speed originally estimated by British naval intelligence.")


title: Spetsnaz

text: To stop the "Socialism with a Human Face" movement the Warsaw pact invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968. Spetsnaz units secured key points in the capital Prague. They took the airport, bridges, radio stations and the president's palace.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Some 3,300 Soviet military experts, among them spetsnaz, were sent to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Within South Vietnam, rumors persisted for years that men with blue eyes were reportedly spotted doing recon missions and testing their new SVD Dragunov sniper rifles. John Stryker Meyer was with Studies and Observation Group RT Idaho and had two encounters with what they believed were spetsnaz units operating in Laos in 1968.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Their mission was twofold. One, help a communist nation defeat an American ally and two, test and evaluate their most sophisticated radars and missiles directly against the best American aircraft had to offer. Soviets recovered at least 2 very important American intelligence gear, a cryptographic code machine and an F-111A escape capsule, which now sits in a Moscow museum.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Soviet Spetsnaz forces took part in the Soviet–Afghan War of 1979–1989 in Afghanistan, usually fighting fast insertion/extraction type warfare with helicopters. Their most famous operation, Operation Storm-333, was executed on 27 December 1979 which saw Soviet special forces storming the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan and killing Afghan President Hafizullah Amin, his son and over 300 of his personal guards in 40 minutes. The Soviets then installed Babrak Karmal as Amin's successor.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The operation involved approximately 660 Soviet operators dressed in Afghan uniforms, including ca. 50 KGB and GRU officers from the "Alpha Group" and "Zenith Group". The Soviet forces occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including their primary target – the Tajbeg Palace.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In the first one and a half years of the war, spetsnaz units in the form of the 459th special forces company, were exclusively responsible for reconnaissance missions and intelligence gathering for the 40th Army. Aside from reconnaissance, the 459th was also tasked with capturing prisoners, kidnapping enemy agents and targeted assassination of leaders and field commanders of the Mujahideen.


title: Spetsnaz

text: By 1985, the GRU had expanded its special forces footprint to two spetsnaz brigades in Afghanistan, comprising just under 5,000 troops. These were the:


title: Spetsnaz

text: 15th Special Purpose Brigade – paired up and supported by 239th Helicopter Squadron equipped with Mi-24 (16 units), Mi-8 (16 units), deployment in Ghazni.


title: Spetsnaz

text: 22nd Special Purpose Brigade – paired up and supported by 205th Helicopter Squadron equipped with Mi-24 (16 units) Mi-8 (16 units) deployed in Lashkar Gah.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The spetsnaz often conducted missions to ambush and destroy enemy supply-convoys. The Mujahideen had great respect for the spetsnaz, seeing them as a much more difficult opponent than the typical Soviet conscript soldier. They said that the spetsnaz-led air assault operations had changed the complexion of the war. They also credited the spetsnaz with closing down all the supply routes along the Afghan-Pakistani border in 1986. In April 1986, the rebels lost one of their biggest bases, at Zhawar in Paktia Province, to a Soviet spetsnaz air-assault. The spetsnaz achieved victory by knocking out several rebel positions above the base, a mile-long series of fortified caves in a remote canyon. A successful long-term campaign codenamed Operation "Curtain" or "Veil", lasted from 1984 to 1988, which aimed to close off the Afghan-Pakistani border and cut off supply routes coming in from Pakistan. The operation caused great distress to the mujahedin war effort, with spetsnaz units intercepting 990 supply caravans and killing 17,000 insurgents. For their role in "Operation Curtain", the spetsnaz suffered a total of 570 killed with a further 11 missing. Casualty breakdown by unit was:


title: Spetsnaz

text: In May 1986, the spetsnaz also succeeded in inserting air-assault forces into remote regions in Konar Valley near Barikot which were previously considered inaccessible to Soviet forces.


