home Audience 3 The history of the “bat” in the GRU emblem. Symbol of Russian military intelligence (7 photos). Russian military intelligence flag

The history of the “bat” in the GRU emblem. Symbol of Russian military intelligence (7 photos). Russian military intelligence flag

Where did the “bat” come from, which for many years served as the emblem of military intelligence of the USSR and Russia, and even after the official replacement with a carnation with grenades, did not leave the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia?

Intermonitor conducted its own investigation into this issue.

We found a mention of the origin of the “Bat” as a symbol of military intelligence, which has authorship, in an authoritative publication - the magazine “National Forecast”, published by ITAR-TASS Ural. It is, in principle, typical for ITAR-TASS to verify information - therefore such a source deserves attention.

“The symbol of Russian military intelligence was invented by a journalist from Yekaterinburg. He claims that while serving in the Northern Fleet special forces in 1987, he drew the emblem for his group - a bat inscribed in a globe. It was used to “stencil” the overalls of all the fighters and commanders of the group. For the first time, the Severomorsk emblem was publicly “lit up” in the summer of 1988 at the championship of special forces units in Pechory (now Estonian Petseri). The group then participated in the special forces championship for the first time, but performed successfully, and the emblem on the chest of the “Navy Seals” was remembered by the USSR intelligence elite. A few years later, unit commander Gennady Ivanovich Zakharov, already with the rank of rear admiral, with the “core” of his combat swimmers, went to serve in the security of President Yeltsin. And the bat, invented then for internal circulation, took on a life of its own.”, — the publication said.

Thanks to the fact that the Intermonitor editorial office is located in Yekaterinburg, we were able to find eyewitnesses of this event and question them.

Former North Sea special forces (currently serving in a number of Russian special services) confirmed the information of the National Forecast. According to the eyewitnesses we interviewed, that mouse was exactly like the illustration in our material, but the globe was not round, but oval. Parallels and meridians were present on it. The mouse itself was exactly the same. And yet - there was not a single letter. The overalls had only the emblem and numbers - each fighter had his own number. For example, the number 1412 meant “141 reconnaissance group, 2nd number.”

In 2002, "Bat" was replaced by carnation. How says newsru.com, this happened after a major scandal: “Even the department of military heraldry and symbolism, specially created in 1994 at the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, was unable to organize the riot of animals, birds and skulls that were spread out on military patches. On this moment no one can say exactly how many types of sleeve patches exist in the Russian army.

The last straw that broke the patience of the military commanders was the prank of one of the GRU special forces brigades. The special forces broke into the heraldry department and demanded that another scorpion be approved as a symbol of the brigade. The response was tough: a single emblem was introduced for the entire GRU.”

Counts, that the red carnation is “a symbol of perseverance, devotion, inflexibility and determination in achieving goals,” and the three-flamed grenada is “the historical sign of the grenadiers, the most trained military personnel of the elite units.”

It is noteworthy that even after replacing the “Bat” with the “Red Carnation”, not only the special forces and “pear soldiers” did not stop considering “mice” as their symbol, but also the “Bat” remained on the floor in the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, adjacent to the “Carnation” attached to the wall of the hall.

Illustrations: red-stars.org, agentura.ru

Text: Philip Yudin
Live news broadcast -

Today will be celebrated with special pomp in the army special forces, or simply GRU special forces. October 24 occupies a special place in the life of any special forces soldier simply because it is a memorable day in his honor, in honor of everyone who, over the past half century or more, has given up public life in exchange for the right to always be on the front line, even in peacetime. But this year the special forces units of the Russian Army are celebrating their 65th anniversary.

Although the special forces are more than respectable in age, their fighters are celebrating their professional day for only the ninth time. The Day of Special Forces Units - one of the 14 memorable days of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - was established only on May 31, 2006, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin No. 549 “On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

By order of Marshal Vasilevsky

The date of the memorable “special forces” day was chosen due to the fact that it was on October 24, 1950 that the directive of the Minister of the USSR Armed Forces and the Minister of War of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Sergei Shtemenko, No. Org/2/395832, was signed. With this document, 46 separate special-purpose companies were created in combined-arms and mechanized armies, as well as in military districts that do not have army formations, under the leadership of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff.

