MOSCOW, January 18The pre-premiere screening of the feature film “Commander” about the legendary head of the special forces unit for combating terrorism – Group “A” (“Alpha”) of the KGB of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union Gennady Zaitsev took place at the Cultural Center of the FSB of Russia in Moscow, the film was highly appreciated by veterans ” Alphas” who served under the command of Zaitsev, the correspondent reports.
The film is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the creation of group “A”, which will be celebrated on July 29 this year. The film is based on the biography of Major General Gennady Nikolaevich Zaitsev (born in 1934), under whom the foundations of Group “A” were laid, the combat traditions of which are now continued by Directorate “A” of the FSB Special Purpose Center. Zaitsev commanded Group A in 1977-1988 and 1992-1995 and led a number of operations to neutralize terrorists who took hostages, including children. In 1986, Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union “for great services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, courage and bravery shown in neutralizing especially dangerous criminals.”
The picture, the title of which was chosen by the veterans of group “A”, was filmed by the film company “EGO Production”, directed by Alexander Guryanov and Timur Khvan. It shows the development of Zaitsev’s personality, starting from his childhood, which fell during the Great Patriotic War and took place in a remote Ural village.
The main part of the film tells about the operation of group “A” to successfully rescue several dozen children – students of one of the schools in the city of Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz), taken hostage by terrorists on December 1, 1988. The viewer will see under what difficult conditions Zaitsev made decisions during the operation, taking full responsibility for its outcome. The film ends with documentary footage showing Zaitsev on the podium of Red Square along with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Victory Parade on May 9, 2023.
The main roles in the film were played by actors Kirill Zaitsev, Artem Tkachenko, Sergei Makhovikov. The film will be released on cinema screens across the country on February 22.
“Every film should be objective and not made up. This film wins because everyone involved in its creation put their soul into it. And I would like to express to them great, deep gratitude and gratitude for what they did” , – said Gennady Zaitsev at the ceremony. The packed hall greeted him with a standing ovation.
“I believe that this film is a gift to the entire unit for its 50th anniversary. Secondly, I think that for today's young “It will have educational value for the guys, it needs to be shown to schoolchildren. And there will be those who, after watching it, will begin to strive to serve in the unit,” the general said.
According to Zaitsev, it is important that the directors “didn’t run wild with their thoughts,” but took only one of the many operations of group “A” for film adaptation. “But using the example of this operation, the film shows what the unit is capable of, how it operates, how it protects people,” Zaitsev explained.
“To be honest, when I watched the film, tears involuntarily broke through me in three places,” Zaitsev admitted. “What I especially liked is that the cast of actors was very cleverly and intelligently selected. Kirill Zaitsev even looks like me. Actress Maria Fedosova, who plays my mother, is also very similar to her. Even in such things, everything is respected,” he added.
“Commander” is a film that the younger generation must watch, says one of the participants in that operation in December 1988, honorary president of the international association of Alpha veterans, Sergei Goncharov.
“This film, the very personality of the legendary man – our commander Gennady Nikolayevich Zaitsev, will serve, I will say without exaggeration, as the beacon that young people should look up to. And everything that interferes with their upbringing, all vulgarity must be swept aside,” Goncharov noted in a conversation with.
Group “A”
Group “A” was created by a top secret, especially important order of the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Andropov on July 29, 1974. The decision to create it was made after the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, which killed 11 members of the Israeli team. On the eve of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the need arose to have an anti-terrorism unit ready to solve problems of increased complexity. The unit was simply called “A”; journalists dubbed it “Alpha” during the events in Moscow in August 1991.
The main tasks that Group A faced were the fight against terrorist manifestations, the release of captured hostages, vehicles and government facilities on the territory of the USSR and beyond.
Only KGB officers could be enrolled in the group. The selection criteria were the most stringent. The first composition of the group was recruited from personnel fit for service in the Airborne Forces. Physical data and achievements in various disciplines were taken into account. Particular attention was paid to moral and business qualities and psychological endurance. The group was formed only on a voluntary basis.
Initially, group “A” consisted of 30 people – the chief, his deputy and four shifts of seven people. The first set consisted of employees of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB. The first commander was appointed Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel, later Major General, Vitaly Bubenin.
Initially, the special unit was part of the Fifth Department of the Seventh Directorate of the KGB; in the early 1990s, it was transferred to the subordination of the Main Directorate of Security of Russia (now the Federal Security Service, FSO). The unit's employees received additional tasks to ensure the personal safety of senior government officials. In 1995, Alpha became part of the Federal Security Service. Since 1998, Directorate “A” has been part of the Special Purpose Center (TsSN) of the FSB of Russia.
Special forces personnel participated in combat operations in Afghanistan, in two military campaigns in the North Caucasus, local conflicts in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, in more than a thousand special operations and operational activities. Group “A” took part in the release of hostages in Budennovsk in June 1995, at the Dubrovka Theater Center in Moscow in October 2002, at school No. 1 in Beslan in September 2004, etc.
While on duty in over 30 employees of the unit died over the years.
For their heroism, the fighters of Group “A” – Directorate “A” of the Central Security Service of the FSB were awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Russia, Orders of Courage and many other awards.
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