title: Spetsnaz

text: It is believed that during the war in Afghanistan, Soviet special forces came in direct conflict with Pakistan Army's special forces, the Special Service Group. This unit was deployed disguised as Afghans, and provided support to the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets. A battle reported as having been fought between the Pakistanis and Soviet troops took place in Kunar Province in March 1986. According to Soviet sources, the battle was actually fought between the GRU's 15th Spetsnaz Brigade, and the Usama Bin Zaid regiment of Afghan Mujahideen under Commander Assadullah, belonging to Abdul rub a-Rasul Sayyaf's faction.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Fighting is also alleged to have taken place during Operation Magistral where over 200 Mujahideen were killed in a failed attempt to capture the strategic Hill 3234 near the Pakistani border from a 39-man Soviet Airborne company.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In October 1985, specialist operators from the KGB's Group "A" ("Alpha") were dispatched to Beirut, Lebanon. The Kremlin had been informed of the kidnapping of four Soviet diplomats by the militant group, the Islamic Liberation Organization (a radical offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood). It was believed that this was retaliation for the Soviet support of Syrian involvement in the Lebanese Civil War. However, by the time the Alpha group arrived, one of the hostages had already been killed. In a tit-for-tat response, Alpha group operators first identified the terrorists using local sources, then moved into the Lebanese villages where the terrorists were from and took their relatives as hostages. Some of the hostages were dismembered, and their body parts sent to the hostage takers, with the threat that their relatives were next. The remaining hostages were released immediately.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Russian sources indicate that the release of the Soviet hostages was the result of extensive diplomatic negotiations with the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who appealed to King Hussein of Jordan and the leaders of Libya and Iran to use their influence on the kidnappers.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Either way, the show of brutal force had its effect, and for the next 20 years no Soviet or Russian officials were taken captive, until June 2006.


title: Spetsnaz

text: After the collapse of the USSR, spetsnaz forces of the Soviet Union's newly formed republics took part in many local conflicts such as the Tajikistani Civil War, Chechen Wars, Russo-Georgian War and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Spetsnaz forces also have been called upon to resolve several high-profile hostage situations such as the Moscow theatre hostage crisis and the Beslan school hostage crisis.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The crisis took place from 14 June to 19 June 1995, when a group of 80 to 200 Chechen terrorists led by Shamil Basayev attacked the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk, where they stormed the main police station and the city hall. After several hours of fighting and Russian reinforcements imminent, the Chechens retreated to the residential district and regrouped in the city hospital, where they took between 1,500 and 1,800 hostages, most of them civilians (including about 150 children and a number of women with newborn infants).


title: Spetsnaz

text: After three days of siege, the Russian authorities ordered the security forces to retake the hospital compound. The forces deployed were elite personnel from the Federal Security Service's Alpha Group, alongside MVD militsiya and Internal Troops. The strike force attacked the hospital compound at dawn on the fourth day, meeting fierce resistance. After several hours of fighting in which many hostages were killed by crossfire, a local ceasefire was agreed, and 227 hostages were released; 61 others were freed by the Russian forces.


title: Spetsnaz

text: A second Russian attack on the hospital a few hours later also failed and so did a third, resulting in even more casualties. The Russian authorities accused the Chechens of using the hostages as human shields.


title: Spetsnaz

text: According to official figures, 129 civilians were killed and 415 were injured in the entire event (of whom 18 later died of their wounds). This includes at least 105 hostage fatalities. However, according to an independent estimate 166 hostages were killed and 541 injured in the special forces attack on the hospital. At least 11 Russian police officers and 14 soldiers were killed. Basayev's force suffered 11 men killed and one missing; most of their bodies were returned to Chechnya in a special freezer truck. In the years following the hostage-taking, more than 40 of the surviving attackers were tracked down and have been assassinated, including Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev in 2002 and Shamil Basayev in 2006, and more than 20 were sentenced, by the Stavropol territorial court, to various terms of imprisonment.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The mass sieges which saw people taken in the thousands also involved FSB's Alpha Group and the Spetsnaz GRU in attempted rescuing of the hostages.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Russian special forces were instrumental in Russia's and the Kremlin backed government's success in the Second Chechen War after learning lessons from the mishandling of the first war. Under joint command of "Unified Group of Troops (OGV)" formed on 23 September 1999. GRU, FSB and MVD spetsnaz operators conducted a myriad of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, including targeted killings of separatist leadership, in the meantime inflicting heavy casualties among Islamist separatists. Some of these successful missions were directed against separatist leaders such as Aslan Maskhadov, Abdul Halim Sadulayev, Dokka Umarov, Akhmadov brothers, Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, Akhmed Avtorkhanov, Ibn al-Khattab, Abu al-Walid, Abu Hafs al-Urduni, Muhannad, Ali Taziev, Supyan Abdullayev, Shamil Basayev, Ruslan Gelayev, Salman Raduyev, Sulim Yamadayev, Rappani Khalilov, Yassir al-Sudani. During these missions, many operators received honors for their courage and prowess in combat, including with the title Hero of the Russian Federation. At least 106 FSB and GRU operators died during the conflict.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The crisis was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theatre on 23 October 2002 by 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya and an end to the Second Chechen War. The siege was officially led by Movsar Barayev.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Due to the disposition of the theatre, special forces would have had to fight through of corridor and attack up a well defended staircase, before they could reach the hall in where the hostages were held. The terrorists also had explosive devices. The most powerful of these was in the centre of the auditorium; if detonated, it could have brought down the ceiling and caused casualties in excess of 80% of the auditorium's occupants. After a two-and-a-half-day siege and the execution of two hostages, spetsnaz operators from the Federal Security Service (FSB) Alpha and Vympel a.k.a. Vega Groups, supported by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) SOBR unit, pumped an undisclosed chemical agent into the building's ventilation system and raided it.