Each of these companies, according to the staffing table, had a strength of 120 people. Thus, in the first “conscription” of Soviet special forces there were 5,520 fighters. Moreover, most of them, primarily company and platoon commanders, were front-line soldiers with extensive experience. After all, despite the fact that formally the Soviet army never had special forces units, in fact special forces have existed in Russia, perhaps, since the time of Catherine II. After all, it was she who initiated the resettlement of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, who by that time already had a characteristic set of techniques and tactics, which a century later became known to the whole world under the name “Plastun grips.” Cossack plastuns should rightfully be considered the forerunner of modern special forces units.

During the First World War, there were no permanent special forces units in the Russian Imperial Army: their functions were performed in the Cossack units by the same plastuns, and in the regular units by the so-called hunting teams, engaged in both front-line and deep reconnaissance. And only in 1918, under the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, special purpose units - CHON - were formed. However, their task was different: not so much reconnaissance as sabotage, subversive and counterintelligence work, in essence, but the tactics and techniques used were essentially the same.

And only in April 1942 the first units appeared in the Red Army, the name of which included the phrase “special purpose”. During this period, several special-purpose engineering brigades were formed, which were intended to deploy mine warfare. Each such brigade consisted of five to seven battalions of engineering barriers, one or two electrical battalions, which were responsible for the construction of electrified wire barriers, and a special mining battalion, whose specialization was radio-controlled mines and landmines.

The importance attached to these units and how specific the skills that the fighters of these brigades possessed were can be judged by a simple fact. Then, in April 1942, Colonel Ilya Starinov, the “grandfather of Soviet special forces,” a saboteur, who by that time had already become a legend of the Civil War in Spain and the Winter War with Finland, was appointed commander of the 5th separate engineering special forces brigade.

From the Korean jungle to the Afghan mountains

But still, all these predecessors and forerunners were not yet fully the special forces with which, at the end of the Cold War, they frightened the most desperate thugs from NATO special forces units. First of all, because they were not given the specific tasks that the GRU army special forces were supposed to solve. And his duties were charged with deep reconnaissance, also known as special-purpose reconnaissance, which was to be conducted in the deepest rear of the enemy.

Despite the traditional name, such reconnaissance pursued completely unconventional goals. In the event of the outbreak of the Third World War, the newly formed special forces units were supposed to move far beyond the line of contact of ground forces and operate in close proximity to command posts and other strategic targets of the enemy. It was there that the GRU special forces were supposed to engage in sabotage and reconnaissance activities, depending on the situation, giving preference either to sabotage or data collection.

Therefore, the tasks of the SpN GRU - this is the abbreviation that very soon began to denote these units - included the destruction of control posts, silo and ground launchers of operational-tactical and ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, strategic bombers and nuclear submarines - carriers of nuclear weapons. And there is no need to talk about such usual matters for saboteurs as violating enemy control, communications, power supply and communications systems. In practice, special forces - according to at least, as far as is known, but not all or even half of his activities are known! - I have never had to do exactly this kind of work. But in fact, it was possible to organize and wage a guerrilla war in the second half of the twentieth century.

By the end of 1963, the original special forces companies had grown into entire brigades. Initially there were only ten of them, but in the end, after a few years, each Soviet military district and each fleet had one such unit, plus there was another unit reporting directly to the GRU of the General Staff - that is, in total there were 21 GRU special forces brigades in the Soviet army. As far as we know, Soviet special forces carried out individual combat missions during the Korean War of 1950–1953, and in several local conflicts in the Middle East, and during the Vietnam War in 1965–1975.

But the largest and most difficult test for them was the Afghan War of 1979–1989. Groups, detachments, separate battalions, and regiments from two GRU special forces brigades - the 15th and 22nd - operated on Afghan soil, and they had the most difficult missions. Complete statistics on these units are, of course, not and cannot be publicly available. But from those fragmentary data that began to leak to the press (and sometimes openly declassified - for reasons that one can only guess about), it is possible to put together such a mosaic. The 15th Special Forces Brigade alone, in 1985–1989 alone, lost 140 soldiers and officers killed, and itself managed to destroy and capture about 9,000 dushmans, including several dozen major leaders of gangs.

Always on guard

The GRU special forces did the same colossal work as in Afghanistan a decade later during two Chechen campaigns and many local conflicts on the territory of the former USSR. It is difficult to calculate how many Russian soldiers and officers of ordinary units were saved by soldiers whose chevrons bear the silhouette of a bat - the traditional emblem of the Russian GRU special forces. But there is no doubt that the people who in the 90s survived the subsequent collapse of the army and who, only thanks to their enthusiasm and loyalty to the oath, preserved domestic special forces units, did much more than they say.

