In the fall of this year, one of the special units of the Russian police - the OMON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan - celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. For a quarter of a century, his fighters had a chance to perform important tasks not only in the territory of Bashkiria, but also far beyond its borders.
Back in 1988, the first commander of the detachment was an officer with vast experience in operational work, police colonel Farit Martazovich Shaikhilislamov. During the formation period, when recruiting personnel for a new unit, preference was given to police officers, former military personnel of the airborne troops, marines and special forces of the internal troops.
As soon as the detachment was staffed and equipped with everything necessary to carry out service, it had to take part in the elimination of the consequences of the largest railway disaster of the late 20th century.
On July 3, 1989, near the Ulu-Telyak railway station, a main pipeline ruptured. A huge area was covered by a cloud of colorless combustible gas, capable of exploding from the slightest spark. And this spark jumped out from under the wheels of a passenger train, as luck would have it, at the very moment when he was approaching the station. And another train with people was moving towards him …
The Ufa OMON was immediately alerted and hastily deployed to the scene of the tragedy. As you know, special forces are staffed not with muslin young ladies, but with fighters who have seen a lot and are accustomed to a lot. But even their short-cropped hair stood on end under the black berets from everything they saw.
At the epicenter of the explosion, everything burned down: trees, grass, even the earth. The remains of the burned-out carriages were smoky, both those that had been derailed by the blast wave from the railway embankment, and those that were left standing on the rails. Some were not just burnt, but melted, the temperature of the exploding gas was so high. And among all this were the bodies of the dead and wounded people, groans, screams, groans, pleas for help were heard.
There was no time to indulge in emotions, and the rescue groups of the detachment immediately joined the work: they provided first aid to the burned, wounded and injured, helped the medical teams to evacuate the injured to the republican burn center. Then the bodies of the dead were collected for a long time. And then they cordoned off the area and ensured the work of the investigation teams …
Experts found that the power of the explosion was equivalent to the simultaneous detonation of three hundred tons of TNT, and the resulting fire destroyed all life on an area of more than 250 hectares. The disaster claimed 575 lives. And if not for the efficiency, composure and endurance of the Ufa OMON fighters, the number of victims could have increased significantly.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to the weakening of the central and local authorities, torn apart by political passions, the crime situation in many regions deteriorated sharply. Crimes committed by organized crime groups and lone bandits became more daring and dangerous to society. Bashkiria was no exception.
At that time, the police special forces had to perform tasks unusual for them: by decision of the leadership of the Ufa city police department, riot policemen began to serve daily in areas with the most difficult operational situation, reinforced police control posts located around the city with their groups. The workload increased several times, but no one grumbled.
One day, an alarming message came to the detachment headquarters: two young men in masks at one of the stops, not identified yet, burst into the passenger compartment of a regular bus en route from Ufa to the village of Pribelsky, declared the passengers hostages and, threatening to detonate an improvised explosive device, forced follow the driver to the airport. So far, the terrorists have not put forward any demands, but judging by the route they have chosen, it was not hard to guess that their next goal would be to hijack the aircraft. So what is next? With 40 hostages in their hands, thugs could dictate terms …
It is now for any terrorist attack with hostage-taking, the FSB special forces - the famous "Alpha" and "Vympel", which today have regional divisions, are instantly disrupted on alert and are therefore able to quickly appear in any place where trouble occurs. And at that time everything was different: hostage-taking was only “becoming fashionable” in our country, and the Ufa police special forces were the only special unit on the territory of Bashkiria. But he also needed time to get himself together and start acting. And he was just not there - according to the reports of the traffic police, the bus was already approaching the airport.
At one of the traffic police posts, a passenger car, no different from other cars scurrying along the highway, sat on his tail. At the wheel of the car was an inspector of the road patrol service, militia warrant officer Rifat Khusnutdinov, next to him - all like a compressed spring, OMON sergeant-major Gerasim Salyaev.
As soon as the Ikarus stopped in front of the airport, the bus door opened, and one of the terrorists, swearing dirty, began to push out of the bus. The bastard was so excited that he didn't even look around. The police officers immediately took advantage of this: the foreman immediately jumped to the bus and, with a powerful blow to the head, "turned off" the bandit. He had not yet had time to collapse on the asphalt, and Salyaev was already in the bus. The second terrorist was so frightened by the sudden appearance of the riot policeman that … he hid behind the back of the passenger seat! It was a matter of seconds to snap the handcuffs on his wrists.