title: Spetsnaz

text: During the raid, all of the attackers were killed, with no casualties among spetsnaz, but about 130 hostages, including nine foreigners, died due to poor first aid after falling unconscious from the gas. Most died after being evacuated from the theatre and laid outside on their backs instead of in the approved recovery position and then choking to death. Russian security agencies refused to disclose the gas used in the attack leading to doctors in local hospitals being unable to respond adequately to the influx of casualties. All but two of the hostages who died during the siege were killed by the toxic substance pumped into the theatre to subdue the militants. The use of the gas was widely condemned as heavy-handed.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Physicians in Moscow condemned the refusal to disclose the identity of the gas that prevented them from saving more lives. Some reports said the drug naloxone was used to save some hostages.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Also referred to as the Beslan massacre started on 1 September 2004, lasted three days and involved the capture of over 1,100 people as hostages (including 777 children), ending with the death of 334 people. The event led to security and political repercussions in Russia; in the aftermath of the crisis, there has been an increase in Ingush–Ossetian ethnic hostility, while contributing to a series of federal government reforms consolidating power in the Kremlin and strengthening of the powers of the President of Russia.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The crisis began when a group of armed radical Islamist combatants, mostly Ingush and Chechen, occupied School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia (an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation) on 1 September 2004. The hostage-takers were the Riyadus-Salikhin Battalion, sent by the Chechen terrorist warlord Shamil Basayev, who demanded recognition of the independence of Chechnya at the United Nations and the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.


title: Spetsnaz

text: On the third day of the standoff, counter terrorism units stormed the building using heavy weapons after several explosions rocked the building and children started escaping. It was in this chaos most of the officers were killed, trying to protect escaping children from gun fire. At least 334 hostages were killed as a result of the crisis, including 186 children. Official reports on how many members of Russia's special forces died in the fighting varied from 11, 12, 16 (7 Alpha and 9 Vega) to more than 20 killed. There are only 10 names on the special forces monument in Beslan. The fatalities included all three commanders of the assault group: Colonel Oleg Ilyin, Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Razumovsky of Vega, and Major Alexander Perov of Alpha. At least 30 commandos suffered serious wounds.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The attack also marked the end to the mass terrorism in the North Caucasus separatist conflict until 2010, when two Dagestani female suicide bombers attacked two railway stations


title: Spetsnaz

text: in Russia. After Beslan, there was a period of several years without suicide attacks in and around Chechnya.


title: Spetsnaz

text: By the mid 2000s, the special forces gained a firm upper hand over separatists and terrorist attacks in Russia dwindled, falling from 257 in 2005 to 48 in 2007. Military analyst Vitaly Shlykov praised the effectiveness of Russia's security agencies, saying that the experience learned in Chechnya and Dagestan had been key to the success. In 2008, the American Carnegie Endowment's Foreign Policy magazine named Russia as "the worst place to be a terrorist", particularly highlighting Russia's willingness to prioritize national security over civil rights. By 2010, Russian special forces, led by the FSB, had managed to eliminate the top leadership of the Chechen insurgency, except for Dokka Umarov.