Today, the special forces units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation include 14 units: eight separate brigades scattered across four military districts, a separate special forces regiment and a separate special purpose center “Senezh”, as well as four naval reconnaissance points - the so-called naval units special forces

The total number of these units is classified - as it should be. But we can say with confidence that the number of modern Russian special forces, both professional officers and soldiers and sergeants of conscript and contract service, runs into the thousands. And all of them today, for sure - except perhaps those who are on combat duty - will make three traditional toasts: to us, to the special forces and to those who are no longer with them. But who we must always remember are those whose peace was and is being protected by soldiers of Russian special forces units.

Russian military intelligence is the most closed structure of the state, the only intelligence service that has not undergone any significant changes since 1991. Where did the “bat” come from, which for many years served as the emblem of military intelligence of the USSR and Russia, and even after the official replacement with a carnation with grenades, did not leave the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia?

Just imagine: a new department was created from the fragments of the Imperial Army, which in one decade (!!!) acquired one of the largest intelligence networks in the world. Even the terror of the 30s, which, of course, was a blow of enormous destructive force, did not destroy the Intelligence Directorate. The leadership and the scouts themselves fought for life and the opportunity to work in every way. A simple example: today Richard Sorge, who has already become a legend of military intelligence, and then a resident of the intelligence department in Japan, simply refused to return to the USSR, knowing that this meant death. Sorge referred to the difficult situation and the impossibility of leaving the position vacant.

The role played by military intelligence in the Great War is invaluable. It was almost impossible to imagine that the intelligence department, which had been destroyed for years, would completely outmaneuver the Abwehr, but today this is an established fact. Moreover, we are talking here about military intelligence, and about agents, and about Soviet saboteurs.

For some reason, a little-known fact is that the Soviet partisans are also a project of the intelligence department. The detachments behind enemy lines were created by career RU officers. The local fighters did not wear military intelligence emblems only because it was not advertised at all. The theory and methodology of guerrilla warfare was laid down in the 50s and became the basis for the created GRU special forces. The basics of training, methods of warfare, attention to speed of movement - everything is in accordance with science. Only now special forces brigades have become part of the regular army, the range of tasks performed has expanded (the nuclear threat is a priority), special weapons and uniforms are being introduced, which are a source of special pride and a sign of belonging to the “elite of elites” - the symbols of military intelligence.

Created and trained to penetrate the territories of aggressive states, GRU Spetsnaz units often participated in carrying out tasks far from their main profile. Soldiers and officers of the GRU special forces were involved in all military operations in which the Soviet Union took part. Thus, many units conducting combat operations were reinforced by military personnel from various reconnaissance brigades. Although these guys no longer served directly under the emblem, as you know, there are no former special forces soldiers. They remained the best in any of the combat specialties, be it a sniper or a grenade launcher and many others.

November 5 acquired its “open” status only on October 12, 2000, when Military Intelligence Day was established by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 490.

The bat once became the emblem of military intelligence - it makes little noise, but hears everything.

In 1993, when domestic military intelligence was preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its creation. For this anniversary, someone who is fond of heraldry from among the GRU1 employees decided to present a gift to his colleagues in the form of new symbols. This proposal received the support of the head of the GRU, Colonel General F.I. Ladygina. By that time, as is known, the Airborne Forces, as well as the Russian contingent of peacekeeping forces in Transnistria (the letters “MS” on a blue rectangular patch) had already acquired their own officially approved sleeve insignia.
We do not know whether the “heraldists-intelligence officers” and their superiors knew about this or not, but they nevertheless circumvented the law. In the second half of October, the GRU prepared a draft report from the Chief of the General Staff addressed to the Minister of Defense, with a description and drawings of two sleeve insignia attached: for military intelligence agencies and special-purpose military units. October 22 F.I. Ladygin signed it “by hand” from the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General
M.P. Kolesnikov, and the next day the Minister of Defense, Army General P.S. Grachev approved the descriptions and drawings of the sleeve insignia.

So the bat became a symbol of military intelligence and special forces units. The choice was far from accidental. The bat has always been considered one of the most mysterious and secretive creatures operating under the cover of darkness. Well, secrecy, as we know, is the key to a successful intelligence operation.

However, in the GRU, as well as in the intelligence departments of the branches of the armed forces, districts and fleets, the sleeve insignia approved for them was never worn for obvious reasons. But its numerous varieties quickly spread throughout military, artillery and engineering reconnaissance units and units, as well as anti-sabotage warfare. In special-purpose formations and units, various versions of sleeve insignia, made based on the approved design, were also widely used.