Later it turned out that the terrorists, who turned out to be students of the local oil technical school, actually managed to install an improvised explosive device in the bus. Of course, the goal of the criminals was to obtain a large amount of currency and unhindered flight to one of the countries of the Middle East …
The spring of 1995 turned out to be incredibly difficult and tragic for the Bashkir police officers: near Gudermes, six wonderful Sobrovites were ambushed and killed in battle: Dmitry Dementov, Anatoly Sokolov, Robert Sitdikov, Sergei Churin, Alexei Schekaturov and Stanislav Veredenko. As soon as the farewell fireworks on the Alley of Heroes of the Southern Cemetery of the Bashkir capital had died down, an order came from Moscow: to send a detachment of riot police of 65 people to the North Caucasus.
Already on May 13, special forces fighters headed by their commander, police colonel Farit Martazovich Shaikhilislamov, flew to Grozny. They were supposed to replace their colleagues from the Altai OMON, take under protection twice previously blown up and partially restored bridge across the Neftyanka River, and also control traffic on it.
The site was hectic. At two checkpoints, Ufa residents detained suspicious individuals, repeatedly confiscated weapons, knives, explosives, and ensured the unhindered transportation of not only military goods, but also essential goods for the needs of the civilian population across the bridge. At night, their positions were fired upon by militants with enviable regularity, to which they had to respond with fire.
The commander of the detachment protected his soldiers as best he could. In addition to high professional training and organizational skills, he also possessed remarkable diplomatic abilities. At every opportunity, Farit Martazovich tried to communicate with local residents, helped them solve everyday problems, explained that riot policemen had come to Chechnya not to fight, but to help build a peaceful life. This explanatory work had a positive effect - for some time the shelling of the checkpoint stopped. We can say that thanks to the authority of Shaikhilislamov and his truly paternal concern for his subordinates, all the soldiers of the detachment returned from that trip safe and sound.
By the way, in more than forty Caucasian business trips, the Bashkir riot police did not lose any of their fighters. And its first commander, holder of many awards, veteran of hostilities, retired militia colonel F. M. Shaikhilislamov today leads the veteran organization of the detachment, continues to educate young special forces personnel and does a lot to develop civic sense of justice among Bashkir youth.
After Grozny, the path of the riot police from Ufa ran through many settlements in Chechnya. They were involved in special operations in Urus-Martan and Roshni-Chu, in Goyty and Gordali. Often they had to risk their lives. And these are not just nice words.
On August 19, 2002, another shift of the Ufa riot police returned after completing a combat mission to the temporary deployment point of the detachment. At the entrance to the village of Girzel, a carefully prepared ambush awaited them. The bandits did not take into account one thing: this time the soldiers of the militia special forces moved not in an ordinary UAZ, but in a special car “Bars”, which had a hidden reservation.
Having let the police car get closer, the militants blew up the planted land mines. The red-hot shrapnel thoroughly crushed the starboard side of the Barça, but the armor withstood the terrible blow. Submachine gun and machine-gun fires hit the car after it. The bandits hit almost point blank, but the car, as if bewitched, continued to move slowly forward - the driver, police sergeant Oleg Belozerov, despite the punctured slopes, did not take his foot off the gas and, while the engine was running, did not give up attempts to take his friends out of the fire. However, those who were inside the wounded "Leopard", too, soon recovered from the shells received and, opening the loopholes, began to snap back fire. And then help arrived.
Already at the base, the commandos carefully examined the armored vehicle and counted more than 150 bullet marks in it. But they were in no hurry to get rid of the rather shabby Barça - it became a pity, after all, he saved the lives of the guys. The armored car was sent to the manufacturer, where it was overhauled, and soon it again rolled into the detachment's location on its own. Until now, the armored car is in service, still regularly leaving with the soldiers of the Bashkir riot police on dangerous North Caucasian business trips.
Alas, the danger lies in wait for the riot police not only in Chechnya. They had occasion to risk their lives on their native land. So, in September 2007, Bashkortostan literally shuddered from the monstrous crime committed in the Sterlitamak region of the republic. Some scumbags from machine guns shot a district police officer with an assistant and a local resident who accidentally witnessed the crime.
As soon as the massacre became known to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the OMON personnel were immediately alerted. It was not possible to locate the bandits at once, as they rode on horseback. They moved, as a rule, with the onset of dusk and in the dark, so as not to be seen by the inhabitants of villages and towns. For days they stopped in the forests and groves, skillfully disguised themselves. And yet, after many days of pursuit, the militia special forces managed to find their lair.
When the riot police approached the edge of the forest where the bandits were hiding, a loud warning shout was heard from the bushes, and then aimed automatic fires hit the policemen. In the ensuing firefight, a militia warrant officer Sergei Gudkov was wounded three times, whom his comrades had to evacuate directly under fire.
