SOBR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Special Rapid Reaction Unit or SOBR (Russian: специальные отряды быстрого реагирования = Spetsial'nyye Otryady Bystrogo Reagirovaniya) is an elite commando unit of the Russian Interior Ministry, involved in anti-criminal operations. On September 16, 2002, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov ordered that SOBR be dissolved; but it was not dissolved. It was active in Chechnya.
The standard operation of SOBR was seen in the movie The Jackal (1997) (in the scene where a Russian Mobster is arrested inside a Moscow night club). This special force was labelled as "MVD" by mistake of producers.
As of now, almost all of the SOBR units are renamed to OMSN (Otrjad Milizii Spetsialnogo Naznachenija = Police team-special ), and are subordinated to the regional criminal police offices. OMSN consist out of highly professional and more senior-ranked police officers (as opposed to OMON units). OMSN units are fighting against criminal elements, drug trafficking and any other special operations under the jurisdiction of MVD. Lately, OMSN's premier task has also been to combat terrorism and they have extensive counter-terrorism training, special weapons and equipment.