title: Spetsnaz

text: From 2009, the level of terrorism in Russia increased again. Particularly worrisome was the increase in suicide attacks. While between February 2005 and August 2008, no civilians were killed in such attacks, in 2008 at least 17 were killed and in 2009 the number rose to 45. In March 2010, Islamist militants organised the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings, which killed 40 people. One of the two blasts took place at Lubyanka station, near the FSB headquarters. Militant leader Doku Umarov—dubbed "Russia's Osama Bin Laden"—took responsibility for the attacks. In July 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev expanded the FSB's powers in its fight against terrorism.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In 2011, Federal Security Service exposed 199 foreign spies, including 41 professional spies and 158 agents employed by foreign intelligence services. The number has risen in recent years: in 2006 the FSB reportedly caught about 27 foreign intelligence officers and 89 foreign agents. Comparing the number of exposed spies historically, the then-FSB Director Nikolay Kovalyov said in 1996: "There has never been such a number of spies arrested by us since the time when German agents were sent in during the years of World War II." The 2011 figure is similar to what was reported in 1995–1996, when around 400 foreign intelligence agents were uncovered during the two-year period.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Olympic organizers received several threats prior to the Games. In a July 2013 video release, Chechen Islamist commander Dokka Umarov called for attacks on the Games, stating that the Games were being staged "on the bones of many, many Muslims killed ...and buried on our lands extending to the Black Sea." Threats were received from the group Vilayat Dagestan, which had claimed responsibility for the Volgograd bombings under the demands of Umarov, and a number of National Olympic Committees had also received threats via e-mail, threatening that terrorists would kidnap or "blow up" athletes during the Games.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In response to the insurgent threats, Russian special forces cracked down on suspected terrorist organizations, making several arrests and claiming to have curbed several plots, and killed numerous Islamist leaders including Eldar Magatov, a suspect in attacks on Russian targets and alleged leader of an insurgent group in the Babyurt district of Dagestan. Dokka Umarov himself was poisoned on 6 August 2013, and died on 7 September 2013.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Although crime has been markedly reduced and stability increased throughout Russia compared to the previous year, about 350 militants in the North Caucasus have been killed in anti-terror operations in the first four months of 2014, according to an announcement by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in the State Duma.


title: Spetsnaz

text: On 23 September 2014, Russian news agencies marked the 15th anniversary of the formation of the "Unified Group of Troops ("OGV", or "ОГВ")" in the North Caucasus. The OGV is the inter-service headquarters established at Khankala, Chechnya to command all Russian (MOD, MVD, FSB) operations from the start of the second Chechen war in 1999.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Since its inception, the OGV combined operations has conducted 40,000 special missions, destroyed 5,000 bases and caches, confiscated 30,000 weapons, and disarmed 80,000 explosive devices and in the process has killed over 10,000 insurgents in the time frame of 15 years. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) noted that the decoration Hero of the Russian Federation has been awarded to 93 MVD servicemen in the OGV (including 66 posthumously). Overall, more than 23,000 MVD troops have received honors for their conduct during operations.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Spetsnaz unit of the VDV RF took part in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. Several hundred members of the 45th Detached Guards Spetsnaz Regiment and the 22nd Spetsnaz brigade were sent in, disguised as civilians.


title: Spetsnaz

text: On or about 26 February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine the Russian spetsnaz entered Kyiv in a failed attempt to hunt down Ukrainian leaders including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The spetsnaz including the "Zaslon" unit embedded themselves within the Ukrainian population disguised in civilian clothes and Ukrainian military uniform with the intention to assassinate, eliminate or arrest leading political figures. The Zaslon unit is the assassination arm for covert missions of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and the Alpha Group. It is presumed that small fire teams of spetsnaz entered Ukraine before the beginning of the invasion with the mission of obtaining precise intelligence on specific personnel to plan special operations to harm or stop personnel of importance.


title: Spetsnaz

text: On or about 2 March 2022, the Alpha Group of Ukraine, which is the Ukrainian "Spetsnaz", a branch of the Security Service of Ukraine, ambushed and destroyed a convoy, composed of Kadyrovtsy paramilitary under the National Guard of Russia, in northern Kyiv around Gostomel heading to the city. It is reported that during the defeat of the unit, General Magomed Tushayev, commander of the 141st Motorized Regiment of the Chechen Rosguard, was killed.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Various Russian special missions units have been openly supporting Syrian army units, and along with the Russian Aerospace Forces, have been invaluable in pushing back anti-government forces.