In the end, the bandits, realizing that they would not be able to break out of the ring, entered into negotiations and agreed to surrender. Later, the investigation found out that both of the detained men had been active members of the underground Islamist extremist organization Islamic Jamaat, which has its own armed formations, in other words, gangs, for more than one year. One of them studied in 1999 at the Kavkaz-Center militant training camp equipped with mercenaries and terrorists in Chechnya. They arrived in Bashkiria from Tatarstan, where a long train of crimes was already behind them. Both were involved in the preparation of a series of explosions in crowded places during the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Kazan, which were prevented by FSB officers. Then almost all the terrorists were detained, but these two managed to elude the law enforcement agencies and intelligence officers. But, as you know, no matter how much the rope twists, the end will still be: the Ufa OMON was destined to put the final point in the criminal activities of terrorists …
From 2003 to the present day, Police Colonel Irek Sagitov has been in command of the OMON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Once he began his service in the police special forces as an ordinary soldier, took part in many risky operations. As part of the detachment's units, he traveled to the North Caucasus during the first and second Chechen campaigns, was awarded the medals "For Courage" and "For Distinction in the Protection of Public Order."
Irek Hayrivarievich always speaks about his colleagues and subordinates with undisguised warmth and pride. Indeed, today the detachment is rightfully considered one of the best police special forces in Russia. For example, in September of this year, a team of fighters from the Bashkir OMON became the winner of the final of the All-Russian competition among the groups of special forces of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, dedicated to the memory of the operative of the special purpose unit of the Organized Crime Control Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate in the Orenburg region, Hero of Russia, police captain Dmitry Novoselov.
“In honor of the brave special forces soldier, for several years in a row, competitions of functional groups have been held in the Orenburg region - special units of the police special forces capable of performing the most difficult tasks. Before getting to the final stage in Orenburg, the Bashkir OMON team won first place in similar competitions in the Volga Federal District, after which they immediately began intensive training, says Police Colonel Sagitov. - Conducted a thorough analysis of the results at all previous stages of the competition. The strength training of all OMON fighters is equally powerful, so we had to focus on something else. We decided to bet on firepower training, began to train hard in this direction and did not lose: the team at the shooting range took 120 points out of 120 possible! After that, our guys had only to maintain a leading position. Although it was not easy either."
All stages of the competition were held in dynamics, the teams were constantly moving over rough terrain. And the total length of the route was more than ten kilometers, on which there was a water obstacle, and an ascent along a steep slope, and a specialized obstacle course, and a five-kilometer march in full combat gear, which is about twenty kilograms. But the team overcame everything, demonstrating not only high professional skills, but also solidarity. And now the name of our squad is stamped on the challenge cup.
Today, the detachment, 6 employees of which were awarded the Order of Courage, 28 - the medal of the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, 1st or 2nd degree, and 59 were awarded the medal "For Courage", has everything necessary for careful professional selection of new fighters and their quality preparation for the service. On the basis of the OMON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Bashkortostan, located in the forested area of Ufa, a modern sports hall, a recreation center, classrooms, a shooting range and a hangar for equipment have been built. The units of the detachment are provided with the most advanced weapons and equipment, communications and special equipment. On December 25, 2012, a new apartment-type hostel for the Bashkir OMON was opened in the capital of the republic. The seventeen-storey residential building with 75 apartments was built in just a year. In it, in addition to living quarters, taking into account the specifics of the work of residents, a room for psychological relief and a first-aid post is equipped.
The detachment is proud not only of the combat, but also of the sporting achievements of its fighters. Those who defend the sporting honor of the country at the World Championships and even the Olympic Games serve here! Among the most honored athletes with a worldwide reputation is the master of sports in hand-to-hand combat, Ensign Ruslan Yamaletdinov, the master of sports of international class in boxing, Major Marsel Galimov, and, of course, a member of the Russian Olympic bobsleigh team, Major Alexei Seliverstov, who won the bronze and silver Olympic medals in the American Salt. -Lake City and Italian Turin.
The current employees of the Bashkir riot police do a lot of work on the patriotic education of young people, regularly meet with students of Ufa schools, colleges, students of Ufa universities, tell them about their difficult, but so necessary work, invite them to visit the detachment's museum.
And this work bears fruit: many young people want to join the detachment. But not every candidate will be able to become a full-fledged member of this elite special forces. After all, it is important not only to earn this honor, but also to meet the high requirements for a law enforcement special forces soldier throughout his service.