Each military intelligence unit has its own unique symbols, these include various variations with a bat, and some specific sleeve patches. Very often, individual units of the Special Forces (Special Forces) troops use predatory animals and birds as their symbol - here everything depends on the geographical location and the specifics of the tasks performed. In the photo, the emblem of military intelligence 551 ooSpN symbolizes the wolf squad, which, by the way, was revered by intelligence officers back in Soviet times; perhaps it was second in popularity after the “mouse”.

It is believed that the red carnation is “a symbol of perseverance, devotion, inflexibility and determination in achieving goals,” and the three-flamed grenade is “the historical sign of the grenadiers, the most trained military personnel of the elite units.

By the way, the innovation initially caused a rather negative reaction among soldiers and special forces officers, but when it became clear that the reform did not mean the eradication of the “mouse,” the storm subsided. The introduction of the new official combined arms emblem of military intelligence did not in any way affect the popularity of the bat among the soldiers of the GRU army formations; even a superficial acquaintance with the culture of tattoos in the Special Forces troops is enough. The bat, as one of the main elements of military intelligence symbolism, was established long before 1993 and will probably always remain so.

So, the bat is the main element of the symbolism of Russian military intelligence, even despite the appearance of the “carnation” it does not give up its position: this symbol today is not only on chevrons and flags, it has also become an element of soldier’s folklore.
It is noteworthy that even after replacing the “Bat” with the “Red Carnation”, not only the special forces and “pear soldiers” did not stop considering “mice” as their symbol, but also the “Bat” remained on the floor in the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, adjacent to the “Carnation” attached to the wall of the hall.

Today, the 2nd Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU GSH) is a powerful military organization, the exact composition and organizational structure of which, of course, is a military secret. Today's GRU headquarters has been operating since November 5, 2006, the facility was commissioned just in time for the holiday, it is here that the most important intelligence information is now received, and from here the command of military special forces units is carried out. The building is designed in accordance with the most modern technologies, not only construction, but also security - only selected employees can enter many “compartments” of the Aquarium. Well, the entrance is decorated with a giant emblem of the Russian military intelligence.

Select the desired trims from the catalogue, and in the order form specify the type of trims (pinned or sewn) and the color of the fabric (if sewn). The bar is a rectangular backing covered with an order ribbon. It can be made on a metal or fabric, plastic (flexible) basis. In the case of a fabric backing, the color can be matched to the color of the clothing (gray, olive, blue, black, and so on). Metal-based strips are attached with a pin, which is located on the reverse side, fabric strips are sewn to the uniform. The left side of the chest is designated as the place to wear the order bars. Several order bars are not worn separately, but placed together on a common basis in accordance with the statute of orders and medals. On the general bar, the ribbons are arranged in a certain order in accordance with the statute of orders and medals, recorded in the relevant documents, but the general principle is this: the higher the rank of the award, the higher it is in the list of locations. Each award has a corresponding order bar. In the case where the award contains an order bar, the ribbon used on it is also used to decorate the corresponding order bar. Order bars are collected on an advance payment basis.

The birthday of Russian (in those days, Soviet) intelligence is considered to be November 5, 1918. It was then that the Revolutionary Military Council approved the structure of the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, which included the Registration Directorate, which was then the prototype of today’s GRU.
Just imagine: a new department was created from the fragments of the Imperial Army, which in one decade (!!!) acquired one of the largest intelligence networks in the world. Even the terror of the 30s, which, of course, was a blow of enormous destructive force, did not destroy the Intelligence Directorate. The leadership and the scouts themselves fought for life and the opportunity to work in every way. A simple example: today Richard Sorge, who has already become a legend of military intelligence, and then a resident of the intelligence department in Japan, simply refused to return to the USSR, knowing that this meant death. Sorge referred to the difficult situation and the impossibility of leaving the position vacant.
The role played by military intelligence in the Great War is invaluable. It was almost impossible to imagine that the intelligence department, which had been destroyed for years, would completely outmaneuver the Abwehr, but today this is an established fact. Moreover, we are talking here about military intelligence, and about agents, and about Soviet saboteurs.
For some reason, a little-known fact is that the Soviet partisans are also a project of the intelligence department. The detachments behind enemy lines were created by career RU officers. The local fighters did not wear military intelligence emblems only because it was not advertised at all. The theory and methodology of guerrilla warfare was laid down in the 50s and became the basis for the created GRU special forces. The basics of training, methods of warfare, attention to speed of movement - everything is in accordance with science. Only now special forces brigades have become part of the regular army, the range of tasks performed has expanded (the nuclear threat is a priority), special weapons and uniforms are being introduced, which are a source of special pride and a sign of belonging to the “elite of elites” - the symbols of military intelligence.
Created and trained to penetrate the territories of aggressive states, GRU Spetsnaz units often participated in carrying out tasks far from their main profile. Soldiers and officers of the GRU special forces were involved in all military operations in which the Soviet Union took part. Thus, many units conducting combat operations were reinforced by military personnel from various reconnaissance brigades. Although these guys no longer served directly under the emblem, as you know, there are no former special forces soldiers. They remained the best in any of the combat specialties, be it a sniper or a grenade launcher and many others.
November 5 acquired its “open” status only on October 12, 2000, when Military Intelligence Day was established by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 490.

