Editing Alpha Group (section)

====1993 Russian constitutional crisis====
In 1993, during the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis|Russian constitutional crisis]], Yeltsin, who by then was President of the Russian Federation, used Alpha and Vympel during a deadly showdown in central Moscow against the pro-parliament forces that sided with Vice-President [[Alexander Rutskoy]] (declaring him an acting president).<ref name=disaster>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/04/russia.schools Botched operation was a disaster waiting to happen], ''The Guardian'', 4 September 2004.</ref> The pro-parliament faction had seized the [[White House (Moscow)|Russian White House]], along with several Supreme Soviet deputies who had been taken hostage. Yeltsin ordered Russian troops to storm the building, including elements of the paratroopers, the Alpha and Vympel Groups, Russian ground forces, and the [[Internal Troops of Russia|Internal Troops]]'s special forces unit, [[Vityaz (MVD)|Vityaz]]. However, the Alpha troops initially refused to attack the White House,<ref name=agru>[http://www.agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/ Agentura.ru – FSB Special forces: 1998–2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118123943/http://agentura.ru/english/spetsnaz/FSBspecialforces/ |date=18 January 2013 }}.</ref> reportedly bringing their commander, Gen. Zaitsev, to the brink of suicide over the open insubordination of his troops in the face of a presidential order.<ref name=politics>Brian D. Taylor, ''Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689–2000'', page 294.</ref> When one of the Alpha troops, Lt. Sergeyev, who was near the White House, was mortally wounded by sniper fire from the nearby [[Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow|Hotel Ukraina]], the unit finally agreed to move.<ref name=politics/> Opposition gunmen were blamed for the shooting, but it is possible that the shots were actually fired by members of a special unit loyal to Yeltsin; it was rumoured that the snipers in the hotel were commanded by [[Alexander Korzhakov]], chief of the [[Presidential Security Service (Russia)|Presidential Security Service (SBP)]].<ref name=era/> The crisis ended when Yeltsin's forces, paratroopers supported by tanks and armoured personnel carriers, many of which were manned not by conscripts but members of the Union of Afghanistan Veterans,<ref name=politics/> stormed and seized the White House on 4 October 1993, killing dozens, and possibly hundreds, of people, and ensuring the total victory of Yeltsin's faction.<ref name=politics/><ref name=era/><ref>Margaret Shapiro, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130516002333/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-968180.html Army Shellfire Crushes Moscow Revolt; Dozens Killed in Assault on Parliament; Yeltsin Foes Surrender After Two-Day Battle], ''The Washington Post'', 5 October 1993.</ref><ref>Serge Schemann, [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/05/world/showdown-moscow-overview-russian-army-routs-rebels-parliament-yeltsin-takes.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm SHOWDOWN IN MOSCOW: The Overview; RUSSIAN ARMY ROUTS REBELS AT PARLIAMENT AS YELTSIN TAKES STEPS TO TIGHTEN CONTROL], ''The New York Times'', 5 October 1993.</ref> In the end, Rutskoy and the other leaders of anti-Yeltsin faction, including [[Ruslan Khasbulatov]], [[Vladislav Achalov]] and [[Viktor Barannikov]], all negotiated their surrender to the Alpha troops, who had entered the shelled and burning building after the shooting stopped, and brought them, along with the detained Supreme Soviet deputies, to [[Lefortovo Prison]].<ref name=politics/><ref name=era>Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, George Shriver, ''Post-Soviet Russia: A Journey Through the Yeltsin Era'', page 127.</ref>