title: Spetsnaz

text: At the peak of the deployment, there was a detachment of approximately 250 GRU spetsnaz soldiers, probably drawn from several units, including naval spetsnaz from the 431st Naval Reconnaissance Point, while SOF operators from the KSSO, reportedly conducted mainly sniper/counter-sniper, sabotage and reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The Russian military theorist Colonel Mikhail Svechnykov originally proposed the concept of using special tactics and strategies. Svechnykov (executed during the Great Purge in 1938), envisaged the development of unconventional warfare capabilities to overcome disadvantages faced by conventional forces in the field. In the 1930s the "grandfather of the "spetsnaz"", Ilya Starinov,


title: Spetsnaz

text: During World War II, Red Army reconnaissance and sabotage detachments formed under the supervision of the Second Department of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces. These forces were subordinate to front commanders. The infamous NKVD internal-security and espionage agency also had their own special purpose ("osnaz") detachments, including many saboteur teams who were airdropped into enemy-occupied territories to work with (and often take over and lead) the Soviet Partisans.


title: Spetsnaz

text: In 1950 Georgy Zhukov advocated the creation of 46 military "spetsnaz" companies, each consisting of 120 servicemen. This was the first use of ""spetsnaz"" to denote a separate military branch since World War II. These companies were later expanded to battalions and then to brigades. However, some separate companies (orSpN) and detachments (ooSpN) existed with brigades until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The special-purpose forces of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union included fourteen land brigades, two naval brigades and a number of separate detachments and companies, operating under the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and collectively known as Spetsnaz GRU. These units and formations existed in the highest possible secrecy, disguised as Soviet paratroopers (Army spetsnaz) or naval infantrymen (Naval spetsnaz) by their uniforms and insignia.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Twenty-four years after the birth of spetsnaz, the Chairman of the KGB General Yuri Andropov (in that office from 1967 to 1982) established the first counter-terrorist unit. From the late 1970s through to the 1980s, a number of special-purpose units were founded in the KGB (1954–1991) and in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) (1946–1954).


title: Spetsnaz

text: Spetsgruppa "V", abbreviation of the Directorate в (Russian Cyrillic for V), also known as "Vega" in period 1993–1995, was formed in 1981, merging two elite Cold War-era KGB special units—Cascade ("Kaskad") and Zenith ("Zenit")—which were similar to the CIA's Special Activities Division (responsible for clandestine / covert operations involving sabotage and assassination in other countries) and re-designated for counter-terrorist and counter-sabotage operations.


title: Spetsnaz

text: During the 1990s special detachments were established within the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) and the Airborne Troops (VDV). Some civil agencies with non-police functions have formed special units also known as "spetsnaz", such as the Leader special centre in the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS).


title: Spetsnaz

text: In total, by December 1991, at the time of the collapse of the USSR, the GRU reconnaissance and sabotage formations had:


title: Spetsnaz

text: In Russia, in 2013 a Special Operations Forces Command was established for Special Operations Forces which had earlier been established from around 2009 following a study of Western special-operations forces units and commands. The Command was not under the control of the GRU but reported directly to the General Staff – as did the GRU.


title: Spetsnaz

text: The 5th Spetsnaz Brigade is a special forces brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus, formerly part of the Soviet spetsnaz. In addition, the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus that was formed from the inherited personnel and operators after the break up of the Soviet Union. KGB of Belarus has its own Spetsgruppa "A" (Alpha Group), which is the country's primary counter-terrorism unit.


title: Spetsnaz

text: As with many post Soviet states, Kazakhstan adopted the term Alpha Group to be used by its special forces. The Almaty territorial unit of Alpha was turned into the special unit Arystan (meaning "Lions" in Kazakh) of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan. In 2006, five members of Arystan were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of the opposition politician Altynbek Sarsenbayuly, his driver, and his bodyguard; the three victims were then allegedly delivered to the people who murdered them.


title: Spetsnaz

text: Kokhzal (meaning wolf pack in Kazakh language) is a special forces unit of Kazakhstan responsible for carrying out anti terror operations as well as serving as a protection detail for the President of Kazakhstan.