The bat once became the emblem of military intelligence - it makes little noise, but hears everything.

“Mouse” has been on the chevrons of GRU special forces soldiers for a very long time; they say that the first here was the 12th ObrSpN. For a long time, all this was unofficial, but with the end of the USSR era, the view of the “separation of duties” in the armed forces changed. Elite military units began to introduce appropriate insignia, and new official symbols of military intelligence were approved.
In 1993, when domestic military intelligence was preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its creation. For this anniversary, someone who is fond of heraldry from among the GRU1 employees decided to present a gift to his colleagues in the form of new symbols. This proposal received the support of the head of the GRU, Colonel General F.I. Ladygina. By that time, as is known, the Airborne Forces, as well as the Russian contingent of peacekeeping forces in Transnistria (the letters “MS” on a blue rectangular patch) had already acquired their own officially approved sleeve insignia. We do not know whether the “heraldists-intelligence officers” and their superiors knew about this or not, but they nevertheless circumvented the law. In the second half of October, the GRU prepared a draft report from the Chief of the General Staff addressed to the Minister of Defense, with a description and drawings of two sleeve insignia attached: for military intelligence agencies and special-purpose military units. October 22 F.I. Ladygin signed it “by hand” from the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General
M.P. Kolesnikov, and the next day the Minister of Defense, Army General P.S. Grachev approved the descriptions and drawings of the sleeve insignia.
So the bat became a symbol of military intelligence and special forces units. The choice was far from accidental. The bat has always been considered one of the most mysterious and secretive creatures operating under the cover of darkness. Well, secrecy, as we know, is the key to a successful intelligence operation.

It is believed that the red carnation is “a symbol of perseverance, devotion, inflexibility and determination in achieving one’s goals,” and the three-flamed grenade is “a historical sign of the grenadiers, the most trained military personnel of elite units

But starting in 1998, the bat began to gradually be replaced by a new symbol of military intelligence, the red carnation, which was proposed by the famous heraldist Yu.V. Abaturov. The symbolism here is very clear: carnations were very often used by Soviet intelligence officers as an identification mark. Well, the number of petals on the new emblem of military intelligence is five types of intelligence (ground, air, sea, information, special), five continents on the globe, five extremely developed senses of an intelligence officer. It initially appears on the insignia "For Service in Military Intelligence". In 2000, it became an element of the large emblem and the new sleeve insignia of the GRU and, finally, in 2005, it finally occupied a central place on all heraldic insignia, including sleeve patches.
By the way, the innovation initially caused a rather negative reaction among soldiers and special forces officers, but when it became clear that the reform did not mean the eradication of the “mouse,” the storm subsided. The introduction of the new official combined arms emblem of military intelligence did not in any way affect the popularity of the bat among the soldiers of the GRU army formations; even a superficial acquaintance with the culture of tattoos in the Special Forces troops is enough. The bat, as one of the main elements of military intelligence symbolism, was established long before 1993 and will probably always remain so.

One way or another, the bat is an emblem that unites all active and retired intelligence officers; it is a symbol of unity and exclusivity. And, in general, it doesn’t matter who we’re talking about - a secret GRU agent somewhere in the army or a sniper in any of the special forces brigades. They all did and are doing one very important and responsible thing.
So, the bat is the main element of the symbolism of Russian military intelligence, even despite the appearance of the “carnation” it does not give up its position: this symbol today is not only on chevrons and flags, it has also become an element of soldier’s folklore.
It is noteworthy that even after replacing the “Bat” with the “Red Carnation”, not only the special forces and “pear soldiers” did not stop considering “mice” as their symbol, but also the “Bat” remained on the floor in the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate, adjacent to the “Carnation” attached to the wall of the hall.